Admin

Don't Shut Buyers Out - Make It An Open Invitation!

By
Home Stager with Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes

Don't Shut Buyers Out - Make It An Open Invitation!

When your home is on the market, each room needs to be as inviting as possible.  The longer potential buyers want to linger in the house, the more they will appreciate all it has to offer.  So, open the spaces!  Enhance the traffic flow and allow easy access to every room.  Move out, rearrange, or trade out furniture to invite buyers in.

LR before

LR After Nestings Staging Consultation

This overwhelming leather sectional is great for family movie nights, or watching the big game with your friends.  However, it blocks entry to this formal living room.  Right off the front door and foyer, buyers expect to see something more formal, such as the arrangement these sellers achieved in the "after" shot.

 

LR before

LR After Nestings Staging Consultation

The huge sectional was sent to storage, waiting for the new home.  Furniture was sourced from other rooms in the house, and creates a more formal seating arrangement that buyers expect to see. Additionally, the scale shows off the square footage. 

These savvy Fairfield County, CT, sellers had a Home Staging Consultation from Nestings Nome Staging, and fulfilled every item on their DIY checklist.  Each room's size, flow, and function was maximized.  Aside from the consultation fee, they spent a little money on paint.  We re-used all their furniture and accessories.  This represents a small investment in Staging, with a huge difference in presentation.  Buyers are bound to feel more welcome!

Don't Shut Buyers Out - Make It An Open Invitation!

Comments(22)

Show All Comments Sort:
Debra Landy
StageTwoSell LLC - Horseheads, NY
PA and NY Home Stager

Very nice job.  Thanks for sharing.  It is great to see some real rooms like these where the homeowner's own things are used.  I'm sure they like the change and can feel the difference....and I bet the RE agent is very happy!

Aug 05, 2011 02:09 PM
Ginger Foust
Certified Staging Professional - Oakhurst, CA
Home Stager Oakhurst CA, Dream Interior Redesign & Staging

Oh yeah Julie...so much better with your results.  Blocking that room with that obese sofa was NOT good at all. 

Aug 05, 2011 03:19 PM
Mary J Macy
Top Agents Atlanta Metro - Woodstock, GA
Top Agents Atlanta Metro, Inc.

Great Points, people need to walk into every room with 2 other people in tow to see how crowded or blocked their rooms feel, good points

Aug 05, 2011 04:12 PM
Joanna Cohlan
Fresh Eyes For Your Home - Chappaqua, NY
Designing, Decorating & Staging Westchester Homes

Great job Julia, the room really looks opened up and inviting, just the way it's supposed to be.

Aug 05, 2011 04:23 PM
Janet Jones
Just Your Style Interiors, LLC - Kihei, HI
Home Staging, Interior Redesign Kihei, Maui, Hawaii

Hi Julia--the room feels at least twice as big now without that huge sectional.  I am continuously amazed at how much furniture sellers can squeeze into one room. 

Aug 05, 2011 05:50 PM
Debbie Gartner
The Flooring Girl - White Plains, NY
The Flooring Girl & Blog Stylist -Dynamo Marketers

What a difference the placement of the furniture can make. It definitely is friendly or more inviting. Nice job.

Aug 05, 2011 11:38 PM
Kathy Nielsen
http://atlantahomestaging.net - Marietta, GA
Atlanta Georgia Home Stager

You definitely made some significant improvements. The sectional was consuming the room and therefore, consuming real estate.

Great changes, Julia.

Kathy

Aug 06, 2011 01:07 AM
Kathy Burke
Sensational Home Staging~~Danville, CA - Danville, CA
S.F. East Bay Home Staging

Walking INTO that sectional would have been a hugh turnoff.....it is something that belongs in a basement or Family Room...large basement or Family Room!  Nicely done!!!!

Aug 06, 2011 03:29 AM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

Sally & Ginger - That sectionally really did block the entrance to a wonderful space.  It had to go!

Debra:  Most Staging really does involve using the seller's furnishings - sometimes in ways they'd never thought of!

Thanks, Kristi & Joanna - the size really shows now.

Mary:  We try to keep a 36" minimum for passing through spaces.

Janet - it all did fit - but wasn't potimal for showing the room to it's best advantage.

Kathy - we're showing off the internal real estate!

Thanks, Debbie!

Kathy - Yes, the sectional does belong elsewhere - but this is how the sellers lived - until they had to sell!

Aug 06, 2011 04:48 AM
Amy Bly
Great Impressions Home Staging/Interiors - Montville, NJ
Styling Homes for Selling and Staying

Hi, Julia, It is a pet peeve of mine to see the backs of furniture when walking into a room . . . ugh. Also, the red color of that sofa was probably made even more pronounced against that intense complementary blue, and that red is just NOT one of the pretty shades! This room reminds me so much of a living room I just staged that had a pink plaid couch and chair, and a pale blue oriental rug -- outdated, but you made it look much better!

Aug 06, 2011 04:26 PM
Marge Piwowarski
Phoenix AZ Horse Property - Phoenix, AZ
Phoenix AZ Horse Property, LLC

Tremendous improvement!  The room went from too-small and cluttered to spacious and inviting.  What a difference a stager makes!

Aug 08, 2011 05:03 AM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

Thanks, Wendy!

Hey, Amy!  Those pastels you described are so 80s!  This room may not look updated, but it sure is spacious and the flow is super now!

Marge:  Huge difference between how we live and how we sell...

Aug 08, 2011 05:23 AM
Yvonne Hurt
Long & Foster Real Estate - Reedville, VA
Northern Neck of VA Real Estate

Perfect example of how the placement of furniture can make a potential buyer feel he is isolated or "banned" from a section of the home.  The after pictures are so much more inviting and tranquil.

Aug 09, 2011 10:40 AM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

Hi Yvonne - We have to be aware of those unspoken "messages" - usually unintentional!

Aug 10, 2011 02:01 AM
Jon Zolsky, Daytona Beach, FL
Daytona Condo Realty, 386-405-4408 - Daytona Beach, FL
Buy Daytona condos for heavenly good prices

Julia, I came from a reblog. i think it is not only the furniture, though it is the biggest effect. But taking away pictures and decluttering the shelves also helped

Aug 13, 2011 10:31 AM
Birgit Anich
Birgit Anich Staging & Interiors, 203.807.4040 - Norwalk, CT
CT Home Stager Fairfield & New Haven County

Julie, I agree with you, it is so important to make the room look open to have the traffic flow bring buyers into the room rather than blocking them. This is also an important design element and tip for living situations, not just staging. Glad you brought this up for sellers.

Aug 13, 2011 06:03 PM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

Jon - Yes, we also removed a lot of distractions!

Hi Birgit!  Sometimes I am baffled by choices some people make, but I'm not living their lives - they are.

Aug 14, 2011 03:23 AM
Michelle Finnamore
Toronto GTA, Alliston, Newmarket - Vaughan, ON
Preparing your property for sale

Hi Julia, if it's an entry way into a room then the what ever is blocking it has to be moved to another location or stored. Your examples show so clearly why this is important. It always make me wonder how people live with their doorways blocked.

Aug 27, 2011 04:28 AM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

Hello, Michelle!  I can't tolerate a blocked entry...it sends such negative subliminal messages.

Aug 27, 2011 07:06 AM
Charles Ross - eXp Realty (Salina Group) | Broker
Salina Group - Salina, KS
Love To Help People

Excellent  Information. Thank you for sharing. Have a wonderful day and a blessed weekend.

Mar 05, 2023 01:14 AM