Lisa Hougland

About Us:

I stage both furnished and unfurnished homes. I carry a fairly large inventory of furniture and accessories, which are available to sellers at affordable rental prices. My hourly rate is very Centsible and much lower than most stagers, designers, and decorators in Tallahassee. I am very team-minded, hard working, and willing to go the extra mile to help my clients. I have a large list of references available upon request.

Areas of Expertise

I really strive to work with what people already have in an occupied home. My goal in any home is to maximize its attributes, minimize its flaws, and define its spaces. I am very conscientious about the seller’s feelings and budget, and I work very hard to walk them through the home staging process and the importance that staging has in selling their home.

Testimonials

Buying a home is an emotional purchase and one way to get buyers excited about your property (after it's been priced to sell) is by creating a welcoming and visually stimulating experience. Even if you think that your house already looks good, a professional stager may be able to suggest small changes that make a huge difference. Often, rearranging furniture to showcase a focal point or adding/removing accessories can give positive ambience to a room that was previously dull and uninviting.

On the recommendation of a colleague, I hired a professional stager to assess my home when I was preparing it for sale. I was happy with the decor, but wanted another opinion on whether I should change the color of my dining room. Lisa Hougland of Centsible Style, LLC in Tallahassee, FL , came over and told me that the color was fine, but I should consider replacing the chandelier, which was dated. She quickly went through the rest of the house and made some very helpful suggestions that gave every room a WOW factor. I had two offers the first week.

I have recommended Lisa to several of my clients and am still amazed at the transformation that small changes can make. Having a professional stager assess your home and either make the changes for you or simply provide a list of suggestions, is an essential step in preparing your home for sale, especially in a buyers' market.

Recently, I decided to hire Lisa to assess a new listing that had been on the market for a couple of months with a different Realtor. In just over an hour, Lisa had gone through the home and made a number of helpful suggestions and followed up the next day with an email to the client and written list.

In the living room, the fireplace was the most likely candidate for a focal point, but instead, the back of the sofa was the first thing that you saw when you entered the room and the very large TV was a distraction. The owners had a small budget for decorating and wanted to work primarily with what they already had. Moving the TV wasn't an option.

For the living room, the stager suggested that the furniture be re-arranged to showcase the fireplace and make the traffic flow into the dining area easier. Other ideas included

• painting the white walls a color to complement the wallpaper in the kitchen
• simplifying what was on the walls and mantle
• adding a curtain rod and curtains (that the owners already had and weren't using)
• placing a large plant beside the TV
• bringing some of the color from the kitchen into the LR by colorful pillows and a throw for the couch.

The owners made the changes themselves and the net effect is a lovely warm and welcoming environment which is certain to entice and delight potential buyers. Colleen McConnell Century 21, Tallahassee

Lisa did a great job with difficult circumstances. After repeated showings with buyer response coming back with "there's too much stuff in the house," "hard to see the house," and "the house seems too small," Lisa spent an afternoon with the seller, and the first showing afterwards came back with, "the buyers think the floorplan is great and there's so much room!" and 3 days later made an accepted offer on the house! Staging WORKS!! Joanna Schmidtchen Keller Williams Town & Country Realty,Tallahassee