Chrissie Sutherland

Hi Everyone,

Ok, so I went to this house Thursday and took some pictures and emailed the quote to the Realtor Friday. Well, instead of answering my quote, she called me yesterday (Saturday) at 11am and asked if I could help her do some staging for the open house TODAY (Sunday). So....I started throwing things into my car, ran to the store to get a few things, started at 4:00 and finished at 7:00, ready for open house today. A little goes a long way....she was happy. PS. I should start charging extra for same day staging. LOL

Last month I blogged about a floor plan that had me stumped. The living area, which is the only one in the house, had the strangest layout. Buyers that were coming through had a very hard time invisioning how they would lay out their furniture in this space. The Realtor convinced the builder to have the home staged. After MUCH hesitation, he agreed. Here is a picture of the room.

After we staged this home, the builder and I did a walk-thru where he had pointed out everything he didn't like, which was almost everything. He couldn't understand why I didn't make the fireplace the focal point of the room. The way the room was laid out, there was just no way to do that. The only eating area in the home was the formal dining room which is to the right at the front door. So, I put a small table and chairs in front of the fireplace to give the buyers another option as to where they can eat.

Anyway, FORTY DAYS after we staged, the home was under contract!!!!! YEAH!!

The Realtor said after we staged all the negative comments were no longer. I love it when that happens!!

Here are the after pics for those of you who have not seen it before:

Even on a small budget, staging can make a difference. When a potential buyer walks into a vacant home, 90% of them cannot visualize how to place furniture or the scale of the room since there is nothing in it to compare the size of the room to. By simply placing a few pieces of furniture and some colorful accessories, the room feels more livable and gives the buyer a feel of the scale of the room and if their furniture will fit. Buyers buy homes based on how the home makes them feel. Leaving it empty and colorless is a little depressing. Adding some texture and color brings it to life.

Ready Set Stage....small changes, HUGE results.

Hi all,

Well I finally found a furniture company that will work with me by providing furniture from their showroom. Barbara Mann with Remax Realty Consultants called me and asked for my help on a Brownstone that she is listing. It has been on the market for over a year with no interest.

This economy has been hard on everyone, and we needed to think outside the box to try to save money and help this builder show this home in a better light. I approached Klaussner Home Furnishings and asked if they would be willing to provide furniture for the living room, dining room and bedroom, in return, when the home sells, the builder will buy a $2500 gift card to their store for the new owner to spend. They agreed!!! I went and picked out what I wanted and they delivered it. They have a great selection of furniture and I hope this goes well for everyone and we can continue to work side by side in the future.

I also want to thank Budget Blinds for providing blinds at cost to put in the windows in the front of the house. They look beautiful! The builder has plans to build 6 more buildings and we will give out Budget Blinds name to all the new owners for their window treatment needs.

Here are the results

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Hi fellow stagers,

I found this cool wall art that I wanted to share. If you want something different instead of framed art or canvas art, check this out. The only thing is, you stick them to the wall, but it says they are with 3M backing. As long as they don't pull the paint off, I would definitely try them. They come in white so you can spray paint them the color you want. How cool is that? Here is some more info. You can do a search on Wallter and there are many places that sell them. If anyone has tried them, I'd love to hear what you think. http://2modern.com/designer/Wallter/Wallter-Circles-Wall-Application?leadsource=DTI