Color my world - part two

Why did we look at the furniture when we chose colors?

Because we are Staging. We are building a set, like in a movie or a play, designed to make each room welcoming, warm (as in friendly), and finished. The walls, ceiling, and floors are the backdrop to that set.

So, we began building the set using the pieces everyone will see when they tour the house: the furnishings.

Next, what color is your floor?

Ideally, the colors in the furniture and the color in your floor do not fight. We will discuss flooring in another blog. For now, if the colors are compatible, but not in the same family (red, yellow, or blue tones), go get some throw pillows for the sofa or big accesssories (like lamps or vases/flowers) to bring the floor color up into the room. Compare the furniture's colors to the floors colors, which is predominant?

Choose your paint color to go with the predominant color.

What other factors impact the color we paint when we stage?

How much light is in the room? Generally speaking, the darker the room, the more important it is to choose from the lightest paint on the color chip.

How many windows/doors are in the room? A slightly darker shade, painted around window and door trim, pulls the eye to the windows and doors. This is good because people are buying windows and doors. We want to enhance those architectural features.

Speaking of architectural features, does your room have any? Is there an angled wall? A fireplace? A bay window? Got any chair rail? Has molding been applied to create shadow boxes? If so, choose two colors (separated by at least one color) from the same paint card, paint one color on most of the walls, and use the other color to enhance the architecture.

Is the room on the small side? Paint the walls the lighter color and the architectural feature the darker color. Or paint the lighter color above the chair rail, and the darker color below. Or paint the darker color just around the windows in the bay window. Is the room large? Reverse the color order.

Frankly, I have just touched the surface of how I decide what color a room should be painted. Sometime in the future, I will write more. But, if this was confusing to you, I suggest you bring in a professional stager when you are preparing to sell your house. If it works for you, find someone who will spend an hour on color if you do not want any other staging advice.

Oh, and this is very important. Choose a basic color, then try to paint all of the rooms in your house from that palette. When we live in a home, we can have as many colors around us as we want. But, when we sell our house, consistency of color between rooms enhances the presentation. Buyers will be more comfortable when they see the same or related shades of one color everywhere they go in the house.

Here is a great place to examine colors. Click on the link below, choose Warm Neutrals, and enjoy exploring.
http://www.sherwin.com/visualizer

Tomorrow, we do it again with an empty house.

Color my world, part one

So, you have given serious thought to painting, and decided it is a good idea.

What color should you use?

Why, you paint it a neutral color, of course.

And, just exactly what does THAT mean?

"Neutral Color" is, I think, like "clutter" - a phrase that means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And, because fashions change, the definition of a neutral color changes over time.

Primary colors - pure red, blue, and yellow - are not neutral.

Secondary colors (blends of two primary colors) - bright orange (red + yellow), green (blue + yellow), purple (blue + red) - are not neutral.

Neutral colors tend tertiary colors (one primary + one secondary) made "muddy" by adding other colors like black or brown.

Had enough color theory? Then, if you are going to live in your house while it is for sale, go look at your furniture.

Why? Because, to effectively merchandise your house, you are going to paint using colors that are compatible with, and flattering to, your furniture. If your furniture is basically a red or orange color (red, brown, pumpkin) you are going to chose a muddy shade of green/yellow. If your furniture is basically a yellow or green color (yellow, gold, yellowish beige, olive, sage, green), you are going to chose a muddy shade of red (mocha, brown, brownish beige). If your furniture is in the blue family, you are going to chose either of the above (just don't paint the walls blue). If your furniture is all over the place, color-wise, you are going to simplify by removing some furniture and investing in slipcovers.

Not easy? This is a BIG concern for stagers. Frequently, we are invited to the house after the painting is complete. Frequently, we find the new paint is not the optimal color. If you plan to hire a stager, please try to get them involved from day one. It is very likely they can add a lot of value when you chose your new paint colors.

Tomorrow we are going to get into other factors to consider when you choose the muddy color to paint your occupied room. Finally, in a few days (depending on how detailed I get) we will start over, but this time with an empty house.

I hope you have a great Wednesday!

To paint or not to paint, that is the question

My apologies for vanishing these last few days. An emergency took me away from computer access. But, all is resolved now.

Let's dive back into the wonderful world of color.

You are going to sell your house. Should you repaint it first?

In some cases the answer is obvious. Repair work done to the house left the walls and/or ceiling scarred and covered in patches. Do not make the mistake of deciding to leave it as is, patched and spackled, and letting the buyer decide what color to paint it. Most buyers can only see the walls as they are, not as they can be. Most buyers want a turnkey purchase. They will not give your property serious consideration. Those few buyers who can imagine how the room will look after it is painted, will mentally deduct much more than the cost of painting from what they are willing to offer for the house. Don't leave the house as-is if you can help it, doing so both reduces the size of your buyer pool and reduces the probable sales price.

But sometimes the decision to paint is not obvious. Wash the walls. Use a crud cleaner to remove scuff marks. Start from the assumption that you do not want to paint. Painting costs money. Painting costs time.

Ask yourself (or ask with your stager) the following questions:
- Are the walls white?
- Are the walls a personal color? Personal colors include purple, pink, baby blue, black, coral, burgandy, charcol grey, bright and loud versions of the primary colors like red, blue, and yellow; bright and loud versions of the secondary colors green or orange.
- Is the ceiling or trim a personal color?
- Is each wall painted a different color?
- Is the ceiling or trim painted a color that contrasts strongly with the walls?
- Are there more than three colors on the walls and ceiling?
- Do any two colors clash?
- Is any wall painted with a faux effect like leather, wood, Venetian plaster, or stone?
- Is a mural painted on any wall?
- Are the walls painted a trendy color right out of the latest cutting-edge designer magazine?
- Will a beige/brown sofa clash with the wall color? (I know you are standing in the kitchen, imagine those most common of household colors against your walls anyway).
- Are the exterior colors compatible with other houses in the neighborhood?
- Has it been more than five years since the walls were painted?

If you answered 'yes' to any of these questions, please give serious thought to repainting.

If you answered 'no' to all of these questions, dig a little deeper. Ask yourself then, if possible, bring in trusted friends and relatives (and your stager) and ask them these questions:
- With the curtains open, and all of the lights on, does the room seem dark?
- Does the color on the walls and ceiling look splotchy or uneven?
- Does the paint color look faded?
- Do the walls seem to press in?
- Do the walls seem to drift away?
- If it was them moving in, would they feel they would be uncomfortable in this room until they changed the colors?

Tally up the answers.

If you get more 'yes' answers than 'no' answers, please give serious thought to repainting

If you get more 'no' answers than 'yes' answers, keep the walls clean, but only repaint if, your heart, you really think it needs to be done.

Okay, tomorrow we grab a paintbrush.

Have a great Tuesday!

The wonderful world of color (part one)

When you live in your HOME, you are immersed in color. The walls and ceilings, the floors, the cabinets, the doors, the furniture, the wallpaper, the accessories and window treatments all combine to make the pool in which you swim.

Fair warning, my friends, I am in a very analogous mood today.

You should swim in a pool that makes you happy. If you want day-glo orange walls and florescent trim, you should have them.

But, you should always be aware of the depth of the pool, and whether you are risking swimming in a rip tide. Permanent changes will impact the number of potential buyers who will seriously consider purchasing your house...or will cost a lot to back out. There are no right or wrong answers here. This may be a risk you are willing to take, and you have every right to do so. Just understand there is a risk, and keep it in mind when you make decisions.

So, you have lived in your color-pool for several years. Now, it is time to sell the house. What colors should you choose to replace the pool? Oh sure, everyone says "neutrals". But what does that mean?

Am I going to tell you the magic color now? Nope.

Ultimately, this is one of those "consider hiring a professional stager" moments. There are quite a few neutral colors, and pure logic says any one of them will work. You may have noticed "pure" logic and reality do not always get along. Reality says the amount of light (and shadow) in the room, the size and shape of the room, the outside view and the colors in that view, the relationship and visibility between rooms, the flooring; the number, position, and trim on the windows all play into that decision. Different paint colors reflect the surrounding light to give very different effects in different circumstances.

Oh, and we must not forget to include the demographics of your most probable buyers when selecting color.

We begin by asking a question: are you going to live in the house while it is for sale? Or, will the house be vacant?

Tomorrow, we are going to discuss using color in vacant houses.

In the meantime, fellow stagers, what are your current, most popular wall colors? Can you explain why? Many thanks!

White walls

Let's go back to that room I had as a teenager: day-glo orange, fluorescent pink. I think it hrut my parent's eyes to walk into my room. (Which had it's advantages.)

When it was time to sell, we painted the whole room white.

Flat white. No-rich-undertones white. Walk up to the paint counter and ask for white, white.

White as a wall color fascinates me because it invokes really interesting responses in most people.

Most people feel cold when they walk into an all-white room. This is usually not a welcoming feeling that makes a potential buyer feel at home in the room.

You can try to neutralize that feeling by using the lightest color on a warm color chip, say the lightest shade of red, terra cotta, coral, or burgundy.

Most people see the results as a pink, cold room. Very few people feel an emotional connection to a pink living room.

You can go in the opposite direction to warm the room: use the lightest shade from a cool color chip, say blue or green.

The room will feel warmer. But, white's second drawback is accentuated.

What is white's second drawback? Most people become mildly disoriented in a white room. They cannot judge the space around them. Especially if the room is empty, they cannot imagine putting their furniture into the room.

This is not a good way to sell a house.

CAN you use white in a room? The lightest shade from some of the tertiary colors can work, say caramel (red + orange) or jade (blue + green). On some paint chips, the lightest shade of a yellow color can work.

So, white, although a very traditional room color, is not a color I recommend using when painting to sell. If you get it just right, and if the furniture, curtains. and accessories in the room are complimentary colors, some shades of white can be very elegant, and very salable. But, if you get it not-so-right, and/or if the other colors in the room are not complimentary, you run the risk of slipping into cold, pink, or disorienting.

Tomorrow we dive off the deep end and into the wonderful world of color!

But, I really LIKE that color!

When I was a young teenager, I shared a bedroom with my sister. The room was done in (in decreasing amounts of) white, lavender, lilac, purple, blue, and touches of black. There were flowered patterns everywhere. My memory is of feeling as if I slept inside a gigantic hydrangea.

When I got older and graduated to my own bedroom, I chose orange walls, painted the furniture bright yellow and the molding bright pink. I pumped everything up with day-glo stickers in loud, secondary colors. (This was the late 1960's.) ... (Oh, and if you are into design and color, but have not read James Lileks' book Interior Desecrations, got hold of a copy and prepare to laugh yourself silly.) I really loved that room.

I have calmed down quite a bit since then.

But the point is, each of those rooms was meant for living. Nothing permanent was done. When the time came to marry and move on, my parents handed me a can of white paint and a paintbrush. My fiance got another paintbrush and we returned the room to a calm and boring color.

When you live in a home, it should be decorated to suit your style. If you, and everyone else living there, love purple and orange, then use paint to immerse yourself. Your home should make you happy.

BUT, even if you never, ever plan to sell your house, understand that day may come.

Do you want to make structural or semi-permanent, and very personal changes? For example, let's say you want to completely cover one wall with mosaic of orange and lavender flowers. When the time comes to sell, when your home becomes a house, that mosaic will will reduce the your pool of potential buyers. In that pool there are people do not want to buy a wall covered with someone else's mosaic. Some of them do not like the colors. Some of them do not like the look of mosaics. Some of them do not like gigantic flowers.

It is true some people in that pool will absolutely love that wall. And, one of them might be the first person to walk into your house. They may buy the house because of the mosaic.

But, the odds are, many months and several price reductions down the road, someone will buy the house planning to rip out and replace the wall.

Whenever you do anything personal and permanent to your house, you take a risk. It is your home and you have every right to do whatever you want to decorate it. Just keep the risk in mind.

Me. I would faux paint the wall with a huge mural that looks like a mosaic. Then, when it was time to sell, I would get out the old paintbrush.

Tomorrow we will start discussing wall colors. We will start the pro's and con's of white.

In the meantime, what are the wildest colors and designs you have ever enjoyed?

Request for advice/help

Empty houses, just the walls, windows, floors, and ceilings; do not sell as fast or for as good a price as furnished empty houses sell. Bringing in rental furniture can make a huge difference.

But only if the cost of the rental furniture (and transport) is not over the top. As a stager, I respect my clients' bottom line. Whenever possible, if rental furniture and accessories are needed, I provide them at a fraction of what a rental company would charge.

Sofas are a problem. Sofas are frequently heavy or bulky. Hiring movers to bring sofas to and from a client's house can cost more than purchasing a new sofa and having it delivered.

Can anyone suggest a reasonably inexpensive sofa? Maybe the kind that can be taken apart and moved by a couple of ladies? I am even looking at "air" sofas. Has anyone out there used an air sofa to stage a house?

This has to be a common problem faced by many stagers. What have you done to address it? How is the solution working?

Thanks,
Nancy

Let's Talk Trash

This is not that kind of blog.

Actually, when I say "trash" I mean refuse, detritus, garbage. Specifically, I mean the receptacles that hold stuff to be thrown away.

Staging sells dreams. Dream rooms. Dream lifestyles. Dream self-images. When a house is well staged, it is very organized. Potential buyers respond by dreaming of themselves as being very organized while living there.

Very, very few people dream about taking out the garbage.

So, when we mechanize a house for sale, when we stage, we remove the trash cans that usually live in every room. Really. The next time you visit a model home or a house that advertises it has been Staged look around. Put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and go looking for the garbage cans. Odds are you will find, at most, only one. And it will be discreetly placed in the garage or basement.

If no one s living in the staged house, you will search in vain.

Well, you may find one in the cabinet beneath a big bowl of candy prominently displayed on a kitchen counter.

Of course, it is easy to stage a vacant house and leave out the trash cans. It is much more difficult to hide the garbage when someone is living in the house.

When I sold my last house, it was staged and I lived there. Everywhere I went in the house, I carried a plastic bag with me. Any trash produced in any room was placed in the bag. When I cooked, that bag was my faithful companion, waiting to receive. I emptied the bag into the garbage can in the garage at least once a day. I kept a sealed bag in the garbage can - no odors or unsightly refuse was ever on view.

Maybe you are thinking, oh sure, one lone little adult with nothing to do but carry around a plastic grocery bag. How hard is that? What if there is a family with small children living there? What if there are teenagers?

Good question. Excellent question.

If it is possible, assign everyone in the family their very own plastic bag and show them where to dump their detritus.

If that is not possible, ensure the trash can in each room is scrubbed clean regularly, is small, coordinates with the colors in the room, is placed discreetly (on the far side of the bed, inside the almost-empty bathroom cabinet, in one corner of the closet), and is emptied daily.

Make plans. If you get a call to get out because the house is about to be shown, empty the trash before you go. If there is time, and certainly before every Open House, hide the trash cans. Bring them out when the excitement is over.

And, that garbage can in the garage? Empty it regularly. Keep the outside wiped clean and the inside smelling fresh and neutral.

If you are a recycler like me, put lidded, labeled bins in the garage or basement. Keep them clean, empty them frequently, and, actually, they can make a nice staging vignette.

Oh, and keep the lid down.

I hope you all have a sterling Monday!

Stager's Shuffle - let's sit this one out

Good news guys! My dance card is very full today, so this one is going to be fairly short.

I realized I missed a few key points in yesterday's blog. I gave examples of what might happen when you did the stager's shuffle in your own home:

Some of you realized the room is unbalanced. In those cases:
- If you are not trying to sell and the you like the way the room looks and functions for you, I suggested you make a note the room may need to be staged if you ever decide to sell. In the meantime, continue to enjoy living in the room.
- If you are not trying to sell, but you do NOT like the way the room looks and functions, try moving some furniture around to balance the room. If that does not help, please consider contacting a Redecorator or an Interior Designer. (Of course, if the "not like" is minor, sometimes we chose to live with it.)
- If you are planning to sell or are currently listed, please consider staging. To appeal to the maximum number of potential buyers, an unbalanced room probably needs to be carefully put back into balance.

Some of you could not see what I was talking about, the room is the room, period. In those cases:
- If you are not trying to sell and the you like the way the room looks and functions for you, I suggested you make a note the room may need to be staged if you ever decide to sell. In the meantime, continue to enjoy living in the room.
- If you are not trying to sell, but you do NOT like the way the room looks and functions, please consider contacting a Redecorator or an Interior Designer. (Of course, if the "not like" is minor, sometimes we chose to live with it.)
- If you are planning to sell or are currently listed, please consider staging.

And that, my friends, ends this dance.

For me, fairly short?

Happy Sunday

Stager's Shuffle, and the band played on

Show of hands here. After reading yesterday's blog, how many of you did the stager's shuffle?

How many of you stood at three different places in a doorway and looked then walked into a room?

Some of you realized, wow, I never noticed the right side of the room has the window, the bookshelves, the TV, and most of the furniture; while the left side has a chair and a picture. Did you wonder, is that wrong? Is it unbalanced? If you are not trying to sell right now, and you like the way the room looks and functions for you, then of course it is not wrong. Just make a note when the time comes to sell, the room is going to need staging, then continue enjoying the room. While you live in your home, the most important thing is that it meets your needs.

Some of you wondered what kind of drugs I am doing because the room looked the same to you no matter where you stood. Again, if you are happy with the room, continue to enjoy it. But, when the time comes to sell, please consider hiring a professional stager. Your talents and skills probably lie somewhere other than marketing the interior of residences.

Some of you wondered, so she dances around at Open Houses. What does she do when she does a Property Analysis or Stages a house? What does she do if the homeowner or realtor is watching?

She dances.

I dance during the Property Analysis. I dance repeatedly while I tune the staging. I am a dancing fool.

What I call the Stager's Shuffle is critical to everything I do while staging. It only takes a few seconds and it gives comprehensive coverage. Each time I dance, I learn more about the staging needs of the individual house. And I tune my overall skills as a stager.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Doing The Stager's Shuffle

Whenever my schedule allows it, I visit Open Houses in my area.

I introduce myself to the agent, explain who I am and that I am not a potential client, then I walk through each house multiple times.

I do what I call the stager's shuffle.

I stand in the center of the door into each room, look straight in, and note what I see. I move to the right side of the door and look at the left side of the room. Move over to the left to look at the right side of the room.

Back I go to the center of door, then walk straight in to the room. How far can I walk in a straight line? How far should I be able to walk? Are there obstacles? What furnishings or architectural elements catch my attention? If there is a second door to the room, how easy is it to walk from the center of door one to the center of door two?

Two-step back to the right side of the door. Can I walk in to the left side of the room? What gets in the way? What catches my eye?

Dosey-do back to the door and repeat going left to right.

I know this sounds obsessive. But, that is only because it IS a bit obsessive.....and fun. Try doing the shuffle in your own home. Make believe you have never been in the house before so every room is a new experience. Be prepared to be surprized. Sometimes there are three separate rooms lurking within those four walls.

If the agent is not busy, especially if the agent is a stager, we sometimes do the shuffle together.

Pause to relish that mental image ..............

Okay, the fun is over, the music is silent.

I make a mental list of the pro's and con's of each room, then I mentally stage it. I add furnishings to vacant houses. I remove and rearrange furnishings in decorated and lived in houses. I think about color and condition.

Then, if the agent is not busy, I ask about the feedback she/he has received on the house. I do this because everything I just desribed was done inside my head. I want to know if the comments of potential buyers match my list of pro's and con's. I want to LEARN.

The lists usually match. If I think a room is going to feel small, buyers have commented on how little the room is. If I suspect an architectural element, like a fireplace, is really well staged; buyers have immediately seen and exclaimed over the beauty of that element. If I think a room is confusing, buyers have departed saying they just can't imagine how their furniture could ever fit in that room.

Of course, sometimes I learn new things. If buyer's feedback conflicts with my expectations, I go back and dance again: what did I miss?

I learn a lot about local color trends and local buyer's preferences.

Then, having learned, I head for the next Open House where I will dance again.

Happy Thursday, all.

Staging To Live, Redesign / Redecoration

I have not been able to trace the history of home redesign / redecoration. If anyone reading this has information to share, please do so. And, thank you!

I suspect home recoration has multiple origins. This is my theory of how the "staged to live" aspect of redesign began.

When their home is staged to sell, many clients are initially put off because the house feels empty and strange to them. This is a natural reaction. This is part of the psychology of changing a home that is lived in into a house that is for sale.

Many clients move beyond feeling the house is strange. They find it is easy to keep their staged house white-glove clean, that staging organized their belongings, and that they feel refreshed when they walk into an uncluttered, spacious room. They decide they like living in a staged home. So, when they move, they contact local stagers and ask them to recreate that feeling by staging the new home.

(To be honest, some people never do more than adjust to living in a staged house. But, it is really surprising how many clients call their stager to say, "Now that I have gotten used to it, I not only like it, but I never want to go back".)

Anyway, if you have been reading this blog very long you understand many stagers leap at the chance to stage a new house, then bring in and carefully arrange some of the "personality" decorations that had to be removed for selling purposes.

Clients are happy to retain their easy-to-clean, organized, spacious-rooms lifestyle. And, their new friends love the way their home looks. After all, fundamentally, the house is staged: arranged to appeal to as many people as possible. So, the new friends contact a stager and ask if their homes can also be redecorated.

So, staging to live is born.

I am not saying anything negative about Interior Design here. I never will.

Stagers, unless they are also Interior Designers, cannot make structural changes, cannot address building code issues. Stagers keep up with design trends and colors and best practices. Interior Designers make those trends.

Staging to live tends to be less expensive than Interior Design. That is a rule of thumb, it is not always true in all places.

As I said at the beginning, it appears home redesign / redecoration has multiple origins. In some places stagers recognized the potential and were already advertising when that first staged client moved to town. Home Organizers found organizing a room or a house frequently modified the look. So, to better support their clients, they invented redesign too. Interior Designers realized they had clients who did not need or could not afford the full suite of services. So, to better support their clients, they invented Redesign too. I am sure many other specializations also invented redesign. And I am sure the invention always supported that specialization's clients.

As I said if anyone can explain more about the history of redecoration, please contact me. I will gladly share.

In the meantime, I have no definite plans for tomorrow's topic. Does anyone have a request or question?

I hope you have a very good day!

Do stagers like Interior Design?

First, I apologize for missing yesterday's blog. I had a reaction to medication I am taking and woke up with my eyes swelled shut. All under control now. But, I sure will be glad when I reach the end of the antibiotics.

So, do stagers like Interior Design? Up until now, I have been able to draw on national research to make generalized statements. Now we enter the arena of personal experience. Everyone is going to have their own opinion.

All of the stagers I know really like Designed rooms. I do.

Because I concentrate of depersonalizing, I enjoy seeing how the Designer has personalized the space. The client's favorite art pieces, that beloved chair, are integrated into the whole with artistry and delicate care.

One of my favorite "games" is, how would I Stage this Designed room? Usually, I find a core of furniture. The sofa, chair, and cocktail table (for frequent example) are arranged just I would arrange them. To stage the furniture, all I would have to do is remove the other pieces of furniture. When I look at decorative objects, again I usually find a backbone then, in my mind, remove all the little pieces and the big pieces that revolve around that core.

Window treatments can be a problem when I play this game. Window treatments are sometimes highly personal, command attention, and are very complex. These I take down in my mind. These are wonderful in a home that is lived in, but constitute an unacceptable level of distraction in a house that is for sale. On the other hand, some beautiful window treatments are simple accents to the window placement and the view. These, I leave just as they are (in my mind).

Simple rule of my thumb?
I look on the work of Interior Designers as art: very appropriate for people when they live in their home. My Designer friends, when they look at a room I have Staged, tend to laugh and say, "That is a nice beginning. But I feel like I should finish it!"

Tomorrow, let's talk about Redesign or Redecoration.

'Bye All

Stagers are not Interior Designer wannabes

I spend a lot of time on on the Internet. I am active on Q&A sites like Zillow, I participate in Staging discussions on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, and I devour information from a number of blogs.

I notice a lot of real estate agents and a lot of sellers seem to think stagers are failed Interior Designers.

Sorry guys, most stagers are fanatics.

Most stagers love staging.

Imagine having a job that, repeatedly, gives people hope in one of the most stressful times in their lives. Imagine a job that frequently provides positive feedback within days or weeks of completion. Stagers know staged houses sell because our clients tell us.

Imagine how it feels to spend two days planning and sweating and tuning and making changes aimed at marketing someone's property. Then imagine getting a call two weeks later that the property is under contract. Imagine how it feels to get that call while you are driving home from the job.

When stagers describe how they feel about their work, they use words like "euphoria" and "great" and "joy".

Is knowing the latest trends in Interior Design part of the job? Of course it is. So is knowing when the latest trend is not the best approach to marketing the house. Because, depending on the style of the house, sometimes the latest trends are counter-productive to the sale.

Stagers are color experts, research to stay current on the latest findings in buyer psychology, are artists who use furniture and accessories to paint on 3-D canvases (houses). Each painting has underlying, standard rules and each painting is unique enough to require a lot of creativity.

There is no feeling like looking over a Staging Plan and knowing it will make a difference in the sale of your client's house. There is absolutely no feeling like the one I experience when I look around a house I just staged. Okay, "euphoria" comes close.

The last day of my staging training, the class traveled to and staged a house. Before the class began, local realtors had been invited to nominate clients, someone who really needed all the help they could get. Six months before my class, on the same day she learned she was pregnant with her third child, our client learned her husband had been killed in Afghanistan. She needed to sell before the baby came. She needed to sell so she could move her little family closer to the support structure of her beloved husband's family. There was a lot of motivation to succeed that staging day. And there were a lot of tears. Quite a few of those tears came from the Realtor who dropped by to see what was happening and walked through the staged rooms saying, "I can sell this. Oh, this will sell." Because of the client confidentiality agreement, I do not know how quickly this house sold. But, I know the house was very marketable, was transformed, when we finished. (As usual, I changed a little bit of the story to hide the identity of the client.)

Hey all you stagers reading this. Share.

Tell us about those staging experiences that make this job so very special, that make all the hard work worthwhile. I will gladly bring your stories up into the body of this blog. In fact, if you wish I will post your story, your company name, and a link to your website on my website.

Or, if you disagree with me, say so. Let's talk about it!

I wish you all a Happy Monday.

What if you cannot find a stager?

Optimally, you want a Stager who is a local. It is in your best interests to have your stager walk around your property and examine your house and yard "up close and personal". He or she will be able to see and enhance subtleties in your rooms. She or he will know the most about what colors and styles are popular in your area. So, when making tuning decisions, he or she will know how to truly maximize your marketing.

If you cannot find an independent stager, do interview Interior Designers and Realtors who also stage. Some of them do superior work.

If cannot find any local stagers, you have several choices:

• DIY staging
• Finding a stager who lives in another location and works from photographs
• Bringing a stager to your property from another location

This is a quick discussion of these choices.

DIY staging
As I discussed in an earlier blog, this is not an optimal solution. However, if it comes down to DIY or don't stage at all, go with the DIY option. Do some serious research before you start. Run an internet search on "DIY home staging". There are a lot of books on the subject. Check them out. Take a look at "The Science And Art Of Staging" on my website. Concentrate most of your efforts on the what I call the "Science" part of staging: depersonalize, neutralize, simplify, declutter, and clean clean clean.

Stagers who live in other locations and work from photographs
This can be done. I do it. Some stagers offer this service on their websites. Even if this service is not offered on their website, if you contact them, some stagers may be willing to work with you. You are going to need a digital camera because your stager is probably going to ask for very specific pictures. Then they are probably going to ask for more pictures as you go through the process to make sure the staging stays on track. Interview and select your potential long-distance stager the same way you interview local stagers (except the interview takes place over the phone).

Bring your stager to your property from another location
Frankly, this is going to involve travel and living expenses on top of the cost of staging. I only suggest you do this to protect a potentially very high profit. But, if your probable profit will cover the added expense (and still leave you with a very good profit) and DIY staging or staging long distance are not options, begin your search with family and friends who live away and can offer referrals. If needed, expand to an internet search for "home staging" in the nearest big city. Some stagers advertise their willingness to travel. Others will give you a quote when you contact them. Interview diligently and select using the same criteria you would use to find your local stager.

How do you find your stager?

You have done the research and decided you need to stage your house to sell. Congratulations, you are going to substantially increase your chances of selling quickly and at a better value.

So, how do you find your stager?

1) Begin with family and friends who live locally and used a stager. What do they say about that stager? Are they willing to make a referral?

2) Go to the "big" staging websites where certification training is offered or pre-certification is required and check their directories for stagers who service your city or cities near you.
These websites include (but are cetainly not limited to)
http://stagedhomes.com/
http://www.realestatestagingassociation.com/
http://www.homestagingresource.com/?gclid=CMWkjpTa6JkCFQIwxwodP0lTpA
http://decorate-redecorate.com/
http://www.canadianstagingprofessionals.com/ (in Canada)

********* If you have alternate website suggestions, please send them to me. I will update this blog and keep a record for future distribution. *********

3) Do an internet search on "home staging" combined with the name of your city, or a nearby city.

Compile a list of staging companies and investigate their websites. As I said before, you may want full-service staging and you may find some stagers only offer Staging Plans. Look for your best potential matches.

Contact those potential matches. Interview them.

Ask for references and to see photographic examples of their work. Ask about their training. Staging is a young profession. Generally speaking, look for someone who attended one of the nationwide, or international, training programs. These programs encourage consistency and enforce standards. However, some stagers never get formal certification but do enough independent study that they work to the same standards. In the same way, the person you interview may be new, may not have references or examples yet, but may be a very, very good stager. If you feel this new stager is a possible fit, ask more questions. Find out more.

If you think you want a Staging Plan, ask to see an example. Have them tell you, step by step, what will happen if you hire them.

One rule of thumb I suggest you follow is, be very careful about stagers who stress their design background and talent. We will discuss this in another blog, but, staging to sell is not interior design. Staging to sell is marketing. Ask your potential stager to explain the difference between interior design and staging. Do they explain staging usually removes things by depersonalizing, neutralizing, and decluttering, and interior design personalizes and, frequently, deneutralizes? If they are not able to communicate this fundamental difference, they might not be your stager.

If you are a home owner, your stager is going to come into your life for a very brief time. But, in that time they are going to make profound changes to your life. And, like I said yesterday, it is likely any three stagers will make the same, or very similar, profound changes. So, include their history and your feeling of trust, in your decision to hire a particular stager.

Tomorrow, I am going to talk about what you can do if you look, but cannot find a stager.

Have a wonderful Saturday!

What do stagers do?

Most stagers offer two basic options.

• If you plan to do the staging work, they provide a Staging Plan that includes a Color Consultation. This is a step-by-step staging checklist/instructions for you to follow. Your Staging Plan is customized to your needs: how to change furniture and accessories if you are going to live in the house, how to rent and arrange furnishings if the house is vacant. Later, if you decide you need help, most stagers will return, discuss your needs, and give you a bid or estimate on what they will charge to provide that help.
  

• If you do not plan to do the staging work yourself, your stager will provide a Staging Bid, or Proposal. Instead of step-by-step instuctions, your stager tells you how much they will charge to do the work and how long it will take. Again, this can involve an occupied or a vacant house.
  

So, the basic format is a choice between DIY instructions and Stager-does-it bids, with the option to combine the two as needed later.

Beyond staging your house, many stagers offer additional choices: office staging, land staging, and staging to rent are some of the alternatives. Depending on location, your stager may offer many more choices.

One of the most important alternatives is Home Redecoration or Redesign.


Do All Stagers Do The Same Thing?

No, all stagers do not do the same thing.

Staging is not regulated, there are no formal standards.

Because of this, different stagers offer different options and specialties. One stager may only stage vacant houses. Another stager may only provide Staging Plans. Most stagers have websites that explain their offerings. When you look for your stager, check that website. Then plan to interview a few stagers, just like you would interview contractors, or electricians, or Realtors.

Now, let me briefly take that question in a different direction.

If you set up exactly the same room in three different spaces, then asked three good stagers to each stage one space, it is very likely you would get three very, very similar results. Each space would be greatly simplified. Each stager might chose to keep different furnishings in the room, but most of the decorations and some of the furniture would be removed. The furniture might be arranged somewhat differently. But all of the furniture arrangements would be welcoming, and would focus on the room's staging point. The walls might be painted somewhat different colors, but all of the colors would be neutral and would work well with the furnishings. With the slight differences, buyers would be impressed equally with any of the spaces.

Basically, there is room for creativity, but all good stagers use common rules and work to a common goal.

When I worked on a large house with another stager in the past, one thing that really impressed me was how we did not have to discuss a lot. We both knew where we were going and what it would take to get there.

I hope this helps. CYA tomorrow. Does anyone have any questions? Any requests for a topic?

When Should You Hire A Professional Stager?

The Best Time To Hire A Stager Is First

In an absolutely perfect world, when it is time to sell your house, find your stager first. Even if you know certain things, like painting, need to be done, find your stager first. Do an Internet search for stagers in your area or ask friends for referrals. Bring a few stagers in for interviews. Ask for references, talk to the stagers about "how" they work. As with any other professional, interview several stagers before making your selection.

I say you should find your stager first because you do not want to make mistakes.

Maybe you are thinking, "I have excellent taste. All my friends compliment my furnishings. I can save money by doing some of the work up front."

Maybe you do. Maybe you can. But almost every day somewhere a stager walks into a house and finds the owner has done something that enhances Living, not Selling.

Story
(I am changing some things to hide the innocent, but the fundamentals are accurate.)
Recently, a stager friend was asked to review a house the owner had staged herself. She had spent a lot of money having custom shelving installed in the foyer. The shelves were a series of floor to ceiling boxes. Every wall was covered. In each box, they placed an antique tea cup. They spent hundreds of dollars building shelves which now held thousands of dollars worth of antiques. Because she is a collector, this was a wonderland to her. If she was a buyer, she would want the house the minute she saw the foyer.

Maybe you collect something small and are enchanted by this idea. The odds are most of you are thinking, "If I saw a foyer like that, I would just turn around and leave." By installing those shelves and putting out those tea cups, the seller has severely reduced the number of potential buyers who can imagine living in that house and she is putting her cherished collection at risk.

(Please do not misunderstand me, putting up beautiful, removeable shelves and displaying a valuable collection is great when you are Staging To Live, or redecorating, your home.)

Anyway, the best time to hire a stager is before you do anything. Do this because it puts you in control of those all-important first impressions.

Your Realtor's first impression will be of a house buyers will love exploring. This both motivating and energizing. The first photos of your house that go on the Internet will capture more buyers' imaginations. Frankly, presenting a staged house to the world from day one really enhances your likelihood of making a fast sale.

**************************************************************************************************

Is it too late? Have you made changes before hiring a stager? Is your house is already listed?

The Next Best Time To Hire A Stager Is As Soon As You Can.

Maybe you already made changes that cannot be backed out. Your stager will take this into consideration when she/he plans the staging. Maybe your house has been on the market a long time and is stale. Your stager and your Realtor will design a marketing plan to revitalise your listing.

You can certainly ask your Realtor about staging your house. If he/she says your house does not need staging, or that you just need to do a few things, ask how your Realtor learned staging. There are agents who attended training, understand staging very well, and do an extremely good job when they stage a house. These hard-working, dedicated souls have my admiration. Sadly, there are still agents who do not "get" staging. Some of them think staging is adding flowers and froo-froo. If you ask and are not satisfied with the answer, start interviewing stagers.

Oh, and in closing, I did an informal investigation among my friends and on some of the staging blogs. General opinion is there are two #1 mistakes sellers make when they stage themselves: choosing the wrong paint color (colors meant for living, not for selling), and putting multiple purposes in a room.

That is all for now. I hope you have a great day!

Should You Hire A Professional Stager?

It is time to sell your home. Maybe you are getting ready to list it. Maybe it is already, unstaged, on the market.

Should you hire a professional stager?

Yes, you should interview one or more professional stagers. And, if there is any way your budget can handle it, you should hire one.

"Oh sure," I imagine you thinking, "A professional stager says that."

Oh sure, a professional stager says that. ....... But not for the reasons you suspect.

I am going to discuss four of the reasons I believe a person should not stage their own house.


Reason One: Today it is a House that is for sale, but it will always be your Home.

Maybe you love it and are sad to have it leave it. Maybe you hate it and can't wait to be gone. Whatever the feeling, almost everyone has an emotional reaction to the place they live. And that emotion impacts staging decisions. Staging requires an objective eye. It is unlikely you can have that eye about your own home. Too many memories, emotions, and habits get in the way. It is unlikely anyone can make objective decisions about their own furniture, their own colors, their own accessories.

Let me give you an example.

Just now, I got up and stood at the door to my guest bathroom. I went over the steps I would use to stage it. I looked at the shower/tub combo and knew, because of the placement of the light sources and the shape and size of the room, the shower curtain should come down. The shower/tub, enhanced with a few accessories, should be open to view.

Then I looked at the over-the-toilet-tank shelving unit we installed when we moved in. I cannot decide whether it should come down or stay up. There are valid staging reasons for each action. And I cannot decide. In YOUR house, I could be objective. In YOUR house, I could make the decision that will best enhance the guest bathroom. But, in MY house, even with this simple thing, my emotions and my history get in the way.

I am a very good stager. When the time comes to sell my house, I will hire a professional.


Reason Two: You are probably not going to do the research.

What colors are popular nationally? How do they differ from the colors that are popular locally? How do you decide whether you should you use the national or the local colors? When is it most likely to matter?

What colors are likely to make most buyers uncomfortable?

Let's assume we can stage that spare room as an office, a media room, or a guest bedroom. We know each room in a house should be staged with only one purpose. If we put all three purposes into that one spare room, we will confuse buyers and drive some of them away. How does your stager decide which purpose will appeal to most buyers? The neighborhood makes a difference. Different locations have different answers.

Just what is the percentage of buyers who cannot imagine how their furniture would look in your house?

Please note, I am not telling you the answers. That is because the answers change as our culture and the local demographics change. In fact, the questions change too.

Do you know the answers? Do you even know the questions? Probably not, that is not your job. That is your stager's job. And she or he spends a lot of time each week doing research.

When you hire a stager, you get the questions defined and answered without spending the time doing the research.


Reason Three: You do not have accumulated staging knowledge.

Each time I finish staging a house, I ask permission from the client and the Realtor to contact them periodically about the feedback they are getting. I ask them to let me know when the house sells.

Yes, I do this because I really care. I also do it because I want to know how buyers react to the staging. Are there things I can do better? Are there things I should do differently?

Mentally or in writing, each stager keeps a record of the staging decisions they made and why they made them. Over time, this builds to a body of ever-growing knowledge that ensures the stager does a better and better job.

When you hire a stager, all of that knowledge is used to help you.


Reason Four: Your house is unique.

Let's say you live in one of those ticky-tacky neighborhoods where the builder took one design, one floor plan, and built it 110 times. 110 guest bathrooms started out exactly the same. But the people living in the homes made changes. Each family's colors and furnishings make each bathroom different from a staging point of view. Sometimes the over-the-toilet-tank shelving unit stays up, sometimes it comes down. Sometimes it gets installed.

I can, have, and will give you a lot of information about how to stage a house. But, until I see it, I cannot tell you how to stage YOUR house. When your stager sees your house, she or he draws on all the time spent doing research, and all that accumulated staging knowledge, then uses that objective eye to make the decisions that best market your unique, your one-and-only house.

Your stager is a professional. Just like an electrician, a plumber, a Realtor, your stager is brings specialized knowledge and abilities to help you achieve your goals.

Now, go find your stager.

Final Thoughts

Okay all you stagers and sellers out there, what do you think? What key points did I miss? What examples can you share?

Unless someone gets a really interesting discussion going, tomorrow we will talk about WHEN you should hire a professional stager.

Keep safe.

Homes Staged To Sell - Cleaning, Everything Else

Okay, we cleaned the living room, dining room, den, kitchen, bedrooms, and bathrooms.

What other rooms do you have?

A library? Clean it. Top to bottom, and everywhere in between, clean it.

A media room? Clean it.

A bedroom closet? Guess what.......

A coat closet? Yep, you got it.....

A garage? We will talk about Staging the garage in a later blog. For now, not a scuff on a wall.

A front porch? A patio or deck? Not a cobweb should be seen.

A foyer? A finished basement? An unfinished basement?

Are you seeing a pattern here?

If you are reading this while standing in an unStaged house, you are probably thinking I am crazy. Of course, there are times my husband and family would go along with that diagnosis.

If your house is for sale and is not Staged, and you do not plan to Stage it, clean it as best you can. Try to clean deeper than you do when company is coming. Then set a schedule. For example: daily, check the overall status; daily, pick up; weekly, clean the public rooms; monthly, sweep the garage and unfinished basement. It is your house and your life, you are the best person to set that schedule.

On the other hand, if you are reading this while standing in a Staged house, you don't see how it can be done, take a step back, it is very likely your Staging is not complete. Maybe more accessories should be packed away, may more furniture should be removed.

The point is: when a house is truly and correctly Staged, you should be able to get it clean and keep it clean and still have a life. Will it be fun? That depends on whether you enjoy cleaning. Will it be easy? That depends on how well you set up and stick to your schedule. Will it be more fun and easier than it was before your house was Staged? Almost certainly....you are just, purely not going to have as many things to clean.

Well, okay, if you hate housecleaning, this is a duty, not a joy. This is a duty you do because you are dedicated to selling your house. Because clean houses sell.

Homes Staged To Sell - Cleaning, Bedrooms

Usually, potential buyers start with the front yard and look at the living room, dining room, and kitchen before they get to the bedrooms. By the time the the potential buyer walks into the bedroom their emotional reaction to the house is established. They may love the house. Or they may like the house and be on the lookout for reasons to fall in love. In either of those cases, the bedrooms, the places where so much private living happens, can clinch or lose the deal. On the other hand, the buyer may have the feeling this is not the house for them. In that case, the bedrooms can still impress them, can put the house on their short list of houses to revisit and reconsider if they do not quickly find the house that can be their home. It is very rare for a potential buyer to feel completely neutral about the house when they reach the bedrooms.

Obviously, we want to clinch the deal or make the short list.

The bedrooms are Staged at this point. We are cleaning them.

Top to bottom; ceiling, walls, and floors, just like before.

And just like before, clean under all furniture. Banish dust bunnies and make sure, when they sneak back under the bed they are quickly removed.

Vacuum soft surfaces like chairs or sofas. Polish hard surfaces like end tables, dressers, and armoires.

When we Staged the room, we may have replaced the bedspread. We may have added throw pillows, tossed a decorative throw on the foot of the bed, or placed a tray and coffee cup vignette on the bed.

Make the bed and Stage it with the throw pillows and/or throw and/or tray very soon after you get up every day. Take pride in the way you make the bed. Tuck the sheets in tightly, get rid of all droops. If there is a dust ruffle, keep it even to the floor and around the bed. Pull the bedspread or comforter so the mattress is completely, evenly covered and so no deep wrinkles mar the surface of the bed. Position the pillows, throw pillows, and decorative throws with pride - they are the bedroom's jewelry.

If the bed is in use, the sheets and pillow cases are picking up organic debris. Over time, this does begin to smell but, but you may be acclimated and not notice the odor. Wash the sheets and pillow cases on a regular basis. Use a furniture brush to remove dust from the dust ruffle.

If the regular cleaning schedule is close, wash sheets and pillow cases just before an Open House.

Before an Open House run the bedspread, the throw pillows, and the throw through a dryer cycle with a fabric sheet. This plumps and refreshes them so they look their very best.

Pick up every day. The only things that should be out when potential buyers visit are the things we put there for Staging.

We are getting close my friends. Tomorrow we will finish cleaning this house!

Does anyone have a Staging topic they would like to see addressed? Please add a comment or send me an email.

Homes Staged To Sell - Cleaning, Bath & Kitchen

Yesterday, we cleaned main rooms that do not have running water. There, we started at the ceiling and cleaned every surface down to the floor. Of course, we are going to do the same thing, clean top to bottom, in the bath and kitchen. But, before we do, we are going to concentrate on water-related cleaning.

Clean sink traps. Clean the sink pop up / stopper.
Over time, debris gathers, stays wet, and decays. This decaying matter can make the sink drain slowly and smell. Potential buyers are very likely to test sink drainage. If performance is poor, or if, even subconsciously, they notice an odor, they may pick up the impression that the bath or kitchen is not clean.

Kitchens and baths sell houses. Clean kitchens and baths sell houses faster and at better value. Kitchens and bathrooms that give the impression of not being clean are a big hindrance to selling.

Below, I list links to cleaning instructions (that I find valuable). But, you can do an internet search to find the instructions that make the most sense to you. And, of course, if you are already doing this kind of in-depth cleaning, do a special cleaning just before you list your house, then return to your normal pattern.

Here is the link to the eHow.com instructions on cleaning your sink trap.
http://www.ehow.com/how_4468637_clean-out-sink-trap.html

Some sink stoppers pull right out for easy cleaning. Others are attached. Here are instructions on releasing attached stoppers.
http://www.sandiego-plumbers.com/info/cleaning_sink_stopper.htm

Does your kitchen have a garbage disposal? Clean it.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_should_you_clean_your_garbage_disposal

Got a trash compactor? Clean it all surfaces, including the chute and ram twice. First clean with a degreasing cleaner, follow up with an antibacterial cleaner. If there is a filter, replace it.

If you have any other specialized products, clean them according to their instructions.

If the fridge, the wine cooler, the whatever is on wheels pull it out and clean beneath/behind it. Therein lies odor.

Replace every filter in the room.

Open and clean inside every cabinet, drawer, linen closet, and pantry. If the bottom is stained or scarred, put in a vinyl liner. If the bottom cleans up well leave it alone. You might have done this during the Simplify Contained Spaces step. Check to ensure everything is still clean.

Now, start with the ceiling, go on to the walls, then clean the floor. Clean the outsides and rims of cabinets and drawers.

Finally, follow the instructions and clean counter tops, sinks, toilets, and tubs. Make them shine. And, every day, keep them shining.

Unless anyone has something about baths and kitchens they would like to discuss, tomorrow we clean the bedrooms.

I hope you have a great day!

Homes Staged To Sell: Cleaning, Living Room/Den/Dining Room

So, you are standing in the middle of the living room. Hopefully, the Staging is done and the number of things in the room is significantly reduced - that will make cleaning easier. If you have read the Science And Art Of Staging on my website and have been following this blog, you realize you actually just thought, "I know how to clean this room to Live, how do clean it to Sell?"


Before you start on the first major cleaning after you Stage, I suggest you get a phone book and call several professional cleaning services. Ask questions: do they truly clean from the ceiling to the floor? Get quotes and find out if your budget can handle a one-time deep, deep cleaning. If it can, then consider paying someone to start you off right. Thereafter, if you usually use a maid service, continue to do so. If you usually do the cleaning yourself, go for it.

Clean sells houses. My family lived in one house for four years, then moved and put the vacant house up for sale. I still lived close by, so I checked for touch up cleaning every few days. Once every two months, I had a maid service come in. When we sold the house, the buyers asked me if anyone had ever lived in the house because it looked and smelled so pristine.


Okay, there are no professional cleaning services in your area, or your budget will not cover the cost (and that can happen).

Time to DIY clean.

I keep a supply of vinyl (waterproof) tablecloths, old washcloths (I buy these in bulk when the Stuff For A Dollar store has a sale), Swiffer dry dusters, krud remover, antibacterial generic household cleaner, glass cleaner wipes with vinegar (or, I just use vinegar), granite wipes, and floor cleaner/polish.

Start at the top and work your way down. Get a dry duster with an extension and wipe down the ceiling then move on to the walls. Be prepared to be surprised at how much grey matter you remove and how many times you have to change the dust cloth. Keep it dry. You risk smears otherwise.

If you have to use a ladder to reach the ceiling, be very, very careful. Move the ladder frequently. Do not try to reach too far and risk losing your balance.

Even if you painted, if it has been more than two weeks, dust the ceiling and walls.

Now, check for scuff marks and discolorations. If you find any, try using the krud remover. In many, if not most, cases this will remove the scuffs without leaving a patch that shines and looks out of place when seen against the rest of the ceiling or wall.

Clean chandeliers and ceiling fans thoroughly. While you are up there, install all new light bulbs.

Dust or damp wash the all around the window and door trim. Damp wash baseboards, chair rail, and cornice moulding. Again, remove scuffs.

Depending on how dusty you location is, plan to clean the ceiling and walls every six months or as needed. In other words, all the Staging we have done is aimed at only having to do this cleaning once.

Take down and clean (or clean in place) your wall art. Plan to do this every two weeks or as needed.

Vaccuum everything fabric: sofa, chairs, ottomon. Take the cushions off and vaccuum underneath. The dust that settles on fabric includes organic detrius (dropped popcorn kernals and other meal oopsies, your hair and skin cells, your pets' fur and skin cells, and so on). As time passes and the organics decay, that dust does develop an odor. It tends to be mild, but it is there and many people are aware of it. Get rid of it.

Polish hardwood furniture, make it shine. Deep clean other surfaces, make them glow.

If you have carpet that has been around awhile, either have it professionally cleaned or rent a steam cleaner. Ditto any rugs in the room. Do not use one of the scented carpet deodorizors. Many people are allergic to or dislike this kind of scent.

If you need to, go to the pet supply store and get an enzyme spray. Follow the directions on the bottle to remove organic odors from you furniture and/or carpet and/or rugs.

If you have hardwood, laminate, tile, or vinyl flooring use the appropriate cleaning and polishing solutions. A clean floor is not slick - that is dangerous. But a clean floor reflects light upwards into the room. This makes the space seem more open, the room feel larger. In fact, that glow tends to lift most people's spirits. We move closer to selling when buyers feel happier as they walk around the house.

Now that you have it clean, keep it clean. Walk through the house every day and check to see if any touch up cleaning is needed. In a very short time, if everyone living there pitches in, you will find things stay clean longer and it is easier and faster to clean when you need to, than it ever was when you were cleaning to Live.

Some of you will not be able to do everything I just described. But, remember, clean sells. So, do as much as you can. And look for other things you can do to make or keep your house cleaned to Sell.

Does anyone have additional advice? Special cleaning tips? Please post a comment and share your knowledge with the rest of us!

Tomorrow we move on to cleaning bathrooms and kitchens.

Homes Staged To Sell - Cleaning

I seem to be in a pattern: words that mean one thing when you are selling house, and another thing when you are living in your home.

Imagine a brand-new, just completed house as it goes on the market. There is not a mar on any wall. Not a scuff mark on the floor. The kitchen and bathroom counter tops gleam. The interior of each cabinet and drawer is so clean it reflects light when opened. The sinks and tubs look like the faucets have never been turned on: not a watermark in sight. The baseboards, chair rails, window sills, yeck, the molding above the doors and windows appears to have never been touched by human hands or by dust. The filter in the fan above the stove does not know the meaning of the word "grease". Not a single dust bunny has hopped it's way across the carpet.

The builder has probably furnished the house. Each piece of furniture gleams. Not only are the carefully placed accessories spotless, if you pick one up you see the furniture underneath is spotless as well. Each model bed is exquisitely made. The bedding is immaculate. Dust has never touched the decorative fruit glowing in brightly colored bowls.

In many cities, when you sell your house this is your competition.

I imagine many of you are looking around your rooms and thinking, "yeah, right".

Yeah. Right.

On my website, I describe the steps I use to Stage an occupied house, the steps I suggest you use if you are going to live in your house while it is for sale. Cleaning is one of the last steps. This is because it is easier, and more practical, to clean a house once it has been Staged. And it is much easier to keep it clean.

So, don't panic and don't give up. If you have not yet finished the Decluttering steps, if you have not yet started arranging furniture and accessories, it is not yet time to worry about cleaning.

And, if you think you have finished Decluttering and Arranging, look around each room. Will it take days to do the initial cleaning, and hours each day to keep it clean? If so, it is very likely you have not really finished Decluttering and Arranging. On the other hand, if you see the initial cleaning may take some time but keeping it clean is going to be much easier than it was before the Staging, well, congratulations, you are there.

A Staged house looks a bit sparse when you compare it to lived in home. Running a vacuum around each room is straightforward because there is not a lot of furniture. Dusting is simple because there are not a lot of decorative items to dust around and under. The bathrooms and kitchen are easy to wipe down.

In the upcoming days I am going to discuss tricks and techniques to get it clean and keep it clean. Really, it can be done. And, you can have a life while doing it.

Home Staging To Sell - Decluttering, the final chapter

I began this stream by saying I strongly suspect that what Stagers and Realtors mean when they ask a client to declutter, and what the clients hear, are two different things.

Then I explained decluttering as a series of steps: Simplify Contained Spaces, Depersonalize, Neutralize, and (finally) Declutter.

I do not necessarily mean you have to do four complete sweeps of your house. That depends on how you work best, the size of your house, and the number of things in it. You can declutter one room at a time, or you can make four sweeps, or you can work a completely different pattern. The important thing is to declutter thoroughly.

Decluttering and cleaning are the two most fundamental activities in Staging. If you do nothing else, you will decrease the time it takes to get an offer, and you will increase the likelihood of that offer being at or close to full price.

I hope this has helped.

Unless I hear any objections, tomorrow I will begin discussing cleaning: another verb where the Stager/Realtor and the client may experience a disconnect.

As always, if there is a particular topic you would like to hear about, or, to open a discussion around any topic, just contact me. Your concerns and opinions really matter to me.

Home Staging To Sell - Decluttering

We began this stream with my belief that most people do not know what their Stager or Realtor means when they say, "the house should be decluttered".

We have simplified all contained spaces, then used some of the freed up space to store items when we depersonalized and neutralized. Free space in all cabinets, drawers, closets, and pantries should be about 50%.

So, once again, start at the curb and look at each space. Finally, finally, we are looking for clutter.

One more time, what does that mean?

Collections or more than five like items, piles of magazines and newspapers, small pictures on tables and walls (especially groups of small pictures), small occasional tables, extra unused chairs, tschotkes of all varieties take up visual space and give the buyer the impression the space in the room is smaller than it really is.

Really. Put six small to medium sized framed pictures on wall - say the outside edges of the picture grouping measures four feet by four feet. Then, out one large four by four foot picture on the same sized wall in another room. Most people, after looking at the two walls, will say the first wall and the room around it is much smaller than the second wall and room.

Most people are hard-wired to be distracted by groups of small and medium sized things.

Our intention is to make the room appeal to the greatest number of people. Clean, uncluttered surfaces make the room feel spacious and welcoming. So, find and remove those small groupings and distracting objects. The only time I use small objects in Staging is when the room is cavernous, huge, and poorly proportioned and I need to reduce the visual space. This does not happen often.

A further example. That lovely mirrored tray you put on the counter in the bathroom to hold perfume, tiny vases, a decorative hair brush, fingernail polish, and bath salts? Pack everything you use up and store them in a box under the counter. Store everything else, including the mirrored tray, away from sight. That little diorama is for living, not for selling. The clean, empty counter top tells people there is plenty of space in the bathroom. That is what sells.

When I Stage a house, or when I write a Staging Plan for DIYers, I out the largest tschotkes, all lamps, and a few little tables aside. They may used when we arrange the furniture and accessories. Everything else vanishes.

Tomorrow we will cover some final thoughts about decluttering.

Does anyone have a request about our next subject? Email me at anorderleehome@gmail.com.