Home Staging for Discerning Lifestyle

With just over 6,000 sq ft of beautiful interiors and expansive outdoor space this very "lived-in" house was transformed into a home you'd expect to see in a "high-end" lifestyle magazine. Working with the homeowners we spent many days preparing this home to bring it to the expectations of a discerning home buyer and showcase it like a million dollar house. With so many unique and inspiring architectural features built into the home, it was important to remove the clutter, excess furniture, repurpose and downscale the 'day-to-day' affects of family living.

Without our home staging help, a buyer would miss the opportunity to appreciate the details and the seller may not have been unable to list the home at $1.1 million. Once we moved a lot of furniture, decor and clutter from each room, and reorganized the furnishings to enhance the spaces, it magically turned into a home that looks and feels worthy of the price tag.

A key element of our home staging techniques is to pay attention to the demographics of the buyer and ensure the home's appearance is staged to reflect the discerning tastes and lifestyle of the audience. Buyer's will appreciate the cleanliness, spaciousness and many details of a home when it is presented with them in mind. It's easier to sell a home that shows well, even if the price tag is much lower. How a home looks and feels when buyers approach it will determine how long they'll spend in the home touring it to see if it "fits" just right for them and their family.The longer they stay the greater the possibility they'll "feel at home" and make an offer.

To view additional images of this home at 11 Rancho Cholla, visit www.homestagingsantafe.com

Updating an Outdated Home with Home Staging

Holding on to outdated styles is never a good thing when selling a home! An outdated home reminiscent of bygone era’s can drastically reduce the value. Without making the necessary updates to fixtures, finishes, appliances or furniture the home may stay on the market longer than those with updated and desirable features.

In this home its pink wall-to-wall carpeting, outdated and monotone furnishings, antiquated fixtures and appliances, and lack of style had no appeal nor garnered interest from potential buyers. 

In an attempt to sell the home for three years, this homeowner, unaware that his home and its contents were keeping buyers away, enlisted the help of a home staging professional. Trained to identify the key selling features buyers look for in a home and staging it for maximum appeal for a targeted demographic is one of many bonuses in hiring a home stager. Looking at the home from a ‘buyers perspective’ the seller was ready to make the necessary upgrades to sell his home competitively in today’s real estate market.

Suggestions included replacing the carpeting with hard wood flooring, fresh coat of paint, new furnishings, appliances and fixtures, plus the designing a stacked fireplace in the living room as the focal point in the room. The results were astonishing. The seller admitted the home was unrecognizable with the updates and remarked the transformation went from a “sow’s ear into a silk purse”. Eager to put his home on the market he has more confidence that it will sell quickly.

When preparing your home to sell, consider enlisting the assistance of a professional home stager. They can show you where your home may hold you back from getting top dollar and selling your home quickly.

Selling a Lifestyle through Home Staging

How the interior space of a home is styled says more than you think. Selling a home takes more consideration than just painting the walls or planting flowers outside. Consider the message the interior speaks, does it scream that it needs help?

This living room had some great items to work with. Before we staged the room it was overcrowded and unappealing. The room appeared to be very small and had many focal points. Making a detour around the room to sit down was the entry point. Considering Feng Shui principles, this room represents blocking creativity, flow and keeping your guard up.  Unfortunately, it isn’t very welcoming as the first impression into the home, especially if it is for sale.

Using home staging techniques and interior design principles to maximize the space and highlight the homes features will make this home extraordinary. By removing excessive accessories, eliminating unnecessary and over scaled furniture, plus introducing appropriate décor items we can begin to paint a picture for buyers. One that highlights the occupant’s lifestyle, maximizes the size and functionality of the room, improves the perception and sensibility of the space, plus adds value to the home.

First impressions count and by creating a focal point for each room that is inviting, comfortable and beautiful will increase the on-line viewing and selling potential. Homebuyers can see the potential and possibilities of envisioning their family making the house their own and will be ready to buy.

Whether you live in your home or it is for sale the placement of furniture, décor as well as scale speaks volumes. Does your home reflect the lifestyle you aim for or does it hold you back?

View more changes to this home.

Staging tip for collections

We love our collections of __________ (fill in the blank), but when there is so much and you're trying to sell your home, what to do? This simple home staging tip can actually help you show off the room while enjoying your pieces. Focus on a theme or color and then build from there, but only keep the strongest, nicest and best pieces to showcase. Have multiple collections? Sorting through them and getting a little of this and a little of that can go a long way, display them in odd numbers 3, 5, 7 but don't go overboard.

If you're trying to sell your house, let the architectural features of your home shine. You're not trying to sell your collection, nor do you want your home to be remembered by the collection of cute pigs in the living room!

If you're still confused, then boxing all the treasures, donating, or consigning would be the way to go. Letting go of the excess is good for the soul and clears the mind, plus you'll find that the room feels bigger and cleaner and presents itself in the best possible manner. Selling a home can be tough, but will a little guidance and direction from a professional home stager, your home will speak volumes and your on-line photos will look fabulous!