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A Balancing Act

By
Home Stager with Lionheart Home Staging, LLC

Home staging has been identified as a key component to preparing houses for sale. Professional stagers have been known to beautifully redesign a living room within minutes of stepping into the space, leaving home owners scratching their heads and muttering, "Why didn't I think of this before?"

The truth is, there is a fine art (yes, art) to the act of rearranging furniture and setting home accents in "just the right place." More than having good taste in decorating, stagers follow proven design principles that show off the individual layout of a house and highlight the features of each room. To accomplish these tasks, stagers perform a "balancing act" that equally distributes visual weight around the room.

In the photo below, the buffet and glass cabinet AND art work AND lack of space on the opposite wall create an over-crowded and unbalanced room that weighs heavy to the right. Off-centered to the light fixture, the improper placement of the table adds to the uneven representation of this room.

Removing the buffet and cabinet allows the table to be centered under the light fixture and with the window. Eliminating the large furniture pieces also creates a "lighter feeling" on the right wall which results in balanced visual weight with the opposite wall.

Rearranging and/or eliminating furniture while staging serves a specific purpose when preparing your home for the market. When properly placed, your furniture will accentuate the positive characteristics of each room.

KFM Staging & Design is a Minnesota home staging company that creates "First Impressions that Sell" in the Twin Cites and Western Wisconsin. KFM specializes in vacant staging and staging consultations. Visit our website for staging tips or to schedule your in-home or online consultation.

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Comments(7)

Michelle Finnamore
Toronto GTA, Alliston, Newmarket - Vaughan, ON
Preparing your property for sale

Hi Kristina, it feels good now doesn't it. It's hard for buyers to put into words, but they know they feel right in a room. It is an art, that's why it's always advised to get a professional home stager on your marketing team as they know from gut instinct what to do. It's not a hobby, it's peoples equity in their homes that we are dealing.

Feb 17, 2009 02:20 AM
Kristina Leone
Lionheart Home Staging, LLC - Minneapolis, MN

Hi Michelle!  Although I did recommend painting to remove the faux finish, the home owners opted to not do it - fortunately the house sold anyway!!! 

Feb 17, 2009 02:30 AM
Teri Eckholm
Boardman Realty - White Bear Lake, MN
REALTOR Serving Mpls/St Paul North & East Metro

Kristina--Wow...rearranging made such a big difference in the space. It is amazing what removing a few pieces of furniture can do to a room (even when they don't paint over the faux finish).

Feb 17, 2009 05:59 AM
Juliet Johnson
Vizzitopia - St Johns, FL
Jacksonville Photography & Digital Marketing

Years ago, I read an article Anne Maurice wrote about how your house is ready to be sold when you are.  Her point was that you had to let go, start moving out, pack up things create empty spaces so that other people feel like there's room for them to come in.  I'm paraphrasing, of course, and have started to add my own twists into the sentiment, but can tell you... from recent personal experience.  It wasn't until I took 1/3 of the furniture out of every room and ALL the accessories that I was able to see, to detach and then restyle my home thus enabling a sale.  And I'm the only house in my price band that has sold in 6 weeks... and counting!

So, you are right.  Balance, perspective, and most importantly, clear vistas  so that the buyer can mentally move in!

Feb 17, 2009 10:28 AM
Peg Prather
Vancouver, WA
Vancouver, WA

Nice job of getting this room back into "balance"! When I see an "after" picture of a room like this, I say that the room can now BREATHE!

Feb 17, 2009 01:07 PM
Michele Hess
Simply Staged Inc. - Rockford, IL
Home Stager Rockford - Simply Staged Inc

You not only balanced the room Kristina, you lifted up the feel of the entire space.  Well done.

Feb 18, 2009 08:37 AM
Sheila Kennedy
J29 Project - Rochester, NY

Great job!  The room looks so much better.  It is amazing how removing a few pieces of furniture can make all of the difference. 

Feb 20, 2009 12:22 PM