Hi Jim and Maria, the rental props for this room came in at approximately $26. I always ask the same question of the Realtors when I show them my before and after photos during presentations- how can you honestly not include a professional Stager in your marketing plan. So much can be achieved on a minimal budget. My job is to make you look like a smart cookie who is on top of your game when it comes to marketing your listings.

HI Margaret, thanks for the "model home" compliment.  :)   I really appreciate you stopping in to see my work.  I really enjoy decluttering. I think it is my Virgo disposition. Everything has a place and everything should be in it's place. Now the homeowner can actually get things out of the cabinets much more easily.

Hi Thomas, Thank you for the "WOW" . I love making such a difference in a room when I am Staging. I get goosebumps when the homeowners see it for the first time.

Hi Kelly, As Kathleen Garvey posted here on AR, you can take a course in Home Staging, but you are either born with the touch or you are not. When I go into any property, and it can be the most cluttered place you have ever been in, I get a vision in my mind of exactly how I will make it look. Which props I will need from my inventory, which furniture, the artwork. It really happens that quickly in my mind. People ask me all the time if I get nervous before a Staging takes place. I can honestly say I don't. I have already seen the finished results in my mind and it is a case of executing the ideas.

Hey Cathy, you are right on the money. :)

This chandelier has been featured in four major magazine layouts this year. It is a classic modern lighting fixture that fits in most home's decor. And can you believe it is only $129?

It used to be $ 119 until this past September, darn Home Depot for increasing the price. LOL!!!

It is the bargain of the year for sure.

Hi Robyn, it was a fabulous kitchen  if you love to cook. All that counter space!

Hi Shelley, it's true. Without a good professional photographer your work can get lost.

Hi Unknown Blogger, the red bottles by the sink are bottles that contain red vegetables. They really add a spot of colour to a counter without taking up too much counter space. Great props for a $1 each

Hi Yvette & Russ, decluttering rules! it is the first thing I ask my clients to do. If they are unable to do it themselves, I step right up to the task and make sure it gets done.

Hi Rich and Kerry, the stools really do tie in the room nicely. Most people have difficulty with choosing the last 20% of the items for a room that gives it that finished, magazine quality look. That's where I come in.Thanks for the Shazam Kerry. :)  I know I am on to something when I get a compliment like that!

Hi Elizabeth, I can honestly say I have never got a Wowza before! Thank you for the kind words about my work.

Hi Michelle and Kristina, I know you can appreciate the value of professional Staging job. As you both know, the kitchen is the heart of the home and is such an important selling feature in a home.Thank you for stopping in to see my work.

Hi Annie and Roland, small changes are how you make all the important details become a feature. Isn't it amazing the change you can effect with so little effort but with a plan in mind. Did I just do my Mr. Burns imitation there?

Hi Ed, You are one smart Realtor! Having a professional Stager as part of your marketing team has proven to be one of the main tools of your success in rising to the top of your field. Congratulations on your success with a professioanl Stager. :) Those are some impressive numbers.

HI Kristal, This house was over 100 years old and had some renovations done. It still had it's quirks that all old properties do. You can check out the post I did on the bathroom in the house. It didn't have a mirror over the sink. How do you shave or apply makeup in a situation like that. There was a window there. The clients lived like that for 5 years.  So the good bones were definitely only in some of the rooms. Professional Staging found a way to fix the bathroom though. You can check it out here

http://activerain.com/blogsview/789844/All-I-did-was-add-a-cabinet-a-mirror-and-some-props-to-fix-the-quirkiness

Hi Lisa, When a client has trouble decluttering, I find they have more issues at hand than the idea of packing their belongings in preparation for the move. I always suggest to the seller that it is shame that the buyers can't see the (insert focal point, feature, aspect, view here) due to all of your personal belongings distracting the buyer from seeing it.

If you need  help in getting started, I know a professioanl Stager that will come out and provide you with  written action plan to get you started room by room,  deciding which items to pack, donate or sell to get you on your way to selling your property. Hiding all the great features of your house will not get  you top dollar to move on to your new home.  What did my mother always say... don't hide your light under a bushel.

If your client is  still  having problems getting started, suggest that the professional Stager has the resources to come out and help with the sorting so that you can stay on the timeline for listing the property.After all, didn't they hire you because they trust you with the most important investment they have- their home. It is their main source of equity (usually).

If they have collections, I take pictures of the collections, put them in an album which I give to the client. They can look at it each day after packing up their belongings to move. It creates the security of having their most prized possessions at their fingertips but not out in view.

Hope this helps.  Anyone can use this idea, just let me know if you do. I am always interested in hearing how well it worked for you.

Hi Carole, Thank you for your kind words about my work. It is always a thrill to have your work featured on AR. Big budgets or small, I do them all!

Hi Brenda, well that's quite the compliment- thank you very much. When I finish a job I love to share my experience with others.

HI Susan, you are so right. I have still to master getting exactly the same shot before and after.

Hi Shanna, class all the way every time- it sells. Even if it is a country property, I try to add just the right prop or accessory that elevates the property to that next level.

Hi Jason, thank you for subsribing to my blog. I appreciate your support very much. :) It was fun to do this house. It had great bones and was just waiting for the shine to be put on it.

Hi Tom, there was no painting or staining done in these two room. The upstairs was painted to freshen it up, but not downstairs. It is just one day it was grey and gloomy and the after day was a bright sunshine.

Here is what it looks like today here- shocking really

Hi Nathan and Evarard, I believe your home is your castle and every property can be Staged profesionally to get that look. I have worked on properties from $ 189,000 to 1.4 million. They all get the same love and attention to detail from me. I love Real Estate- there's no denying it.

Hi Kathy, I know what you mean. I love the style of those bar stools too. I should have bought all the stock I could find. Each time I use them, the clients want to buy them!

Hi John, you make me get tears in my eyes when you write something like that. I appreciate your support and am proud to be part of your marketing team.

Hi Patty, LOL!!  That's exactly what the clients say when I'm done. They always comment that they don't want to move now as they have fallen in love with their home all over again. I have only had one client decide to stay on for the summer to enjoy their home for a few more months before they listed with the agent in the fall. Happy endings all round with that one. They moved on to their new dream home, got to enjoy their memories of this one a little longer, the Realtor made a quick sale on a professionally staged home and then new owners are pleased as punch with their new home.

Hi Leesa, when you refocus on the principal rooms such as the kitchen in a property, you really up the ante on price. This is one fabulous kitchen now that you can see it. Plus, you have to know which accessories and props to add. I have seen many listings where the client (?) has placed items on the counter after cleaning and decluttering and it still looks cold and uninviting or worse still-overdone.

It is a fine balance. As my mentor said to me. If you start asking yourself if this item looks good in this spot, you are decorating not Staging. Sound advice that I repeat often to myself.

Hi Sally, I know exactly what you mean. I still have one room I have trouble with at home. I have asked two Stager friends what they would do and the room stumps them too.

Hi Bruce and Mary, to those that still don't want to declutter, I suggest that you never know who is coming through the home and they would feel just awful if one of their prized possessions went missing or was broken. Better safe than sorry.   I agree, photography is the way to sell Professional Staging to your clients. Better than a 1,000 words.

Hi Linda, interesting question and one that gets asked alot.

The clients of this home were very motivated to get it sold as they had already bought and have to be moved in 6 weeks. It was the first time ever that a client asked me if they should stay at the mother's place until the open house that weekend. In that way, the property would remain as it appeared after the Staging. This of course is every Professional Home Stagers dream client come true.

It will not normally happen that way though. I give the clients suggestions on how to keep it tidy and clean.

My sister in law just moved and she had 3 children under 5 plus was 8 months pregnant. If anyone could keep it tidy under pressure, she was it.

She kept a large tupperware bin on each floor. If a showing was booked every piece of laundry, every toy etc was chucked into the bin on that floor, the lid was placed on the bin and it was placed in a closet that had a spot already for it to be there. Instant tidiness with minimal effort.

I place fluffy towels on the racks which are not to be touched or used by the client. The client uses the towels necessary for the day and places them in the washer immediately after use. In this way, the client knows when they leave the house that the dirty laundry is in the wash out of view, and the bathrooms look like a hotel with clean folded towels on the rack. My daughter worked at a spa one summer through univerisity so I had a crash course on how to fold towels so that it looks like a spa.

Dirty dishes are placed in the dishwasher always.

Bins have been placed in every closet to hold the day to day items that we all toss somewhere upon arrival home.

Each closet , cabinet in bathroom and kitchen is decluttered. Only what they will use in the next 60 days is put back in . All under cabinet things go in a basket so it acts like a drawer. Easy to pull out, and easy to find things.

My clients buy into this way of living. My enthusiasm is contageous, they cannot resist the lifestyle that I offer them. LOL!!!!  I am such a Virgo.

Hi Tina, the client most often says the same thing when I am done Staging. I see my things here but it all looks brand new. Thank you for stopping in to see my work.

Hi Linda, thank you for subscribing to my blog. :)  I aim to please and educate along the way. You can use my moving tips if you wish with your clients. I give them out freely, most people find they work and their life is much easier having a plan to cope with the stress of having their house on the market. I don't think anyone is comfortable having people you don't know coming through your home and making judgements about you and your family and how you live. But I can tell you one thing for sure. Professional Staging puts your home in the best possible light. On the weekend at an open house that I staged, the buyers said they liked it so much they either wanted everything that was there transplanted to their home or they wanted the person who did it to show up at their place.

Sometimes the only way with a bachelor is to hire a person to stop in to tidy up for them. It is money well spent. I have done three bachelors so far and they all love having a game plan to keep it clean while it is on the market. No one had ever showed them how before. Sometimes it's not a case of not wanting to but rather not quite figuring out the "mystery" of keeping a house.

Hi Barb, my heart goes out to your clients. I had to leave a property many years ago in the recession in the 90's so I know what it feels like to lose a dream. It was a Victorian replica house, one which I watched as it was being built, lovingly made all the bed linens and drapery  myself, picked out the  historical colours it was painted etc. I sold for below what I paid by about $ 60,000.  My suggestion to these home owners is that when you have nothing left at all, you still have your pride and your name. No one can take them away from you. You can give them away, but they are yours to keep so take care of them.Soap, water and elbow grease are a small measure to invest in your home. When we sold our home my father said it was a lesson learned, now go out there and start again. You have two children that are watching you and learning how to handle adversity. And that's just what I did with my head held high.

Hi Kathleen, so true. I did water colour and pencil art when I was young. Creativity is something you are born with and if you explore it in all it's facets you just never know where you will end up. I had no idea that my construction background and my creativity would land me as a Home Stager one day.

Hi Kristen, reblog away to your hearts content! I thank you for it and hopefully it gets your clients on board with the idea. It is money in their pocket if they do. When people lose money in the market they cry the blues. When a Realtor says we have to reduce the price by 10, 20, 50 thousand dollars they shrug their shoulders and take the loss. And that is in after tax dollars!

Hi Tim, I Staged a house with tennants once. The landlord promised to reimburse 1/2 the last months rent if they kept the house in good order. It worked. Everyone loves an incentive. Let me know if this idea works for you.

Hi Suzy, the client replaced the light fixture himself. He was one handy lawyer. I gave them the code for the light fixture from Home Depot and they purchased it. You are right about the clutter. If there is clutter in one room, it is everywhere. The client spent 4 days decluttering before I got there and finished the laundry room for them. They had already decluttered before I came for the consultation too. So that makes it 6 days in total for decluttering.

Hi Suzy, I wanted to add one more thing regarding the decluttering process. Decluttering is often like when a someone has a cleaning lady in the home. The homeowner feels they have to clean before the cleaning lady arrives. In the case of Staging it is usually helpful for the Stager to see what the homeowners have in the home and if the Stager could find it useful in another room or to keep it for the Staging day. That way less inventory has to be rented from the Stager. Good news for the client. I can't tell you how many times I arrive to find every accessory has been sold, donated or packed away. I once arrived to find that several pieces of furniture that I could have used in the Staging had been moved more than 4 hours away and they didn't want to bring it back.  Always best to consult with the Stager in advance of decluttering. My clients budget is always first and foremost a concern for me.

It is best to remind the client that the TV shows neglect to show you that they have many people behind the scenes getting the property ready for the Staging day. To expect to be able to declutter a home that has been lived in for 5, 10, sometimes 50 years in one or two days is unrealistic and very stressful. I have done it, but it isn't recommended if you value your sanity!

Hey Fernando, thanks for stopping in to see my work. I know you of all people can appreciate what the smallest of changes can do to the look and feel of a room.

P.S. I am still scratching my head about your post in the bathroom.

Hi Tanya, Thank you for stopping in to see how much of a difference decluttering makes. It is second nature to me to have an organized home so it is a pleasure to show homeowners how easy it is to accomplish once they have been given some methods to keep all the clutter under control.

HI Cindy, Thanks for stopping in. This house sold last night while the other 9 in the neighbourhood are still for sale. Another successful Staging story. Yeah!!!!!!!!!  

The car logo was something that my business card designer did up for me. It was a fun way to get people to remember me. Can't wait to get the convertible out of storage this spring. As I sit here looking out the window, it's snowing again. Ah....springtime, just 6 weeks away. :)