…it is under contract! After I staged the home last week, I learned from the listing agent that the first people to see the home after it was staged put in an offer. Why did staging make such a difference with this home?
I believe it is because this beautiful home needed just a few things to give the potential buyer a reason to buy the home, instead of a reason not to buy the home. What do I mean by that?
When inquiring with the listing agent and the homeowner about the feedback provided during 4 months it had been on the market, the reasons potential buyers gave when letting them know they were not interested in the home ranged from the house being too big, to the kitchen being outdated, to not liking the layout of the master bathroom, etc. As I walked through the home, none of these reasons were show stoppers, so it was obvious to me they had to come up with something because there was nothing about the home that captured their heart and emotions.
Boom! I had just located the strategy for staging the home.
I will be documenting each room in the home and the explaining the design plan I put together for each room in my soon to be released Home Staging Book, and today, I will share with you my design plans for one of the rooms to give you and idea of how I connected the potential buyer to the home.
The main picture in this article is the “after” of the office at the front of the home. The seller has beautiful artwork, and I just love the mixture of old and new with the furniture and artwork, but we were missing some things that I easily corrected through Home Staging.
In my experience as a Home Stager, when I am called in to help get a listing sold that is already priced right and in overall good shape, but just not selling, I look for two things:
* What is the potential buyer seeing in the first 7-10 seconds? and is it giving them something to LOVE during that time so that they are emotionally connecting right way? If we do not grab them in that initial time frame, the opportunity to to connect with them is gone.
* Are there rooms where the function is not clear? If the buyer cannot see themselves in the home and understand the purpose for each room, it leaves them with questions about how to live in the home that need to be answered in their house hunting process.
Both of the above were occurring with potential buyers of this home, and I knew just how to get it corrected, starting with the office!
I started “shopping” in the home to fill voids in the office and other rooms. The seller had beautiful pieces in the Butler’s Pantry cupboards that I pulled from and re-purposed to make the office feel warm and purposeful. I displayed crystal pieces on the end table and on hutch shelves, and I brought in a substantial artificial ivy to add softness and interest to accent the beautiful pieces.
(The “before” picture below has items on the shelves, but when I arrived, all those items had been removed. Also, the curtains had already been removed which helped to bring light into the room.)
As you can see below, there was an upholstered dated rocking chair in the corner, but no desk, which is the main staple to a home office. I brought the rocker out to the garage, and I brought in a small desk and pulled an extra side chair from the dining room to make the front office functional and beautiful. I added a generous floral piece and brought in books from the seller’s reading collection that have colors in the cover that contribute to the overall theme and color palette of the room.
I placed the desk at an angle looking out to engage the potential buyers from the entrance. Think of it as creating a display for your audience; each room incorporates elements that “wink” to your potential buyer.
The result was a beautiful office that contributed to the overall look and feel of the home, while communicating functionality and beauty.
Because we focused on what the customer was seeing and experiencing the first 7-10 seconds, we were able to quickly assess what needed to be done, and start implementation.
Enjoy the before and afters, and join me in celebrating a successful staging adventure that resulted in a sold home!!
Here is a “before”, followed by another “after” of the office:
