Wow, that is an amazing difference! Buyers clearly prefer the after results!

GOOD Job. 

Just goes to prove that less is more.  Gives the buyers an opportunity to see the house - not the stuff in the house. 

Great job !!!

what a difference.

Yes, I would be totally paralized and without words.  That is the hard part for me... finding kind, gentle and supportive words when walking into a space like this without sticking my foot in my mouth or not being too obvious when picking my jaw up off the floor.  You did an amazing job - love the space transformations!  Congrats on the sale too.  After all that decluttering, you deserve a spa day!

Lisa Sherman ~ Interior Aura

Brian, Terrylynn, Nancy, & Anne ~ What a great response from our realtor community!  Thanks for taking the time to comment and support your staging partners here in the Rain.  We're hoping more of your colleagues around the country will jump on the staging bandwagon and get their expired listings staged & SOLD!

Lisa ~ I know many of us face these daunting jobs all the time, but this was one of my most difficult jobs for several reasons --  Thanks for stopping.

I had a similar one earlier this year.  It's sold now but it took as long to stage as it did to sell it.  Great job!

What a difference your hard work made.  The after looks very nice, no wonder is sold so quickly.  

Your work is amazing as are the "after" pictures.

Congratulations.  Your post is being featured within the group Staging Before & After Pics.

Kathy

What a great transformation.  I hope the sellers were the ones that de-cluttered and moved the excess!

I love this example Maureen! The difference is huge and you did it using their things! It's easy to see the difference when the room is vacant and then the magic of "stuff" coming in happens. But to use what someone else owns and removing the "clutter" is a different challenge.  You did a GREAT job!

Maureen ~ Nice job! Everything looks so much "lighter"; they certainly had a lot of stuff.   

Maureen this is awesome -- I love doing this kind of stuff.  This is agreat example of my chef analogy!

"Professionally re-designing an occupied home for sale, is like a Chef that has exceptional skills and demonstrates the ability to work with inferior, but adequate utensils, average canned goods and the standard condiments at hand to create an exquisite meal that appeals to the majority of palettes."

You are a great chef!

Great results!  I love when the homeowners own items are used to achieve amazing results!

Ardell & Doreen ~ Thanks for your kind comments -- we really do appreciate it when realtors such as yourselves understand the difference that staging can make for their listings.

Kathy N. ~ Thanks for commenting and for the feature!

Sandra ~ Yes, I made a list of things that the sellers should remove between the consultation and staging day ... and fortunately they followed all my instructions for this large 4 bedroom home.  This was a rare job that I did without any assistance from my team (never again!).

Karen O. ~ Thanks so much.  It really can be more challenging when you're working with the seller's own things, you are right!

Kathy ~ This was one of the darkest, heaviest homes I've worked in. So the first goal was to "lighten" it and I'm glad that shows.  Thank you for stopping!

Karen D. ~ What a nice compliment, thank you!  I love your chef analogy and it really does seem to fit into our line of work, doesn't it?  This house was like a nightmare goulash at the beginning, with everything including the kitchen sink in it!  However, the "after" and the quick sale provided all the frosting on the cake that I could have hoped for.

Kristina ~ It's challenging and rewarding at the same time to use what you are given and make the most of it.  We added very few of our accessories because the budget was limited.  Thanks for your feedback.

Maureen - what a transformation!   This is one of the best examples I have ever seen of what staging can do for occupied homes.  These jobs are not easy but so worth it in the end when the house finally sells after languishing on the market.  Terrific work by a true professional - well done.

From drab to dream.  What a difference?  Truly less is more and especially when you know how to stage it.  Great job Maureen.

Tarenia 

Lonni ~ What a nice compliment, thank you very much.  Sellers in occupied homes really need our assistance, and even with a limited budget, staging can work wonders to make the home more appealing to their target buyer.

Tarenia ~ You used a term we use often when talking to clients -- "less is more."  It pretty much sums up my staging philosophy!  Thanks for your kind remarks.

TOTALLY AWESOME Maureen!

Terry ~ Thanks!  Congrats on your "Rookie Stager of the Year" RESA nomination -- that's AWESOME too!

Great staging & marketing of this house, Maureen!  When the sellers are motivated & agree to pack what the stager recommends-it's PRICELESS!

Kathy

Nice work Maureen!  Glad to see those HUGE hanging lamps (ick!) in the BR changed!!  The D-R-E-A-M word-sculpture was a great fit for the style of decor. Congrats on a fast sell!  Regards-Kathleen G

Kathy ~ Thank you for your feedback ... no kidding, having the sellers motivated enough to remove what I recommended was the best possible scenario. This job was big enough without my doing that too!

Kathleen ~ Oh yeah -- weren't those hanging lamps just atrocious? You were the first to comment on them.  They were quickly replaced by some clearance lamps from Home Depot that were such an improvement!  Thanks for your kind remarks.

Maureen - BEAUTIFUL!!!

Jackie

I know, it's almost like you feel like a cleaning service or a pick-up stuff service, when you get theses types of jobs.

Jackie ~ Thank you!

Cindy ~ No kidding!  Isn't it amazing what we sometimes find when we're working?   Thanks for stopping.

I feel your pain..yes some occupied homes are sooo cluttered that I can't think when I first enter the space. But then you roll up your sleeves and perform your magic. What a great transformation. The clients must have been floored.

Phyllis Pafumi

Phyllis ~ I know that you have staged many, many occupied homes like this one.  You're right, we just roll up our sleeves and tackle each room, one by one.  (Yes, my clients were speechless but probably quickly recovered when they had a quick sale shortly after!)  Thanks for your feedback.

Fantastic job.  It looks like a different home.  I love the light change in the bedroom.  You have a gift.  I am sure the home owners and the realtor are thrilled.

This home looks fabulous! You really made the environment light and open. I also like your design sense. I'm curious as to whether you had to do alot of cleaning and deoderizing. I have been fortunate to have occupied homes that were pretty clean and mostly free of clutter. I've always wondered how much actual cleaning time is spent on a cluttered home. An equally paralyzing thought is where to put the "stuff" that the owners didn't remove and that you didn't use.

Janice ~ Thanks for your kind words.  This home really NEEDED to look different, especially since it had lingered on the market for 6 months without an offer.  Wouldn't it be great if all our potential clients realized the true power of staging? We'd all be fully booked!!  :-)

Stacy ~ You asked some great questions.  Cleaning is not in my staging contract, and I do request that cleaning be completed by the client prior to staging day. Inevitably though, we end up doing a little cleaning of areas that were overlooked.  We use either Pure Citrus or Pure Ayre to deodorize homes we stage -- it really makes a difference and both of these products are safe around kids & pets in case the home is occupied.  For this home, there was still a lot of leftover "stuff" when I staged, so it was placed in the garage for the client to move out to storage.  Thanks for your comment!

Wow!!  What a difference!!  It doesn't even look like the same house!  You did a great job and I'm sure the homeowners are thrilled!

Thanks Lori for commenting ~ they were indeed happy to get it sold after more than 6 months on the market.

Maureen,  Huge difference...very nice job.   Great post.

Gary ~ I appreciate your comment, thanks for stopping by!  I guess this job made for some dramatic Before & After photos didn't it?

What a difference it made.

I have a super cluttered one coming on the market. The seller knows and admits it but is just too overwhelmed and tired to do anything about it. What do I do without spending a fortune? I think the price of the house is going to be competitive, though.

Cathy ~ I would encourage you to look for a stager in your area right here on A/R.  You may find someone who'd be willing to come in a tidy up and work with the seller to put things in order, decide what could be sold, given away, put into storage, etc. Remind your seller that they're going to have to pack up when the house sells, so they may as well get started now (or let the stager tell them).  It makes such a big difference and will make the home much more appealing to potential buyers.  No one wants to see a seller's "stuff" piled up all over the place -- they won't notice the features of the home.

Maureen your pictures are like night and day.  What a wonderful job you did.  If these pictures don't speak to realtors - I don't know what will.  Great job.  Betty

Betty ~ Thanks for your kind remarks.  It's great to see you here again -- we missed you!!  Happy 2008 to you and Margo!

Maureen,

It just goes to show a picture speaks 1000 words......Great job!  Hope you had that spa day.

Debbie

Rooms Rearranged - Chandler, AZ

Debbie ~ Thanks for commenting -- pictures really do tell the story here.  (The spa day hasn't yet happened, but for now I'll settle for an appointment at my hair salon!)

Thanks Maureen.  It is so good to be back - you have no idea.  You know that old saying "If you don't have your health - well how true it is."  Happy New Year to you too.  I think 2008 is going to be a banner year for stagers!  Betty

Thanks so much for sharing your photos.  You did a fabulous job!  How can realtors not stage when they see that sort of a transformation...

Deena ~ You've posed a great question -- we often wonder about that too.  The more we spread the word to realtors and the general public about the value of staging, we hope they'll see its benefits in terms of the bottom line.  Thanks for your comment.

Maureen~ Paralyzed is a gread adjective on how we feel when we start that kind of job AND when we finish!!  But the results of hard work are rewarded accordingly!!  Great job!

Rearranged For Change, Omaha NE

Thanks Lisa.  As difficult as these jobs are sometimes, as you said the results make it worthwhile.  A quick sale always puts a smile on my face!

Awesome job in this home.  Just goes to show:  the power of home staging without purchasing all new furniture.  I think stagers who use what the homeowner already owns, deserve our recognition of a job well done!  You are a testiment to our profession!

You did an excellent job, with what you had to work with this is amazing !! You go girl

You have just proven what a difference home staging can make....keep up the amazing work!

Diana, Mary Lou, & Melissa ~ Thanks so much for your kind remarks.  Often we must work with what the homeowner has on hand, which can be more challenging but may also be more rewarding when you see the results.  I can confirm the seller here was a bit shocked at the transformation.  We all need to keep reminding sellers and agents of the benefits of staging, don't we?

Very nice before and afters, excellent work.  Can you imagine a buyer even walking through the whole house had this work not been done?  I sure can't... beautiful representation of what staging is all about!

Thank you Holly for your comment!  You hit the nail on the head -- before this cluttered home was staged, potential buyers couldn't even walk through the rooms easily.  No wonder no offers came in.  Clearing out most of the excess and re-arranging the furniture showed buyers the space, instead of the "stuff."

Wow!  I bet this one gave you nightmarees!  It never ceases to amaze me how people live in their homes.

What a mish-mash style of furnishings in the befores. Nice after - I would be careful of the rug on a carpet however - I see it did give color, but they (to me) just never look right and are always wavy and a bit hazardous.

Major difference with your staging and a few updates. 

Kathleen ~ I hear you about the area rug ... but with a white carpet, white walls and their white sofa & loveseat -- yikes!  I had to add some much-needed color.  Fortunately, this area rug is 100% wool and quite heavy, so it didn't get wavy and present a hazard.  I wouldn't have placed a nylon rug there for the very reason you mentioned.  Thanks for commenting.

Maureen, another fantastic job! That bedroom was a horror chamber. I half expected to see pictures of the owners in Goth attire! Isn't there a great deal of satisfaction when you can take a place like that and completely turn it around? It really makes our job fun.

Kathy ~ Yes, freeing a home from so much clutter is a good feeling, I agree!  Thanks for your kind words.

Maureen,

As usual less is more. Especially when less is redesigned by you! I just staged a garden home with white walls and molding this week and i really appreciate the area rug to bring in some color. Thanks for sharing. 

Susan ~ I appreciate your remarks and consider you the staging expert of the Northwest!  This home had way too much white and way too much clutter -- and that's an understatement.  Please show us some more of your Before & Afters too.

Maureen,  I hope you're not tired of hearing it but, WOW, WOW and WOW!  That is a great job!  Congratulations - and don't you just love that it sold quickly after staging?  Kudos to you! -Sheri

Sheri ~ Of course, I'm more than happy to hear such a nice compliment -- thanks so much!  I have to admit that when this job was completed I was SO tired, but the results more than made up for my temporary collapse!