Speaking Up about Home Staging

This was one of my projects this week.  I own about 95% of the furniture in this home.  I did have to rent the master bedroom furniture & eat in area furniture.  (After the 5 bdrm & 3 bdrm homes last week, along with the other 12 I have currently staged I'm just plum out!) 

The home is beautiful with original floors & 2 working fireplaces....

This is a strange little alcove that you see (two of these cubbies) when you first walk in from the garage area...

If you want to see more view my real estate show:

Last week I staged a home for a custom home builder.  They had built a high end unit directly next door to their personal residence and want to get it sold.  Talking to them, their biggest complaint from potential buyers are the size of the master bedroom & dining room.  No problem, as a stager, we understand that rooms look smaller without furniture.  Here is where we sometimes have to help clients understand that size does matter.....

This room is not a large room, particularly given that the home is nearly 400 sqft.  I opted for a standard 4x6 glass & black dining table & added traditional elements to give the room warmth.  The homeowner/builder is concerned the table is too small for the room.  They want to place a table that seats 8 in this space. 

My problem with this is that currently the room looks as if it will accomodate a larger table as well as a china cabinet, hutch or other larger serving/display piece.  Adding a table large enough to seat 8, plus the 8 chairs will make the room smaller again, telling buyers that they can only have a dining table here.  I also advised that I set the table side by side with the ends open to help keep the larger feeling in this space.  I felt like this explanation was understood until I went back to take some photos I hadn't gotten yet.....

I did leave the table this way despite the overwhelming urge to put it back the way I had it.  While the room does not necessarily feel smaller this way, it does take away from the linear design I had arranged.  I suppose I should be happy that we didn't have to switch to a larger table... an event I told her would be 'unwise'.

It is important for homeowners to understand that while your room can accomodate a larger table, hutch, sideboard, etc that when selling it is more important to let potential buyers visualize the extra space by removing a few items & scaling down.  Staging a home is different than living in one..... and size does matter!

I've had to stage A LOT of homes lately.  Bedrooms always throw me a little out of whack when I run low on inventory.  There is so much to buy!  Headboards, box springs (I use 2 boxsprings instead of inflatables), nightstands, lamps, linens & the occassional dresser simply eat away at my budget.  One area I have found myself getting better at is the headboard issue.  Since I've started doing this I've found it is much easier on the budget & arms (carrying them upstairs!).  The only thing is you had better be good with a ruler & level!

Check these out....

These headboards are all made from iron (or other metal) artwork.  In the first two photos they were 2 pieces hung side by side.  In the bottom 2, they were a single longer piece turned on its side.  All of them were done for less than $80.  They are lightweight, easy to hang & easy to move and store! 

This was a 5 bedroom home that we staged for a local home builder in a developing community.  They said that the sales have been stagnant and they are hoping staging will help sell this unit.  They wanted this home and other model (3 bdrm unit - all rooms both homes) featured in the blog "Model Home v.s. Staged Home... What you've been waiting to see... " staged in a mere 3 days time.  Ok, technically it did end up taking us 4 1/2 days, but we tried!  The budget was $4500 for a 3 month contract.  I own everything in this home and rented it to the builder....

Of course there were a lot more rooms I didn't add to this blog (how many photos do you really care to see?).  You will notice that the colors are pretty much the same through the home.  Not only does this help keep the buyers feeling the 'flow' of the home but it also helps me with inventory usage when we unstage this home later.  I didn't include the before photos because I feel that these speak well enough on their own.  Let me know if you would like me to edit & add them. 

The cost of this job is minimal for the builder when compared with the costs of having an interior designer come and 'decorate'  the home.  It is also much more cost effective than having a model sitting and not selling.  Staging should always be considered when sitting with an empty home. 

Ok, so you might have read one of my latest blogs, 'Am I missing something?  Model homes & Staging' .  I advised that we were staging one of the same units because for some reason the model home just isn't selling this floorplan.  Let's take a look at the changes (we purposefully went to opposite extremes to show the versitility of the floorplan)

The model home in this set of photos did have a higher countertop.  Due to budget constraints we decided not to add low bar stools.

Ok, so in a lot of ways my rooms look stark.  I did not have a budget for paint or curtains (though they are reconsidering the curtains).  Everything in this home I personally own and am renting to them.  The total cost of the staging (3 mo contract) was $3400.  This in comparison to the tens of thousands (I would estimate about $50K - $75K in materials & labor) spent in the model is drastic. 

Which do you prefer?  This is perhaps a much more subjective question.  Let me add the information that the home price is in the mid $200s and in a starter community.  Which is more likely to appeal to the targeted buyer?  As they say, the proof is in the pudding.  We will see if this does indeed help sell their floorplans.

Here in Charleston there has been a trend of converting the old to the new... older homes are updated and brought back to life.  The revitalization of the downtown area is overwhelmingly wonderful.  Sometimes it seems that well meaning 'flippers' and investors stop a little short of creating what will really make the difference in geting buyers on board.  Remember, the neighborhoods are mixed & buyers are banking on the future most of the time.  When the are left looking at only the shell, what will they see?  Let's look at what one San Fransisco investor decided to do when converting this 4-plex in Downtown Charleston...

After spending tens of thousands of dollars converting a property to sell to modern buyers, why not spend a little more and actually show what the home can look like?  Let them remember the inside of the newly refurbished home, connecting them to the lifestyle.  This will help them forget that the neighborhood is only half done...   

Ok, I know model homes are 'overstaged' most of the time.  They have that 'designer flare' and builders pay big bucks for them.  Most of the time I love going through them, but recently I've been noticing a trend here in Charleston... it's not one I get.  Let me show you photos of the model home I was in today.  We are staging a home with the same layout as this project only 1 block away.  This is the same builder... the home isn't selling the way they hoped and so they are going to stage another unit.... only using a stager, not a designer....

Ok, now how many of you stagers, if you saw this in MLS, would contact the agent to advise this home needs to be neutralized?  I'm a huge fan of fun, whimsical, and bold - in my home - but is this really what buyers want to see when they are looking at models?  Do you feel like this home is really helping the builder sell their floorplans?  Personally I would say the fact that we are staging the same floorplan in this subdivision, with the same builder, the answer is NO!

How much do you think the builder paid for this designer look?  How much would they save having a professional stager 'stage' it?  Our bid is $3200 for this 3 bdrm home (3 months, every room & front porch)  I'll post photos after we finish next week.... we'll let you decide which you prefer....