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Home Staging For Condos - Six Tips On How To Avoid Having "An Elephant InThe Room"!

By
Home Stager with Home Staging by Interiors Defined, Inc.

When staging condominiums there are fundamental principles which MUST be applied. Too often sellers believe the art of home staging and condo staging is exactly the same thing. This way of thinking will cause them to make their FIRST mistake . . . which could result in their condo sitting along side countless others . . . long after the buyers have gone home!

The following is a list of additional mistakes to avoid when staging your condo for sale:

Think Square Footage - Many condominiums have limited space. When planning your furniture layout, instead of thinking square footage . . . think square inch, and make each one count!

Size Really Does Matter - When shopping for furniture focus on scale and proportion, NOT bigger is better! Oversized furniture may look great on the showroom floor, but when you get it home it will look much different. You will swear that the "elephant in the room" is definitely not what you ordered!

Flex Areas - Condo living calls for carefully planned, creatively designed, multifunctional spaces known as flex areas. Because of the growing demand to meet the diverse needs of today's condo buyer, more and more manufacturers are offering proportionately scaled, multipurpose furniture to their lines. They include upholstered slipper chairs that fold out into guest beds, ottomans that serve as extra seating and storage, high-low tables that instantly transform from cocktail tables into dining tables for entertaining . . . just to name a few. And for the savvy targetted condo buyer, staging a multi media/home office area is always advisable.

Defining Spaces - Whether you prefer the clean, contemporary lines of ultra urban or the graceful warm feel of timeless traditional - remember to use COLOR to define your spaces and create memorable WOW effects. Too often sellers believe that by keeping the walls neutral, it will make the limited space of a condo look larger. Actually the opposite is true. By bumping out a few accent walls with well chosen COLORS you not only will add excitement to the room, but visually add depth, giving the illusion that the space is larger than it is.

Presentation Is Everything - Choose fewer, but larger, more dynamic artwork and accessories. This is one of the most frequently made mistakes by sellers who believe you should do quite the opposite. Just remember . . . scale down your furniture and scale up your artwork and accessories to successfully stage a condo with limited space. Your presentation and end result will certainly be more dramatic . . . and memorable!

Kimberly Grant
Exit Leon Crawford Realty - Huntsville, AL
Real Estate Agent - Huntsville Alabama
Jeannene, this post was so timely.  I showed a staged house just the other day.  The bedroom furniture was SO BIG that you could not even walk in the room and turn around.  It was HUGE.  Couldn't open the dresser drawers because the foot of the bed was right there.  Couldn't look in the closet because the door hit the nightstand.  It was awful.  The furniture was beautiful but couldnt even see the house because of it.
Nov 22, 2007 11:18 AM
Kristina Leone
Lionheart Home Staging, LLC - Minneapolis, MN
Great information, and it can be applied to smaller houses or rooms as well. 
Nov 24, 2007 01:53 AM
Elaine Manes Gage
Home Staging Online Services - Denver, CO
Staging done ONLINE!

Great advice! Never thought about the artwork being bigger, but it makes sense. Lots of small artwork would just chop up the space!

Thank you so much!

Nov 24, 2007 02:43 AM
penny white
Jacksonville, FL

Jeannene,

Scale is so important! Drawing out the room that you are furnishing & dimensions on graph paper is pretty easy, furniture stores can help with this too. Don't be afraid to ask, it's much easier than getting stuck with an elephant!

Nov 24, 2007 03:10 AM
Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging
Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR
"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

Excellent tips, especially remembering to use Large scale art for small spaces!  So many times you see small wall decor that gets completely lost in the space and has no impact.

Nov 24, 2007 04:24 AM
Julianna Hind
eXp Realty - Tacoma, WA
REALTOR, 206-679-4768, Tacoma Federal Way, Auburn, Kent, WA
Good points, all of them. Some of the best designs come out of having to work in those small spaces!
Nov 24, 2007 05:11 PM
Susan Peters
Dove Realty Inc. - Seattle, WA
The Better it Looks the Better it Sells

Jeannene,

These tips are right on and your suggestion about large artwork also applies to larger spaces as well. Get rid of the wimpy stuff unless you can come up with a great grouping that reads as one big piece.

Nov 24, 2007 05:39 PM
Will Nesbitt
Nesbitt Realty at Condo Alexandria - Alexandria, VA
Nesbitt Realty is a family-run brokerage.

I'd love to reblog this for my readers!

Nov 21, 2008 10:59 PM
Jeannene Edwards
Home Staging by Interiors Defined, Inc. - Orlando, FL

Thanks Will for the compliment, and feel free to reblogit!

Nov 22, 2008 01:23 AM