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Kathy Nielsen, Atlanta Home Stager

Standing Out In A Sea Of Homes - Far Far Away

I recently shared pictures in a post titled Home Staging Up Close & Personal pictures I had taken that were close-ups of some of my more recent projects. This evening I was going through my portfolio and thought there may be some value in sharing a couple of pictures where the photo actually captures more than a single room.

Here's one project I had done a few months ago. As you can see, this photo captures the living area, kitchen and kitchen eat-in. I somehow managed to capture the ceiling, which in this home was a gorgeous feature of the home.

Home Staging Atlanta Georgia After Picture

Here's another picture that captures a variety of the rooms within the home. As you can see, it showcases the living room, eat-in kitchen, kitchen and even a small glimpse of the dining room (left hand side of the picture).

Home Staging Atlanta Georgia After Picture

I've learned to send a variety of different angles and views of the homes I've staged so that the agent can make the decision on which ones to use. Thus far, it's worked perfectly.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Atlanta Home Stager Logo

Serving home sellers, agents, builders and investors, they have the experience, skills and inventory to help make your home and/or listing stand-out from the others on the market. Kathy Nielsen, Owner and Principle Design Specialist is considered an expert in the field of home staging. Her expertise has landed her on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution and will soon have one of her homes appear on HGTV's Sleep On It

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the expertise and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.

A Home Staging Make-Over - Transforming the Kitchen

Whether your home is on the market or getting ready to list, it's important to know that one of the key rooms that buyers will pay close attention to is the kitchen. Why? For most, the kitchen is the 'heart of the home'; a place that family and friends will gather. As a result, you can expect buyers to linger longer in the kitchen than in almost any other room in the home.

Our objective when we stage a kitchen is to turn it into a show-case of a room. We want them to envision using this room with their own family and friends. Choosing the right accessories can play a critical role in how the home appears to the buyers.

Here's a before picture of a home we staged approximately a week and a half ago. See below for the after pictures.

Home Staging Atlanta Before Picture

Here's the room after we staged it:

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

The picture below shows the eat-in area as well.

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

And here's a close-up.

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Atlanta Home Stager Logo

Serving home sellers, agents, builders and investors, they have the experience, skills and inventory to help make your home and/or listing stand-out from the others on the market. Kathy Nielsen, Owner and Principle Design Specialist is considered an expert in the field of home staging. Her expertise has landed her on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution and will soon have one of her homes appear on HGTV's Sleep On It

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the expertise and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.

Home Staging Transformation

NOTE: I've renamed this post as the title was too similar to my post the previous day.

The thrill of being a home stager is realized when you've taken a room and transformed it into a warm and welcoming part of the home.

As a home stager in Atlanta, I've been fortunate to be given opportunities to help homeowners, Realtors, builders, investors, etc... Today was no different. We were awarded the home staging contract last week and staged the home in one day (today)!

As usual, I was anxious to get the pictures loaded so that I could send them off to the agent for her use. After loading them, and with my husband sitting idle (for a change), I decided to show him the set of photos. When we got to these two pictures, he had me go back and forth a couple of times to ensure it was the same room. I assured him it was.

Here's the room before it was home staged:

Home Staging Atlanta Before Picture

Now here's the "after" picture (see below):

Home Staging Atlanta Georgia After Picture

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Atlanta Home Stager Logo

Serving home sellers, agents, builders and investors, they have the experience, skills and inventory to help make your home and/or listing stand-out from the others on the market. Kathy Nielsen, Owner and Principle Design Specialist is considered an expert in the field of home staging. Her expertise has landed her on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution and will soon have one of her homes appear on HGTV's Sleep On It

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the expertise and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers.

What Rooms Should Be Home Staged?

It's a fair question and one I'm asked frequently. In fact, on the two appointments I had this morning both homeowners had asked that very question.

And because it's an important question, I thought it beneficial to add that many home stagers offer a variety of options from which to select. A home staging professional will also provide specific recommendations on what rooms would benefit the most. This typically occurs after they've had a chance to see the home first-hand.

Now to answer the question, it's important to consider the following:

1. What room(s) will the prospective buyers be entering when they arrive to see the home?

2. Is there an entrance (formal or otherwise)?

The answer to these two questions will most definitely play into the decision as to what rooms would benefit the most from being home staged.

Let's assume, for the purposes of this post, that the home has an entrance; a dining room to the left and a formal living room to the right. This seems to be a pretty common layout in most homes. Because buyers form opinions immediately upon entering the home, these three areas/rooms would be considered "key" rooms to have staged.

Other "key" rooms from a buyer's perspective are:

  • Kitchen/Kitchen Eat-in
  • Living room/den/family room
  • Master Bedroom & bathroom

Why are these rooms important? Because the buyers, when they purchase the home, will be spending the majority of their time in these rooms. When staged properly, they will appeal to the buyer's on an emotional level.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Atlanta Home Stager Logo

Serving home sellers, agents, builders and investors, we have the experience, skills and inventory to help make your home and/or listing stand-out from the others on the market. Kathy Nielsen, Owner and Principle Design Specialist is considered an expert in the field of home staging. Her expertise has landed her on the pages of Atlanta Magazine, Atlanta Home Improvement; Atlanta Business Chronicle, Atlanta Journal Constitution and will soon have one of her homes appear on HGTV's Sleep On It

With their extensive home staging portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the expertise and knowledge on what it takes to make your home and/or listing appeal to the prospective buyers. For a free no-obligation appointment, contact them today.

Building Your Staging Reputation

When I first started out, it was suggested that I consider having three levels of staging; low staging (more vignette-like); medium staging (heavier on the accessories with some heavier furniture items) and high level staging (the appropriate amount of furniture and accessories) and then price them accordingly. To me, it was like asking me to consider doing an okay job; a mediocre job and a great job. In the end, I just couldn't do it. What was and still is important to me is to ensure I do a "great job" with each and every staging I do.

And because this post addresses reputation (of which I've spent many years building), I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that here in Atlanta there was an investigation done into home staging company that uses home managers. It was a horrible set of circumstances that in the end didn't bode well for anyone involved (home owner, home staging company, agent, etc...). Was it a worse-case scenario? Probably. Were there things that could have/should have been done to avoid? Perhaps. However, I'll go on record now that this is one home stager in Atlanta that does NOT use home managers. While there are pros and cons to all services, this is one type of staging that my company will NOT be venturing into.

What I will continue doing is to:

  • Contribute to my industry
  • Do the best job possible on each and every home I stage
  • Make "selling their home" a priority
And with all that said, I'll leave you with some pictures of the town home I staged about 3 weeks ago.

Living room "before" picture:

Atlanta Home Stager Before Picture

In this "after" picture, you'll see that the builder had added built-ins.

Atlanta Home Staging After Picture

Dining Area "before" picture:

Atlanta Georgia Home Stager Before Picture

After Picture:

Atlanta Georgia Home Stager After Picture

Family Room Before Picture:

Atlanta Georgia Home Stager Before Picture

Family room After Picture:

Atlanta Georgia Home Stager After Picture

___________________________________________________________________________________________________Atlanta Home Stager Logo

Serving home sellers, agents, builders and investors, we have the experience, skills and inventory to help make your home and/or listing stand-out from the others on the market.

Home Staging Atlanta one home at a time!

With their extensive portfolio, you'll quickly learn that they have the expertise and knowledge on what it takes to make your home appealing to the prospective buyers. Need furniture and accessories? No problem. Their specialties are with vacant homes and model home staging.

For a free no-obligation appointment, contact them today.