Staging Your Home

For most homes staging is key to selling your home! So what is home staging all about? Home staging is about illusions. It's beyond decorating and cleaning. It's about perfecting the art of creating moods. Staging makes your house look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and, best of all; it makes home buyers want to buy it.



Contrary to what you might think, it's about more than preparing the house for sale. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, decluttered, painted, made minor repairs; it's all about dressing the house for sale.


It's about adding the small details: the lipstick, mascara and, for simplicity, a stunning, single strand of small white pearls.


What is a Professional Home Stager?


Professional stagers are highly skilled artists. They can take a blank canvas and paint a sensuous portrait without ever lifting a paint brush. Stagers possess the skills of a top-level designers and they create dramatic scenery that appeals to all five senses. Here are some of their secrets:


• Arrange sparse pieces of furniture in an appealing grouping known as a vignette


• Showcase a generous usage of soft fabrics such as silk, lamb’s wool, satin


• Display unusual knickknacks in units of 1, 3 or 5


• Drape window coverings with simple lines


• Add unique elements to shelving, bookcases and fireplace mantels, which draw attention to predetermined areas


What Accessories Does a Stager Use?


Stagers bring in a vast array of items to spruce up the house. Here is a small sampling of items professional stagers often use to dress each room. How they are utilized is limited only by the creativity and vision of the stager.


• Mirrors


• Plants


• Silk Flowers


• Floor & Table Lamps


• Area and Throw Rugs


• Small Love Seats


• Ottomans


• Afghans


• Pillows


• Inflatable Queen-Size Beds


• Baskets


• Plastic Tables & Chairs


• Kitchen cabinet organizers


Professional Staging Tricks & Tips


The idea behind staging is to allow rooms to show themselves.


• Apply orange oil to cabinets that appear dry, which will renew their original luster


• Put out large bowls of fruit such as polished apples, bright oranges, luscious grapes


• Arrange colorful and fun cookbooks on the counters


Bring the outdoors inside through the use of greenery and plants; in creating clean, crisp spaces and arranging furniture with plenty of room to walk around. Bathrooms are essential to dress well. Bathrooms should look open, airy and delightful. Some tricks are to add baskets filled with spa treatments such as:


• Towels, tied with ribbons


• Scented soaps


• Creamy lotions


• Moisturizing & Facial jars


The back yard needs staging, too. For patios and decks, bring in plants and potted flowers, and add additional color by setting the picnic table with bright, plastic dinner plates.


How Much Does it Cost?


Prices vary depending on where you live and the local demand for professional home staging. Some real estate agents help sellers Stage® the home themselves. Most listing agents agree, however, that vacant homes show better with staging and will encourage sellers to hire a professional stager. Fees range from $500 to $5,000 or more, depending on square footage and the number of rooms staged.


So when getting ready to sell your home don’t just clean it stag it!


Please leave your comments below; I would love to hear from you!


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