With just the right special effects, good staging can transform a home into a house of dreams. Done wrong and a home can become more like the set of a horror movie, a real house of screams.
Home staging has become the norm in today’s uber-competitive real estate market. The homeowner’s equivalent of hiring a celebrity stylist for Oscar night, the stager’s goal is to accentuate all architectural assets, making spaces that could be perceived as austere or intimidating feel warm and inviting.
Staging has a physics defying effect that sakes small rooms larger, outdoor areas more dramatic and expands overall square footage. Home staging is particularly adept at communicating a lifestyle – that elusive symbiosis of good design and subtle luxury that says, “I’ve made it.. Not that I care….” Staging always increases the sale price. It’s a short-term, high yield investment.
Here’s an exclusive peek at how to make staging take center stage in your home for sale.
Right here. Right now…in ten easy scenes.
- Scene One: Appeal. Start with curb appeal, including raking up the fallen leaves, having an attractive front door with updated hardware and exterior light fixtures. Curb appeal should exude an unforgettable first impression that entices buyers to get out of the car and cross the threshold.
- Scene Two: Enchant. The front entry should generate some pomp and circumstance, excitement, drama, maybe a little razzmatazz. Create a focal point with an oversized mirror, a piece of art, lamp on a console table, fresh flowers or scented candles — but not all at once. Add drama, not a graveyard of props.
- Scene Three: Refresh. Sand and refinish hardwood floors. Clean carpets or replace dated flooring or countertops. Remove memories of little goblins handprints off the walls.
- Scene Four: Rearrange. Create appropriate furniture layouts where buyers aren’t dodging around coffee tables and dressers, making for better flow and showing off space. A better set design may be to focus towards the mountains, landscaped backyard, or park.
- Scene Five: Upgrade. Stainless steel appliances are the rage because they add the commercial look of perceived value. If you have space, toss in a glass-front wine cooler for sex appeal. Top a bathroom vanity with a vessel sink.
- Scene Six: Accommodate. Give your bathrooms that “Star” look. Add thick, white, luxury textured towels with extra hand towels at each sink — scented reeds or scented candles, glass jars filled with cotton balls or Q-tips and chrome soap dispensers at the ready.
- Scene Seven: Impress. Likewise treat your master bedroom like a luxury hotel suite featured in the movies. Include fluffy pillows and shams to match a thick duvet or quilt and stack some novels on a tray. Purchase a ceiling height plant to add perceived height and life to the room. If there is space, set up an armchair and reading light or a sofa to bring in coziness. Remove personal photographs.
- Scene Eight: Organize. Clear the set. Remove the clutter. Put in well-designed closets and organize this area. Closets should look good and smell good, not musty. Rack or drawer your shoes and house other accessories in matching wicker baskets. Leave as little as possible on the floor. Add cedar blocks for scent and invest in matching hangers to project a lifestyle of success.
- Scene Nine: Entertain. Add sound track. iPod music to wireless speakers. Install a plasma TV tuned to an eye-catching, replaying, high-density disc of panoramic scenes. You want to present your home as modernized and updated as possible.
- Scene Ten: Dramatize. Add a subplot of square footage with dramatic effects — mirrors in small areas, focused furniture positions, large bouquets of fresh flowers. Turn on all floor and table lamps for spotlighted living.
Stage from the floor up – Seating is limited, so book now.
Article Supplied BY: Karyn
CRAZY HOUSE Home Staging – The Art of Professionally Preparing A House for Sale
403.287.1774 – Website: www.crazyhouse.ca