OOOOoh those floors are just killing me - gorgeous! Love the windows too!

staging is going to be a new breakthrough in real estate I think.  Agents are going to have to join the staging bandwagon.

WOW that is a huge difference, looks great!! Thanks for sharing some great pics, have a great weekend

Sheree ~ The floors were killing me too!  I'm so glad the seller agreed to reveal them ... you just can't hide a main selling feature that buyers want, can you?

Dennis ~ Coming from an agent, that is a wonderful endorsement for our staging community!  We'd love to have more real estate professionals join the staging bandwagon!Thanks for your valuable feedback.

Looks fantastic! I am so happy you were able to convince the Seller's to remove the carpet.  The wood floors are amazing!  It was a sin to cover them.   

Maureen, you worked your magic again. The house is lovely and it has come to life. The floors and windows are great, but I also love the box beam ceiling in the other room!

Andy ~ Thanks for your input -- glad you enjoyed the photos.  Hope your weekend is great too.

Janice ~ It was such good news to hear that the sellers agreed to remove that old carpeting.  What a difference it made!

Kathy ~ The box beam ceiling IS amazing -- here's another photo showing more of it:

Maureen - Great job! Looks awesome! Staging works, wish more sellers would understand it. :)

Maria ~ Thank you for acknowledging that staging really works!  How can we get more sellers on board?  Even this one was  skeptical, but hopefully now we'll have a quick sale.  (By the way I see you're in Naperville .... when my daughter lived there our favorite restaurant when I visited was La Sorella -- I have dreams about their incredible Northern Italian cuisine!)

Fabulous update, Maureen.  The furnishings create that warm appeal, and the features of this house are highlighted so well.

Kathy

Very nicely don maureen. I love the coffee table.

Kathy ~ Thanks for stopping by with your comment ... buyers will notice the features of this home now instead of wondering where they are!

Kimberley ~ That cross-base table seems quite popular these days and fits in with many decor styles.  Thanks for your feedback.

Amazing the difference!  I wonder why more people don't uncover hardwood floors if they have them.  Anyway great visuals to get your point across!

Maureen: WOW, what a great change in appearance . . . when I do seller's inspections I'm thinking I need to find some home stagers in my area to maybe refer to . . . how do I find them in my area other than looking in the yellow pages under home stagers? Did a quick google search in my area and found no one. Any ideas thoughts? Thanks in advance.

Nice job.  Do you know how much it cost to accomplish all of that for the sellers?

Good job, no surprize.  Thanks for sharing.  T

Tony & Darcy ~ It's true that many buyers love hardwood floors -- but concealing them with carpeting doesn't allow potential buyers to imagine the possibilities.   Thanks for stopping by.

Mike ~ Thanks for your comment. To locate a local stager, could you contact a stager listed in Utah here on A/R and ask them if they have staging colleagues close to your area?  You might also check this website which lists stagers in Utah: 

http://www.stagedhomes.com/asps/asplist.php?text=&state=UT&zip=&groups=stagers&x=143&y=23

Joe ~ Removing the carpet and refinishing the floor was about $500.  Removing the blinds was included in our staging fee, which was very reasonable (if you'd like more info, please email me).  For a big improvement, this investment will likely be recovered when selling. 

Terrylynn ~ I wish that more realtors understood the benefits of staging as well as you do!  Little by little though they're starting to realize that some of the advantages of staging are increased traffic and shorter market time for their listings.  We'll continue to repeat the message -- thanks for your feedback.

OMG Maureen what a beautiful job, the sellers are clueless, those windows are fabulous and to think they liked their blinds or curtains better, DUH....The floors look great as well. I don't understand why they refuse to do this from day one. We just finished up a job last night, same thing. BUT now they called us after they reduced $40K.

Phyllis Pafumi

Outstandung job of highlighting the lsitings best features !

It looks amazing!  It warms the room up so much!

Phyllis ~ Just as you do with your clients, I try to advise sellers on the obvious changes that will make their property SELL faster.  This one was easy to assess -- the floors and the windows needed to be revealed for their beauty.

Bill ~ You hit the nail on the head -- the listing's best features needed to be highlighted!  Thanks for your feedback -- we are encouraged when we find realtors who get it.

Amy ~ thanks for your comment.  The rooms are much warmer now with those gorgeous floors and the light coming in.  It really does make a difference!

I just love success stories! Oh what a difference the changes made. You should keep these for your "Brag Book"

Maureen...Beautiful Job!  You really played up the homes best features! 

Tracy and Gretchen ~ Many thanks for your kind remarks.  We staged this home two days ago and are hoping that buyers agree!

This looks great Maureen! So glad that you pushed for the wood floors. You need to put this in your portfolio to show people the huge difference ;) Way to go!

I just did a house with wood floors, that was carpet, it does make a huge difference, staging helps too!

Lori ~ Although the seller was at first skeptical, the listing agent encouraged him to follow our suggestions to remove the carpeting and have the floors refinished.  This listing agent realizes that proper staging can benefit the seller, the agent, and the buyer.  Everyone wins!  Thanks for your input.

Cindy ~ Originally, I told the sellers that even if they didn't decide to have this home staged, they at least should remove the carpeting and have the floors done.  I was then surprised to hear they'd agreed to that AND staging.  I think they made the right decision.  Don't you love it when they see that doing these things will reduce market time?

Maureen,

That red couch really adds some much needed punch! Great job as usual.

It's awesome, Maureen.

Congratulations.  Your post is being featured in the group Staging Before & After Pictures.

Kathy

Susan ~ You're a fan of red couches too -- sometimes a bland room really needs help with color.

Kathy ~ Many thanks ... I'm honored.

I am all for staging.  I feel it is a necessity, especially in today's market.  I try to tell the realtors at my office that it is needed.   I don't think they have caught in just yet. 

Maureen, what a difference! Those hardwoods are beautiful.  I really love that area rug.

Michelle ~ It's great to hear that you're an agent who promotes staging.  Please continue to help get the word out that it really works!

Tanya ~ Thanks -- yes those original hardwoods are gorgeous.  The rug added a nice texture to the floor, grounding the furniture arrangement but didn't take away from the floor focus.

Oo la la, I love those floors and they will sell that house, as well as the windows. You did a wonderful job with the furniture too, looks awesome!

Ronelle ~ The floors & leaded windows are such great selling features -- but they needed to be uncovered.  Thankfully the agent and seller agreed!  Thanks for stopping by with your comment.

Oh, just look at what they were hiding!  I am so glad that you helped them find it.

Maureen - is that the same house? :)  It looks absolutely amazing with your staging.  Great job.  Betty

Kathleen ~ Sellers may unknowingly hide equity when hiding the home's best features.  Stagers can help with that!  Thanks for your feedback.

Betty ~ I hope the buyers think so too!  Your kind remarks are much appreciated, thank you....

Beautiful house that shined through with your recommendations(great floors!) and wonderful staging Maureen!

Karen ~ This home shows so much better now, with light flooding through the windows .. and the floors reflecting that light.  Thanks for stopping by!

I know there is nothing original in my comment, and I will just be lost in the masses of wonderful comments here, but I must take the time to tell that this is absolutely stunning, my friend!

hi Karen D. ~ Thanks for your nice compliment.  It's such a pleasure to work with smart clients and their agents who understand the benefits of staging, isn't it?

Maureen: The changes are unbelievable, I'm sure the homeowners are kicking themselves that they didn't call you sooner!

Lori ~ Well, the important thing is that their agent recognized that a professional stager's advice would be well worth the small investment.  Simple changes made such a transformation ... thank you for your feedback.

All I can say is SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!

Mark & Leslie ~ Thanks for your endorsement -- this was a fun project because we knew the potential was there!

Maureen,

WOW, WOW and WOW!!  This is such an amazing transformation - wonderful job!

Maureen,

WOW, WOW and WOW!!  This is such an amazing transformation - wonderful job!

Those floors are killing me. Are they killing themselves for not taking up the carpet sooner! Beautiful job. Kym

Sheri ~ thank you for your enthusiastic response! 

Kym ~ Oh that dated carpeting just HAD to go ... you've seen it yourself dozens of times too.  It's so nice when sellers take our advice about what must happen in order to get offers and a "SOLD" sign outside.  Thanks for your input.

Wow!!!  That is beautiful.  What a great job.  There is so much talent here on AR.