Staging tips for the Holidays

Posted on November 19, 2014November 18, 2015 by Avril Brown

Home Staging during the Holidays

How much is too much? Should you put up a Christmas tree? Is it PC to do so?

One thing to consider is who are your target buyers? Do your neighbors decorate their homes for the season? Do you live in a family oriented neighborhood?

If you do decide to decorate for the season while your home is on the market, this is not the year to turn your home into Santa’s grotto. You don’t want prospective buyers to concentrate on your collection of 75 nutcrackers or your village complete with train station, you can enjoy those next year in your new home.

Keeping festive décor to a minimum will ensure buyers will still notice your home’s beautiful features and not be distracted by too much visual clutter, plus crowded spaces feel smaller.

When placing a tree be careful not to interfere with traffic flow in the room, remove a piece of furniture if need be and place in another room or storage. Choose your colour scheme wisely and try to coordinate with the rooms décor. Keep it subtle and sophisticated and save the macaroni ornaments made by your toddler and the paper chains for next year.

If you have a fireplace play this selling feature up and do a tasteful arrangement on the mantle to create a beautiful focal point in the room. One display in the centre of the dining room table and a few natural elements in the kitchen will carry the theme through.

Last but not least curb appeal. Leave those inflatable, flashy and cute items alone, much as the kids want you to put them out, just don’t. This is the time to really use restraint – less is more. A simple, lovely wreath on your front door and small evergreens in pots at either side of your door with twinkling white mini lights will say “welcome” and appeal to buyers without going overboard.

December house hunters are serious ones so you can’t afford not to appeal to each and every buyer.

Online images make or break a sale

Posted on February 3, 2013February 6, 2015 by Avril Brown

We all keep hearing over 90% of buyers are searching for their dream home on line . A captive audience,or is it? Bad images don’t entice a buyer, grab their attention or do any listing justice. A great picture should stop a prospective buyer in their tracks enough to investigate that listing further and arrange a viewing. There is no way to get people in the front door if they don’t like the image on the screen. We see it all the time. Agents eager to get a listing on the market snapping a home that is nowhere near ready to be photographed, with a cell phone camera or a good quality camera for that matter. Having a better than average camera doesn’t guarantee good images. It’s not what you have, it’s how you use it! Not marketing a property with all the tools available in this day and age is doing a client a great disservice.

Staging and professional photography has to be seen as a very worthwhile investment. The two go hand in hand. A home can be beautifully staged and ready for buyers but bad lighting and odd angles don’t do it justice in the eyes of a buyer. Having professional pictures done of a home that has not had the trained eye of a Home stager do at least do a consult at the property, is not maximizing the potential of a client’s largest investment.

In the images above you can see the before and after. In the first first image the room has awkward furniture placement and too much has been removed, leaving it sparce and uninviting. Only one section of the room is featured, leaving it to the imagination how much space there really is. Light is poor out and even the wall colour is not true. The second image after the room has been rearranged and a few items from my staging inventory have been added for colour and interest. You can see the whole room, light is balanced and you can see the view outdoors. Some light staging was all that was needed in this home but it made a vast difference. This property was sold within 3 weeks after staging and professional photography.

If you were in the market to buy a home either for yourself or as an investment, ask yourself this: Would the pictures you take draw your attention to the property?

A good picture is worth a thousand buyers.

prepstaging.com

902 489 6162

How to :Style a bookcase

Posted on October 9, 2012October 9, 2012 by Avril Brown

A bookcase is usually one of the largest pieces of furniture in your home and often one of the most personal. You can tell alot about a person by the books they own,the momentos they keep and which items they treasure most.

When selling a home this is usually a spot that needs alot of editing.Too many items can distract from beautiful woodwork and workmanship, or in some cases a nearby fireplace. You want buyers to focus on the features of a home versus contents!

When staging a bookcase I like to clear the decks and start with a clean slate. Now is a perfect time to go through all your books and decide 1.Would I read it again. 2.Is a 15 year old, dog eared paperback really worth having in my collection. 3.Is the information in the book outdated. 4.Could the book be of more use to someone else e.g. A club or group,seniors home, woman’s shelter.

Keeping only the items you truly treasure and mean something to you makes a collection and not just a pile of “stuff”

Your collections could tell a story. An event,special vacation,a fun weekend in the city. By displaying & grouping of items that relate to an event it also tells your guests a little about you and can be a great ice breaker to start a conversation. Just switch out some items when selling to depersonalize slightly. The picture on the left tells the story of a fabulous weekend of shopping,art galleries and a dress up date. Tickets to a show would be a fun addition too .More books can be added to either side,with bookends (A Statue of Liberty set would be the perfect touch)

How you style your bookcase depends on the season and location too.The bookcase on the left I styled for a photoshoot for Wicker Emporium,Halifax. Summer is the season and evident in the colours,items and style of the bookcase.A definite “cottage” theme. Where would you rather kick back for some quiet time.The messy office in the first picture or the tranquil spot with the relaxing feel? Don’t feel you have to have all your wordly goods on display at one time.Rotate collections seasonally or change it up when you have a new memory to add. This also keeps your decor fresh and current.Having the same items on your bookshelf for 5,10,15 years or longer is automatically going to date your space in the eyes of a homebuyer.

Too many items in a workspace is distracting. Editing is even more important in the place you need concentration.In the office pictured left items are kept to a minimum. Books are facing with pages front to give a uniform look,only showing one colour,the book pages.A great trick if your books are looking worse for wear or you have too many colours clashing on the shelves. The decorative bookends echo the curve of the desk. (Wicker Emporium)

Children’s bookcases need to be funtional. When staging I advise homeowners to only keep the minimum of books and toys in child’s room. This cuts down on clean up time at the end of the day and when preparing for showings.Display favourite books and rotate with some different ones every so often to keep the selection fresh,for parents and little ones! Showing maximum sq footage in children’s rooms is especially important as space is usually limited.

WWW.PREPSTAGING.COM

HALIFAX N.S.