The Art Of Staging: Negative Space continued

TWO successful closures on two staged properties! A rental house that had been vacant and 'for rent' for months, rented two weeks after I staged it. A 'for sale' house, truly beautiful but in a location that is improving (and the 'improving' stalled/slowed when the economy stalled) had been vacant without offers for a lot of months, almost a year. It went under contract two months after staging.

Of course, this means I am in process of bringing two houses' worth of furniture and accessories into my basement.....help

Negative space.

We were talking about negative space before reality in the form of two houses interrupted me.

Okay, let's all imagine standing in the living room in your house. Everybody there, mentally? Now, let's get started. For purposes of this discussion, let's assume the house is not being sold furnished. Let's remove everything that is not part of the sale.

Toss out the tschotkes. Rip the pictures down from the walls. Stand on a chair and tear the amusing diorama - half a plastic duck, crashing through the ceiling. Transport the furniture into the back yard. OUT goes the TV. The rugs shimmer and vanish. With a series of popping sounds, the books vanish from the books shelves. Unless the book shelves are built in, they follow the books outa there. The gold cup you got 1976 for outstanding achievement in field hockey lifts off the mantle and glides out of the room. (Mentally clearing a room is SO much easier than actually packing, isn't it?)

In your mind, take the room down to bare walls, bare floor, bare ceiling. What is left? Windows. Doors. Fireplace. Built in book shelves. Flooring (carpet, wood).

One more thing. In your mind rip up the carpet, the wood, the flooring. Smooth over it to make it mentally easy to walk on.

What a coincidence! When we remove everything that is not for sale, we are left with everything that defines the shape and size of the room. Negative space.

This, my friends, is what you are selling. This is where the staging starts.

Tomorrow, we dig into this idea.

Have a great Tuesday.

The Art Of Staging: Negative Space

What the heck is negative space?

In painting, negative space is "the space around and between the subject(s) of an image". (wikipedia.org)

In my always vocal opinion:
In music, negative space is the pauses to breath, the silences that highlight the next sounds.
In speaking, negative space is (again) the pauses, the silences that capture the listener's attention.

Negative space defines shape - the shape of the subject, the meaning and importance of the next words or music. Negative space enhances substance. Negative space is critical to understanding meaning. Negative space offers time to think and reflect. (Think about it, if the speaker goes on and on, even if they are interesting you may find it hard to keep concentrating on what they are saying.)

Negative space is absolutely critical to staging.

Think about it.

Forget 'what the heck is negative space'? ... What the heck is she talking about?

Discussion continues tomorrow.

Garden: Front Yard

I did an informal home staging consultation (informal staging plan) yesterday. The house was build in the early 1930's. The front yard is small, and the home owners are prolific gardeners in the English garden style.

Meaning the front yard was choked with blooming flowers, and a gigantic Rosemary bush partially blocked part of the walk to the door on one side, while a huge flowering shrub partially blocked the other side. The winding path they take to get in an among the dozens of shrubs and flowers was dirt.

Some enthusiastic trimming and a lot of bags of mulch (to define and enhance the path) will change the first impression from crowded and unfriendly to charming and welcoming.

I hope they let me know when they are done doing the staging. I am looking forward to seeing the lovely results.

Have a great Wednesday!

Despair

My stager friends and I are somewhere between despair and anger.

A few months ago, one friend looked over a neighbor's house. The neighbor had done their own 'staging'. I told you about it in a previous blog: tschotkes everywhere - beautiful, expensive porcelains arranged in huge grouping of dozens of objects; gorgeous, expensive furniture arranged to live and to block or hide the room's best features. A wonderful house, but arranged to live and not, definitely not, to sell.

The neighbor chose to list the house that way. After all, the listing agent said the asking price was reasonable and there was no need to stage.

They just dropped the price $50K.

Assuming the stager did the work - the most expensive way to stage - professional staging would have run under $2K, with a small on-going cost for a storage unit to protect the excess furniture and decorative items.

Would staging have made a difference?

We stagers think it would.....and we each have stories to re-enforce that thought.

Today, I do a Staging Consultation (what I call an Informal Staging Plan) for a new client who is selling by owner. Smart person - my charge will be minimal, they will do the work themselves, and they will greatly improve the marketing of their house.

Have a great day!

Would you buy a used car from this house?

When I say a house feels 'trustworthy' to a potential buyer, what the heck am I talking about? Do I mean the buyer feels the house is honest? Has nothing to hide? Will sign and back an IOU?

Pretty much.

In 'the science and art of staging' on my website, I have a large section called 'tell them about it'. This is all about ways a seller can tell buyers about the location and condition of the house. The more a buyer feels they know about a house, the more likely they are to follow their first impression and, if it is positive, buy the house.

This means if something is wrong that the seller is unable to repair, the seller should be up front about it and not wait for the legal disclosure to mention it. Waiting for the legal disclosure 'feels' like a lie..."Why didn't they mention that earlier???" Having a printed list of issues, and the approximate cost and time needed to fix them, will scare some buyers away, true, but it will make others feel they really know the house - that there are no gotcha's lurking.

That is why I encourage my client's to have a home inspection, address everything they can, write a letter explaining what they did, then put the home inspection report and the letter out where potential buyers can read them. This is a great way for you, the seller, to tell everyone that YOU trust the house. And, if you trust they house, they can too.

So, I suggest my clients be very up front about the physical state of the house.

With one kind-of exception:

Maybe you are the world's most amazing house cleaner. Maybe this means you sterilize the kitchen each time someone gets a drink of water. Maybe this means you figure once a month is good enough for cleaning your bathroom, and your baseboards have never been cleaned.

If the house is clean and neat and staged and all stains have been removed when it is shown, history does not matter. What matters is the house is clean when the potential buyer sees it. Here, cleanliness implies it has always been kept that way. In turn, this implies you, the seller, have always taken good care of every aspect of the house.

Gotta trust someone who cares that much. Gotta trust a house that is so honest about it's flaws and has, fundamentally, been well maintained.

In a previous blog, I said I believe buyers are helped when a house is staged. A staged house should be honest and trustworthy. A staged house markets itself by showing off all positive aspects and explaining any idiosyncrasies. I believe a well staged house never tells a lie.

Living In Your Staged Home: Clean, clean again

There are a lot of awesome cleaning products on the market. Many come with their own, disposable applicators (mop pads, cleaning wipes). This really bothered me because, while I loved the convenience of the product, I hated (a) spending money just to throw the applicator away, (b) thinking about what all those tossed applicators were doing in the landfills.

One day, in the local all-a-dollar store, I found a packet of 20 white cotton wash cloths. These border on being paper-thin, but are very strong. I bought two packs. Then, I got a bucket, a bottle of generic cleaner, furniture polish, and a bottle of white vinegar. I carry the wash cloths, the generic cleaners, and a few specialized cleaners (for special products like granite) in the bucket. Tied to the bucket handle, I have the drawstrings that close a plastic bag.

When I clean house, I use the wash cloths and the cleaners. When a wash cloth gets dirty, or when the specific purpose (like furniture polishing) is complete, the cloths go in the plastic bag. When I am through cleaning, I transport the plastic bag to the laundry where the wash cloths are washed.

When I mop, the wash cloths fit on the solid surface, flat 'mop' I use. Too cool.

In this way, I reuse the cloths, my garbage load is reduced, I save money, and the landfill rests in peace.

Almost three years, two houses, and the original packs of cloths are still going strong. Oh sure, a little stained, worn in spots...yep, in another year or so I will have to go find another pack.

...................................

There is a theory, held by some stagers, that cleaning products should be hidden. That we do not want to remind buyers that they are going to have to clean the house.

I do not agree with that theory.

I think a clean house in combination with the products used to do the cleaning, sends a message to potential buyers that the owners care for the house. This makes the house more trustworthy, a good thing, emotionally.

I do tell my clients that, because cleaning products can be toxic or cause bad reactions when touched, all such products should be stored out of reach of children. Buyers visiting a house may bring their children. We do not want those children exploring and playing with chemicals. We do not want parents worrying about whether their children are safe in the house - this is altogether the wrong emotional message.

So, use 'em frequently (even if you have a weekly cleaning service, you may need to clean between visits), and store 'em high!

Happy Tuesday!

Living In Your Staged Home: Clean

Remember a few days ago when we counted the number of accessories and furniture in a room? (see: I have a theory.)

It is likely, if you live in a fairly average house, your calculated count was greater than 7. And, if you live an average life, your baseboards have not been cleaned in awhile because just keeping the room in general clean takes up your available 'cleaning' time.

Now, think about how the room will look when it is staged. Most of the decorations will be stored. Quite possibly some of the furniture will be stored.

Mopping and vacuuming will go faster - not so much furniture to navigate around.

Dusting will go faster - not so many things to pick up.

In fact, there will probably be time to clean those baseboards.

In fact, on average, Staged Homes are much easier to clean than unstaged houses. Which is a good thing because clean sells houses. Clean houses smell better (really, dust has an odor some people can smell). Clean houses imply high home maintenance standards. Clean surfaces, shining or glowing, are emotionally welcoming.

All of which means, once you get the house cleaned, you need to keep the house cleaned.

This, also, is easier in a Staged Home. Running the broom or sweeper over the floors, dusting can be done on a schedule or when needed - daily if you have furry friends - in a matter of minutes.

This is one of the reasons sellers frequently Stage their new home when they move.

Tip: replace all air filters when you stage your home. Then, replace them again on a regular basis. Say, every three to six months.....of course, it is our hope when we stage a house that, in three to six months, you will be long gone.

Welcome back - I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend!

Living In your Staged Home: little boxes all over the house

It has way over a year since I sold my last home. Today, when I buy five pounds of sugar (it's the hummingbird season, you know) I pour the sugar out of the messy-once-opened bag and into a large storage container. Then, I label the box, secure the lid, and stack it neatly under the container I am about to empty (it's the hummingbird season, the only way to survive is to plan ahead).

Actually, I repackage all of my dry goods. I never, ever mix boxes. Instead each label lists what the item is, when I bought it, and the best-by or use-by date from the box ("sugar", 7/3/09, 7/10/10). This way, I do not risk cross-contamination (dry goods can undergo chemical changes as they age), I know what to use first, I know when to toss, and my pantry looks neat and has extra open space because the boxes stack neatly.

Of course, it took me some time to get in the habit of repackaging. Hmmm, yes, I remember, after I tried it one time while staging my house I made it part of my routine forever more.

To enhance the repackaging, I store like things together (rice with rice, enriched flour by the rice and with the regular flour, sugar with the no cal sweetener.......). And I rotate so the oldest container of each item is always on top and easy to reach.

It takes a little time to do the initial repackaging/staging in a pantry. After the first time, with the pantry neatly organized, time saved, and stress relieved the process of continuing to repackage is usually easy. It takes much less time than the time wasted hunting for that one item in the recipe thirty minutes before you plan to serve dinner.

My husband got a zillion small storage containers and reorganized his work area in the garage. My jewelry lives in containers: a box for sets, a box for necklaces, a box for rings.....I have a box for scarves and boxes for different colored hosiery.

In a few minutes, when I am done writing this, I am taking the leftovers from the zillions of containers into the basement and organizing my crafting space in the basement. When we moved, over a year ago, things got thrown into boxes any which way...I am going to unpack the big boxes, check the paints and ribbons and trim and tools, then put them together in very specific ways.

When I tell my clients about using little boxes while staging their house, I encourage them to store the boxes out of sight (in drawers, in cabinets, on closet shelves). Because my house is not for sale, giggle, I store boxes exactly the same way: out of sight and very near the place the contained items will be used).

For me, the stress relief alone is worth the effort.

Everyone have a great holiday! I will be back on Monday.

Living In Your Staged Home: Little Boxes, bathroom

Small, plastic, clear or white boxes can help you survive selling your home. And can help you make the sale.

Really.

Let's start in the bathroom. Look on the counter: Sixteen toothbrushes, Four tubes of toothpaste, three bars of soap, Dad's shaving equipment, Mom's make-up, Susie's skin care products, and little Fardwick's rubber ducky without which there will be no bath time.

In many houses, bathrooms get a little "busy". They have to. This is a room where life is, so to speak, lived in the raw.

Four people in the family? Get four boxes. Not too big. Just the right size to all fit and stack neatly in the cabinet under the sink. (Remember how we cleaned out under the sink earlier? There is tons of room down there.) (Or, there should be...If there is not, go through everything down there and toss or store everything not used on a very regular basis. Consider putting everything else in to boxes.)

Put Dad's shaving things, soap, whatever in one box. Neatly label it 'Dad'. Mom's things go in another labeled box. Susie and Fardwick each get a box (make sure Fardwick's box is big enough to hold Mr. Duckie). Put the four personal toothbrushes aside for a moment.

Now, store the other twelve toothbrushes, that inexplicable extra bar of soap, and anything else currently on the counter. Clean the absolutely bare counter. Step back and enjoy the shine for a moment.

Now, stage the counter. Remember you are going to have to keep everything you put on there very, very clean. So, don't overdo.

Clean the toothbrush holder (thrift/buy a new one if the current one is not neutral, has seen better days, or if you don't have one). IF each of the four toothbrushes looks new,put them in the holder. If any of them are worn, replace it with a new toothbrush.

Hint: Toothbrushes can develop an odor over time and use. Odor does not sell houses. When you are done brushing, rinse the toothbrush thoroughly. And, replace them regularly.

The message you are sending is, the people who live here are very clean and hygienic: a buyer can trust this house.

What else goes on the counter? A soap dispenser that matches the toothbrush holder. Or, a matching soap dish. (The people who live here are very clean and hygienic and concerned with beauty: a buyer can trust this house and will live here surrounded by beauty.) (Okay, one toothbrush holder and a coordinated soap dish are not going to invoke this subconcious 'beauty' thought all by themselves, we are going to subtly coordinate where ever we can all over the house. It all adds up.)

What if you cannot afford or have no time to find and purchase, a new soap dish? Whatever goes on the bathroom counter should always, obviously be clean, clean, clean.

What else goes on the counter? Nothing else is necessary. A live or very, very nice silk floral arrangement can be a nice touch for an Open House, but may get in the way during day to day life. A folded, coordinated hand towel is a good idea.

Bottom line, I usually put a soap dispenser in every bathroom - to help send the clean, clean, clean message. After that, I let the size and shape of the room dictate if anything else is needed.

Now, turn to the shower and/or bathtub. Does everyone have their own shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, and soap? Each person's box gets a few more items.

Completely clean the shower/tub. Staging this area is simple. If there is only one shampoo bottle, etc used by everyone in the family, leave them out. If everyone has their own bath things (now in boxes), well a really clean bath area, with one neutral colored wash cloth hanging or folded neatly is enough. If there is a display ledge, a bottle of bath salts is okay. Art on one empty wall can help define and enhance the space.

Staging in a bathroom simplifies the space and emphasizes how clean and usable the room is.

If the house is vacant, I sometimes put in a silk plant and/or towels rolled or folded and tied with raffia or ribbon. This is because the bathroom is not in use. Nobody is going to brush their teeth with the silk orchid at their elbow, risking splatters.

If you live in your home while it is for sale, look deeply at your family's lifestyle then concentrate on simplicity and cleanliness in the bathroom.

So, back to those boxes.

It is morning. Mom, clutching her coffee cup stumbles into the bathroom, retrieves her box from under the sink and places it on the sparkling counter. She takes items out as she needs them, uses them, then puts them back in the box. When she is showered, toothbrushed, made up, and ready to face the day, her box goes back under the sink.

When everyone is abluted, someone is responsible for wiping down the counter and shower/tub. Tah-dah, the bathroom is ready to be shown. And everyone has the things they need each readily available.

Yes, this does require self-discipline. But, living in a house that is for sale really is not like living in a home. And, yes, once they get used to this many people find once they like it so much they carry the boxes forward to their new home.

Are you wondering how these boxes help you sell your house? Good old human psychology. Remember that message you are sending? The people who live here are clean so, if I live here, I will be cleanly too. The boxes, neatly labeled and stacked send the message: the people who live here are organized and in control of their lives so, if I live here, I will be organized and in control too.

During Open Houses for Staged Homes (depersonalized, neutralized, attention directed to the house itself and not to the people living in the house) where neatly labeled and stacked boxes are used (especially in kitchens and bathrooms), I have listened to buyers comment, "I'd like to live here so I could be organized."

Really.

The degree of organization you put in your house, along with the staging, enhances buyer's perception of the house.

It is as if the house itself made the organization happen.

This can be, and is, a good feeling. This can be, and is, a selling point.

Oh, and what if little Fardwick simply cannot survive unless Mr. Duckie is sitting on the tub surround all day, every day? It is not bad to keep the room simplified, keep Mr. Duckie clean, and let him roost on the surround. Forget the silk orchids, make Mr Duckie the decorative item in the bathroom. Just don't leave out the whole menagerie.

I hope you have splendid day!