When I stage a home, I keep several things rolling through my mind as I go from space to space, room to room. Those thoughts all fade together in creating only ONE purpose – stage to sell!
I’m never asked to stage a home for families who are trying to “make home.” The call to stage is for the purpose of only one thing – for the house to show well and for it to get under contract!
Staged homes do show well to hopeful buyers IF they are not over staged or under staged. This is a more difficult balance to achieve when I’m staging a home that is being lived in. You see, it can be a challenge to inspire the home owners to live in a place that feels like “it’s had all life sucked out of it!” That is what some homeowners say as they watch sooooo much, (and it usually is quite a bit), of their personal belongings going into boxes or attics, basements or even rented storage units. Personal photos, little Johnny’s collection of lizards and precious Pollyanna’s abundance of dolls should NEVER go into a Rubbermaid box, right?! I totally agree! BUT, if the goal is to sell our home, then the unheard of juuuust may need to be considered. Because we always want to keep the goal in mind – selling the house.
In today’s blog, I’m sharing with you a home where a realtor friend of mine wanted help staging a vacant home she and her husband had built together. So, choosing furniture and decor was on the job list, first. I found a few pieces and also sent her a color swatch in how to combine certain colors in offering a little guidance as she was shopping for just the right pieces in staging. (She is one TALENTED realtor!! And did a fantastic job picking out things,…don’t you agree?!)
In this photo, I was walking out of the Master Bedroom and loved seeing the soft blues from one end of the room to the other. The rug is neutral so it can be used in future stagings for this particular realtor, but also because….everything you see is for sell! If the homeowner wants any furniture piece or art or decor they see, they can purchase!
The photo below shows the view coming in through the front foyer – showing how we placed the furniture for conversation…it’s cozy because it’s symmetrical and “tidy.
Smooth wood and stone topped tables with metal legs kept the space from being closed off with “boxy” pieces of furniture.
One key to great staging is the flow of light.
The light is not hindered in any way in this space. We will be adding a piece of art above the mantle … but the candlesticks are a continuation of a 3rd of the fireplace height.
The above view is taken while standing in the front door. You see all the soft blue and taupe color scheme but the oversized art gives this space the height and added pop of color it needs to feel like it is a room with “personality.” The prettiest feature of the cane chair is it’s back…being able to see light through it. That is why I have it facing the back yard, so as people enter into the house, they see how it all works well together. (More decor items are coming!)
This kitchen set may appear off centered, but it is actually in the very middle of the breakfast nook. When I first got to the house, the table was placed in the space following the horizontal line. It consumed the space. There was nothing left, no room left for a hutch or sideboard. It swallowed the space and made it appear much smaller and without additional function. But when I turned the table on the vertical line from the window, it showed how there is plenty of room left for a nice sized hutch on the right and possibly a narrow sideboard on the left. (Art work to be hung soon!)
With the chairs facing the side entrance to the kitchen, you actually see the front of them instead of the back when you walk in from the family room. The bench is so low, that nothing breaks the visual line of the eye from seeing how open this space really is, and too, this way you do not have to walk all the way around the length of the table to take in the backyard view. You can easily walk right up to the window and that automatically makes things “feel spacious.”
The Master bedroom is staged, too, but not quite ready to share that one…need to get a few more things done in there.
But you know what I was thinking when I was moving furniture around in this house the other day – looking at how beautiful all the finishes are — the granite, the tiles, the stones, the woods, the fixtures — as stunning as it ALL is, (without a single person living inside yet), I found myself hoping (and praying) that whoever God has chosen to make this house their “Home” will truly care so much more about the “life of the home” than the “look of the home.”
They will have so much love, laughter and memory making days within these walls! Regardless if they buy any of the staging furniture or not, that when they place their own furnishings into this home, they will place even MORE their favor – the favor of blessing – onto their children, their spouses, their families and friends, and to every guest who will come to visit.
I got a call from a new friend, Anthony Britt, Missions and Evangelism Pastor at FBC Madison, while I was working in this home. And one thing we talked about is the upcoming mission trip to Haiti. As we talked, I was centering a dining room table under a chandelier and I couldn’t help but think —
“Lord, keep me SO CENTERED on Your perfect plans for my life that NOTHING will ever keep me from missing them!“
Have fun this week friends! Enjoy your home – enjoy your family! Make it count!
Love you bunches,
lisa
