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WHAT IS HOME STAGING?
Thanks
to an extremely competitive real estate market, professional
home staging is more popular than ever. While real estate
experts are “scratching their heads” wondering if their
market has “hit bottom”, or if interest rates will continue
to go up, they all agree that staging a home is well worth
the effort and expense.
In an ever changing real estate climate, it’s important to
“spotlight” your home’s best features, for photos on the
internet and color handouts. And when buyers walk through
your front door, you want them to feel a connection
immediately. A professional home stager knows how to do
this, quickly and objectively.
Home staging is different from interior design. To stage a
home, we de-personalize it, to appeal to the broadest pallet
of design preferences. The opposite applies to interior
design, where we strive to help you create a space that
appeals to you first and foremost.
As a professional home stager, I can see your home
objectively, as a potential buyer would see it. As a buyer,
I want to see a home that’s move-in ready. Distractions,
such as clutter, chipped paint and dirty carpet lessen the
home’s appeal.
Clutter is the number one “Sale Buster”. Homeowners can
overlook magazines, repair projects, collectables and crafts
that add up slowly over the years. Unfortunately, a buyer
won’t. As a homeowner, you can save yourself a lot of money
in the staging process, by tackling the clutter yourself.
This is the time to purge with reckless abandon! There are
also a number of companies that rent ‘pods’ for temporary
storage. It’s pretty simple. A storage container is
delivered to your home for you to load extra furniture and
boxes and then it’s picked up and stored until you’re ready
to move into your new home.
Once the
clutter and over-stuffed closets are tackled, furniture,
accessory and art placement can be addressed. This is the
job that’s daunting to many homeowners, but it’s what we
home stagers live for! A professional stager will consider
whether or not there’s too much or too little furniture in a
room and if it’s properly placed, to make the room look
spacious and inviting. We look for balance and to establish
a “connection point” in each room, as we place focus on the
positives while minimizing any negatives in a space.
You’ll find that a good stager will include everything from
the front sidewalk to the back fence, in his or her scope.
So, make sure that the unusable, unsightly and unneeded
extras are removed prior to your first showing. “If your
home can’t be seen, it can’t be sold.” Prune back overgrown
shrubs and clear the walkways. Replace your front door mat
and sweep the spider webs. Set your outdoor table as though
you’re ready for a party. Buy a new outdoor umbrella,
spread some fresh bark, pull dead plants and plant annuals
for extra color. It all spells “more money and a faster
sale”.
While I make it clear that I’m not responsible for the work
other companies perform, I usually keep a list of painters,
gardeners and handymen on hand, should they be needed. With
all the competition in the marketplace with new homes,
buyers expect to see a home that’s move-in ready, so tackle
what needs repair now.
It may all sound a bit overwhelming, but for people like me,
it’s darn near fun! Get referrals of the stager you talk to
and check them out. Just because someone calls themselves a
home stager, doesn’t mean they are a good one. I work
through Realtors who like my work and continue to refer me
to their clients. While home design has been a life-long
passion for me, I’ve also been though some pretty extensive
hands-on, as well as classroom training, to become a
Certified Professional Home Stager. If I can help you sell
your home, or get settled in your new home, I hope you’ll
give me a call!What is
Redesign?
Do you
want to create a "pulled together" look in your home without
spending a fortune?
Have you purchased items that you just can't seem to make work in your
home? Are you entertaining soon and want to WOW your
guests?
If so,
then our Interior Redesign service can help, improving the
flow and function of your home, by assessing furniture
placement, paint color, accessories and wall art, is the
place to start. Often we find too much clutter, a lack of
balance or competing styles within a home and that’s easy to
fix, in less time than you’d think. Transitions Home Design
can redesign a room or your whole home, depending on your
needs, goals and budget. Give us a call today, to find out
more!
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