There are several efforts that Real Estate agents and their sellers can benefit from by following a few basic steps to getting a home ready to be SOLD. When it comes to Staging, I emphasize these eight processes.

1. General evaluation or overview of your homes contents, furnishings and accessories is the beginning. Do you have updated items or do you have furniture that needs to be replaced? You need to see your home through buyer’s eyes. You may have comfortable furniture that is neutral and would seem to be okay, but is it clean, is it thread bare or does it need to be changed out? Just because you are familiar with it, doesn’t mean it is appealing to buyers. So evaluate your home items carefully.

2. Decluttering is the biggest action you can take that doesn’t cost a thing, except to your muscles. Clutter isn’t dirt, or newspapers, or trash. It is your personal items, that are just everywhere due to your everyday living. It is also your decorations and/or collections that are only significant to you. Taking down all those knickknacks on the fireplace mantle is going to be a hard thing to do, but in the long run it will bring about a much more appealing fireplace for buyers to notice. Getting rid of clutter increases the condition of your home. The walls can be visible, the floors can be seen and the architectural features will be noticed with the clutter gone. You are selling square footage, so let it be seen and not hidden under clutter!

3. Depersonalizing will help the buyers be more comfortable while viewing the home. There are 3 major categories of depersonalizing; personal, religious, and sexual items. Once I did a design consultation in a home where the teenage boy had the room full of female posters. Whew, now that would have been a major problem if we had left those on the walls. Personal items need to be packed up and all personal or family photos need to be removed from walls, dressers, curios, etc. Religious items also need to be removed from view. We live in a glorious country that has religious freedom, but having said that, not everyone has the same religion. So removing religious art, accessories and books helps the buyer place their own religious items in the prospective home. You are selling and moving– with your items.

4. Generalizing your home is the next step. Most people admire natural beauty of plants. Use them to bring life to the dining table or the corner of the family room. Buyers want to envision their furniture in the home. They want to dream and imagine about their things in your home you are selling, and anything distracting takes away that opportunity hurts the sale. Neutral paint colors on the walls also helps with the mood. Soft, warm, neutral tones are the best because they are soothing and calming, where reds or yellows are too direct and say something other than ‘dream away’ while you are viewing our home.

5. Realize the features that are truly unique to your home and then highlight them! Be imaginative when getting your home ready to sell. Today’s market is tough and buyers need to be ‘wowed’ more than ever. Perhaps you have a spectacular yard that you have worked hard on, so make it the focused feature during your selling experience. Purchase or rent or even borrow very nice patio furniture, nice outdoor dishes and dress up the patio table to play up the living space outdoors. Perhaps you have a loft or a vaulted ceiling in your home. Play that feature up with nice accessories placed tastefully in those places that will be noticed as to accentuating the positive. You want your home to be remembered and that bit of added drama could be just the deal maker.

6. Don’t forget the front door! Most sellers get the inside of the home painted and ready and they forget the exterior impression that the buyers see FIRST! Painting the front door can be done so quickly; it dries fast. Dressing up the front entrance is part of the appeal that can not be ignored. Trim shrubs or possibly remove some that have heavily over grown. Placing a nice pot of fresh flowers near the door is very welcoming and refreshing. If it is hard for you to keep the flowers alive, buy expensive, artificial greenery (cactus types or grasses) and place them in nice pots. (More on that later) The porch light needs to be nice looking and turned on! The door bell needs to be working. Replacing the door hardware with more updated metals, if necessary, that would make a nicer first impression. Yet remember; keep it non-personal and general.

7. Lighting! Clean ALL of your light fixtures. Install new fixture that are over 15 years old unless it is an aged home with nice antique fixtures. Place lamps in the living room and bedrooms and turn them on during the showings. Clean all ceiling fan blades and replace the bulbs, especially if you can’t remember how long ago they were changed. If the fans are malfunctioning in any way, replace the entirely new fan or perhaps a new chandelier. There are many available that are inexpensive, which will dress up the area. Hire an electrician to do the work and you will be glad you did. Turn on all lights and open all blinds or draperies, even in the middle of the day, when showing your home. Each room will seem more inviting to the buyers if every room is well lit. My personal favorite is to light up the dark corners with lights that shine up from the floor, a.k.a. “uplights”. You will be surprised how like a Model Home your home will ‘look’ simply by doing the lighting just right.

8. PAINT! You get the best ‘bang for your buck’ with paint. So inexpensive for the benefits it gives in the resale of your investment. Starter homes or Spec homes are usually painted beige. This is done primarily to give the walls a covering and to let you choose your colors on your own. If you keep them beige thinking you are going to be selling in few years. Well, guess what? They are dingy in a few years and you have to paint them anyway. So paint them the colors you want when you live there. Paint every 2-3 years and ESPECIALLY when you are going to SELL. If they are beige when you move in and you haven’t painted them any color when you have been living there, you MUST paint them at least, beige when you get ready to sell. So you might as well paint a nice color on the walls while you are buying and residing there! It’s true! Painting your home is profitable. Not painting is expensive, because you lose money. If a buyer sees they will have to paint over dingy paint, they will offer a lower price.

Bonus point - Remember a half-dead plant is a dead plant. Replace your dead plants with new, vibrant and alive ones. Clarification: If you are moving before your home sells (leaving it vacant) at least leave nice artificial plants in the home. There are many wholesale places available now that have nice greenery that looks real, even though artificial in plastics or silks. I am not one for fake flowers, but in Home Staging, vacant homes need nice looking fakes. Does that make sense?

Spend some extra effort on your home to get it Staged, to get it SOLD! I love doing Design Consultations for the home you are planning to sell. Schedule a DC today from this Blog and you’ll get 10% off!

Several of my clients have great looking homes! When I first enter, I wonder why are they having me here? But soon I realize they have actually commited some decorating blunders or "Ooops". So perhaps this blog could help with some of the more common areas I see, that could save you from those mistakes

1. Mirrors aren't Art:  If you are afraid of commitment to art, don't be! Art is so full of emotion. Go to a local art purchasing gallery (they are nice and friendly environments, really) to scope out what you really like. What speaks to you. Then find a "knock off" or get a local artist to do a nice rendition you can afford. Or save your money for that piece you absolutley love. Perhaps take a class or better yet, remember what you did learn in school and then do it yourself on a larger scale. You just may surprise yourself. Most of the Art I have purchased for my clients were mark downs. It really isn't very expensive. Shop around! Mirrors are 'ok ' in very specific places (especially small rooms) but as a substitute for Art, nah - - doesn't work.

2. Paint worries:  Paint is the least expensive item in a makeover. You get more "bang for your buck" when you invest in paint. Don't be afraid of colors, light or dark. One of my favorite redesigns was in a home that already had one wall painted in a dark reddish orange, (it's in my portfolio). It looked so great. It was a great balance to the design.  Go for Blue, Green or Yellow as a great selection to bring new life to a home that is beige or white. Paint! It will greatly enhance the look of a room.

3. Be budget conscious:  New interiors don't have to be expensive. Don't spend all your money on fancy accessories that you just can't live without, or just because your friends have the same style. Shop at garage sales, thrift stores. I love a great deal and when I find it, WOW, I love it. Many overstock companies have great deals that just didn't quite sell the first time out at high end stores. Make good use of your dollars!

4. Bad overhead lighting:  Lamps are all the rage these days and they are abunduntly available. If you can't afford wonderful lighting recessed in the ceiling, then get lamps to light the way. Remember to place them in a triangle around the room. Fore instance; when placeing lamps on each side of the sofa and one across the room - would be considered a triangle (from floorplan view). Atmosphere and charm are easily created with awesome lighting.

5. Too much matching:  I once heard Oprah talk about having chairs all different styles because she didn't want to have her casual dining area all "matchy-matchy poo-poo". It is true. A beige sofa with beige pillows and beige carpeting is so unexciting. Mixing up styles and colors are fabulous, if you use the same style or scale to create the correct look. Give the home personality by using color schemes that enhance your rooms- not just safe, boring beige.

6. Symmetry vs. Asymmetry:  Many ameteurs think symmetry is appealing and do it too much. A stronger statement is made with asymmetry. It gives balance with opposite items that enhance rather than take away from the look. Remember symmetry was created as a classical style idea that needs to be done carefully or it looks ridgid and yet more ridiculous.

7. Hanging Art is an Art:  The rule is - hang art 4-6 inches above the furniture that is harnessing it and hang items as a gallery effect at eye level, (around 60-70 inches from the floor) where it can be viewed by walking up to it. Purchase appropriate hardware, nails and hooks, etc. plus a level so they hang without you needing to tilt your head.

8. Floating rugs: This is defined by a rug just in the middle of the room without anything to anchor it down to the space. More for esthetics but also for safety; I've heard of people actually being injured. The rule is the legs of the sofa or loveseat or chairs need to be on top of the rug by 3-4 inches at least. This give a cozy conversation area a better look which also creates a more appealing grouping.

9. Toilet hugging rugs: Speaking of rugs, please remove all of the carpeting, rugs and especially the ones that go directly beneath the toilet. Yuk, they are gross. Simple use of a bath mat over the bathtub placed on the floor during bathing, is much better. Placing it up on the tub is much nicer! Carpeting in a bathroom is so out - yuk!!

10. Half dead plants: They are not "pretty' and they need to be replaced or nurtured faithfully back to health. If you can't keep them green, please consider artificial greenery that is "real" looking. There are some amazing products out there now that have been painstakingly made to look very real, really. Go for the more expensive products not the cheap and therefore looking cheap and fake. You want 'pretty' , 'expensive' or the actual real green stuff.

If you are wondering if you are making these mistakes, perhaps we should schedule The Entry, to turn you in the right direction.

Firm believer here, of those things that are placed before you for a reason is a reason to act. The Real Estate market here is doing pretty well considering the crunches in the other parts of the country. Home Staging is an integral part of the selling trend, too.

The other day one of my clients was concerned about the finishing touches on her latest listing. I assured her that the cost to do the Staging would be well worth it. When we completed the project, they got much more action on a home that was not having hardly any.

Another vacant home that I did Staging sold in less that 30 days! I love doing Design Consultations and Interior Redesigns to get homes sold!! It is very satisfying work to do something that betters someone elses life. If you are an agent and wonder about the facets of Home Staging, consider that a Interior Redesign for a Sale is probably the best money you could pay, because you get it back almost immediately. Makes perfect sense and cents!