You've got a great listing, fully renovated. The home is clean. It is in a great neighborhood. It's not overpriced. There is a good sized breakfast room. Still you keep hearing the same thing.... Sorry, I really wanted a home with a dining room. What do you do?
We provided a living room in a space that actually made sense in this home. Emptying the bookcases helped to lessen the feelings of a library. Removing the heavy books also makes the room feel brighter, lighter and bigger.
Now in this particular case, because of the whimisical and colorful tones of the home, we decided not to go with a formal look though the space is clearly defined for potential buyers now.
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Melissa Marro, a published artist, now turned staging advocate and national speaker speaks her mind about real estate and the home staging industry. In her 'no holds barred' approach, audience members find real answers to the industries pitfalls and learn how to overcome them with tried and true information and guidance. With marketing as her passion, she turned a small home based business into one of the nation's largest home staging and training facilities. Selling her successful home staging company in January 2012, Marro is now a full time speaker and instructor for Staging And Resign and Real Estate Staging Association (RESA)'s trade events.
For more information on having Marro speak at one of your real estate functions, please contact her at 843.619.1593 or email at marro.melissa@gmail.com
Melissa ~ It's funny, this is a room that gets used the least - if at all - and yet everyone wants one in their house! Nice job in defining the space.
You did a great job with the bookshelves. Can be a challenge when you have a whole wall of them like that. After your changes, my eyes have a place to rest.
Melissa, nice job. I've shown some homes recently where the room layout didn't make sense and the homes didn't impress. You've got the vision and your staging shows the versatility of the room.
Michelle, great job! I love the way you redesigned the look of this room to fit the need of the potential buyer. My dining area will be converted into something like a game room or ??? It's one of those with the living room and dining room combination. I had thought of bookcases since I love books..... ;-)
I admit I "HAD" to have a formal dining in my last house. A year later I had the wall taken down to add the space to my living room. lol.
More attractive space after the staging; good job.
Melissa - what a great idea. Really love what you did.
love the job!
Melissa
You right you hear that comment all the time. But in most cases the dinning room is not use. Good photos and staging.
Good luck and success
Lou
Melissa, I think that looks great! One of the biggest benefits we can give our sellers is listening to our feedback, and obviously if it is about something like this and we can not fix it, we can always call our friendly home stagger who always has a trick up their sleeve.
You do what you do and be creative! Great use, I always forget to use my slipcovers, they do totally change a look.
Great space definition - and seems to fit with the look of the house! Julie
Melissa, GREAT job, you always do a fabulous job particularly with a challenge.. God bless,
Hello. Nice to see this home in context. You have made a higgledy-piggledy, comfy home into something elegant, flexible and delightful. Which is what you do. Beautifully, time after time.
Amusingly, the first gig I did upon coming home was reorganize a Victorian, to show a formal dining room!! After all our laughs about that topic, to discover the very next house I get sent into needs the same thing, was good fun.
Lots to share with you, so will be on the line soon.
Juliet
I just had a very similar room in a home that I staged. The clients did not want to stage the room as a dining room. I didn't push it too much because the kitchen had a large eat-in area that accomodated a sizable table. I was at the open house today, and one prospective buyer asked the agent if there was a dining room! (case and point).
However, in this case, the room had wall-to-wall plush carpet (which I am not fond of in a dining room).
Would you still push for them to stage it as a DR in this case?
Julia
Julia - I guess it depends on the price point. For us, here in Charleston, if the home is over $300K it needs to have a dining room. I feel that buyers at that price point expect more and want to entertain - not in the breakfast room. The fact that it has wall to wall doesn't necessary bother me.
Melissa, looks really elegant. With the bookshelves not as full you focus on them less. Good job!
That is exactly what you do and make it as close to the kitchen as you can (LIKE YOU DID).
Hi Melissa, I have a questions for you. Did you think about staging the bookcases with china or pottery that was dining related?
I ask as I have a similar room to stage next week. The room is only 8 x 10 with medium wood floors, a corner gas fireplace with a honey oak mantel that goes to the ceiling that the homeowner installed ( and shouldn't have as it is too large for the room) plus wall to wall and full height bookcases in honey oak on the back wall of the room. There is a pass through door to the kitchen cooking area through the bookcases. (I know, what a jumble) It is the first room you see to the right upon entering the foyer. There is a staircase directly in front of you. The front living room is to the left. It is very congested upon entering as the foyer space is approximately 6 x 5 feet wide. A closet is dead ahead of you upon entering and the staircase is to the right of the closet and then the entrance to the dining room.
The homeowner has agreed to stage the room as a dining room as per the original house plan and not as the room that holds a piano and one extremely large lazy boy leather chair. Really. Living and Staging are two totally differnet things. Need I say more.
I was going to put a small wood dining table in the room with four chairs and lose everything else. A small area rug under the table to help ground it as the fireplace and wall units are so overwhelming in the room. I was thinking I would stage the book shelves with pottery or china. Now I am not so sure.
Suggestions?