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Send OUT the clowns

By Maureen Maureen

Home Stager

June 10, 2008 09:13 AM

There has been a lot of talk in SIF lately about what works for home staging, the rooster debate rages on... One thing I know for sure is that clowns (I'm going to go out on a limb here and say) NEVER work. They are on of those decorating trends that are at the same time dated and creepy. What about staging with a touch of whimsy you might say? Nope, there is no way to work around them... they've just got to go.

This is the front entry to a condo I just finished staging. I was working with a $0 budget, but luckily I found these paintings tucked in a closet. (the very same closet where the clowns now reside).

Clown and guru are a single identity: the satiric and sublime side of the same higher vision of life. ~ Theodore Rozak

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Maureen Maureen

Orangeburg, NY

Cindy - LOL Welcome to the new millennium!

Jun 10, 2008 12:59 PM

Jennifer Fivelsdal

JFIVE Home Realty LLC | 845-758-6842|162 Deer Run Rd Red Hook NY 12571 - Rhinebeck, NY

Mid Hudson Valley real estate connection

Maureen - I agree with you, those clowns belong in the closet. I love your new look.

Jun 10, 2008 01:14 PM

Russ Ravary ~ Metro Detroit Realtor call (248) 310-6239

Real Estate One - Commerce, MI

Michigan homes for sale ~ yesmyrealtor@gmail.com

They say clowns scare most kids. They must go like deer heads

Jun 10, 2008 01:25 PM

Maureen Maureen

Orangeburg, NY

Jennifer - Thanks!

Russ - I completely agree about the deer heads also.

Jun 10, 2008 01:30 PM

Cindy Bryant

Redesign Etc. Home Staging - Houston, TX

"Houston Home Staging Pros"

My neighbor has one child afraid of clowns and the other one is terrified of Betty Boop!

Jun 10, 2008 02:09 PM

Diane Bell, Hilton Head Real Estate, Bluffton

Charter 1 Real Estate, Hilton Head, Bluffton, SC - Hilton Head Island, SC

Maureen,

The clowns just don't do it for me and most probably, everyone else. Don't you wonder why an owner would pick them in the first place?

Jun 10, 2008 02:15 PM

Jeff Dowler, CRS

eXp Realty of California, Inc. - Carlsbad, CA

The Southern California Relocation Dude

Agreed on the clowns - I don;t get the appeal to begin with, but that's their choice. Why make it more difficult for potential buyers? They are moving any way, right? WWhy take the risk?

Jeff

Jun 10, 2008 02:59 PM

Elizabeth Cooper-Golden

Huntsville Alabama Real Estate, (@ Homes Realty Group) - Huntsville, AL

Huntsville AL MLS

Much improved with your pictures! I have a vacant home right now, but the elderly couple refuses to stage. It is in great condition, BUT I feel I should do a little staging myself with towels, a picture or 2 possibly?

Jun 10, 2008 03:07 PM

Wayne B. Pruner

Oregon First - Tigard, OR

Tigard Oregon Homes for Sale, Realtor, GRI

I have deal with many clowns that sell houses Maureen! Oh Wait! Are we talking about staging? :>)

Jun 10, 2008 03:34 PM

Christy Powers

Keller Williams Coastal Area Partners - Pooler, GA

Pooler, Savannah Real Estate Agent

It's funny, but true! Most people when they were little and may be even still now had a fear of clowns. I often wonder if clowns were really meant to be funny when they first came about.

Jun 10, 2008 05:29 PM

Sally K. & David L. Hanson

EXP Realty 414-525-0563 - Brookfield, WI

WI Real Estate Agents - Luxury - Divorce

I had a former client in another businedss who while she had a very responsible job in mangement was scared to death of clowns and actually really lost it at the very sight of a picture....I can envision her running out of the home screaming...yep...lost it with the deerheads, fish mounts....

Jun 10, 2008 11:57 PM

Maureen Maureen

Orangeburg, NY

Wayne - Good one!!!!

Jeff - This homeowner hired me over the phone, he lived 5 hrs away. He said I could do anything I wanted - just the kind of homeowner I love!

Sally - I really wrote this blog as a tongue in cheek kind of joke but there may be something deeper going on with the clown thing.

Jun 11, 2008 12:50 AM

Mehmet Met Dilsiz

FND Photography / M2 Real Estate Solutions - Midvale, UT

Maureen, the clowns may have worked depending on the quality of the painting, but they look like $5 dollar pictures bought at a garage sale.

really nice post, i was laughing when i saw the clown pictures.

Jun 11, 2008 06:51 AM

Sharon Brown

Property Management - Middletown, NY

Clowns have never been a favorite of mine. I agree - OUT they go!

Jun 11, 2008 07:59 AM

Darin Haughie

Esslinger-Wooten-Maxwell, Inc. (EWM) - Pinecrest, FL

Hey Wait the Clown worked for the E-trade kid?

Jun 11, 2008 08:10 AM

Bob & Carolin Benjamin

Benjamin Realty LLC - Gold Canyon, AZ

East Phoenix Arizona Homes

You are right. There are few places in a home that a clown might work -- maybe a child's bedroom is about it.

Jun 11, 2008 03:01 PM

Jessica Beganski

William Raveis Real EState - West Hartford, CT

Clowns are creepy. But have you seen the old man sailor smoking a pipe painting? For a while, I was on a stretch of showings where this painting was somewhere in the house. Not creepy in the same way as a clown but still weird.

Jun 12, 2008 04:56 AM

Phyllis Pafumi

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging New Jersey - Old Bridge, NJ

ReStyled to Sell Staging Homes NJ

Did you hear that BOZO the CLOWN died. I loved BOZO I had a picture of BOZO in my bedroom when I was little. Okay so if my mom and dad were selling maybe BOZO would have had to go.

I love the roosters though, sorry. In some houses they just go with the feel of the home. I have used them on occassion and they have all sold

Phyllis Pafumi

Jul 04, 2008 01:20 PM

Tina Parker

EXP Realty Canada Inc. - Halifax, NS

Managing Associate Broker

I can't tell you how many people tell me they clowns give them the creeps or they are afraid of them. And get this, most of them were men. Go figure. I watch a lot of those magazine shows like 60 minutes, 20/20 and so on and I can't help but see a pedofile behind the creepy eye. I think if you asked the homeowner you may find that the husband has been trying to get rid of those for years! LOL!!

BTW, I would never had recognized you, I love your new pic.

Jul 04, 2008 02:47 PM

Michelle Molinari

FEATURE THIS... Real Estate Staging & Interior Decor - Lafayette, LA

Feature This Real, Estate Staging & Curb Appeal Concepts

If I saw those clowns at a garage sale there is NO WAY they would escape my grasp.

They are absolutely CREEPY-COOL! I wouldn't stage with them, nor would I have them in my house. But my cousin has 2 vintage kitsch 50's 60's and 70's store locations in Austin. Only the real deal there, no reproductions. Those clowns wouldn't last 10 minutes in her store. They are very cool, and the colors are delish. That they are fuzzy to boot....well, would just make Lucretia swoon.

http://www.roomservicevintage.com/

Just click to see the pics and tell me those clowns wouldn't take that store by storm!

The man's trash...and all that. There is a market for those clowns, and I know the address to send them.

Jul 04, 2008 03:06 PM

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