Home Staging Transformations

When it comes to staging a home I always tell my clients that we are going to focus on the main living areas, or as I say “the first 30 seconds of the home, first and foremost. For many of my home staging projects that means the entryway, living room and, almost always, into the dining space. Home staging transformations are completely possible with a professional stager and five easy steps. Home Staging the living & dining room was a main focus for a recent project and I wanted to share the steps taken and a few tips on creating a space for the up and coming buyer.

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BEFORE & AFTER

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Before & After

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Home Staging Transformations: Living & Dining Rooms

I begin each staging project with a walk through consultation. You can read about my consultation tips here and here. They usually take 1.5-2 hours and we go from room to room, space by space, including closets, inside cabinets and more. So much information is delivered during the home staging consultation that I offer my clients a home staging report.

It is in this report that I will provide everything we discussed and more. For instance, paint colors, furniture selections if we needed (to rent or buy) and any new light fixture. I create the report in a bullet list, “to-do,” format so they can check off as they go. You can read more about my home staging reports here.

Many times I have clients who get overwhelmed with their to-do list and that is why I offer project management. In the following home staging project, I handled their paint, light fixtures, furniture selection, install, professional cleaning and other items as project manager. Below is my my five step process.

Steps To Home Staging Transformations: Living and Dining Room

My 5 main steps I follow to Stage the main living spaces.

1. Paint
2. Fixures (such as lighting)
3. Furniture Selection
4. Professional Cleaning
5. Staging

Clearly I didn’t list declutter and packing of personal items. I always tell my clients that that is not Home Staging. Many people believe home staging is the process of de-cluttering and de-personalizing. Which drives me bonkers. That is not home staging. That is simply the process of getting the property ready to be staged to sell.

So, step one, paint, almost always I have all my properties painted. Probably 99.9% of the time. For the last few years it was all about the greys. You can read about my go-to home staging grey paint colors here , here and here oh and here too. Now, with buying trends changing, I have updated my paint color selection to include white wall trends and you can read all about my best white paint colors here.

But, as a home stager, you must understand that every five years the buyers change. Naturally. As a result, the current trends that buyers have a desire for are whites and darks. A more modern, clean, simple contrast. For that reason, you might start to see more of my staging projects have this trend.

When painting is done, we change out outdated light fixtures as well. Once again, for the last couple years it was open lantern fixtures. This year, I told my client and his realtor, trust me, we got to try something not so main stream. That is why in this home staging tranformation I opted for a more modular midcentury inspired light fixture.

While painting and light fixtures are getting into place I create my design board and floor plans. I coordinate and arrange for the delivery and professional cleaning.

Then the real fun begins. Home Staging the property.

When I do an install, I naturally will be on site 1.5 days. If I didn’t want to be home with my kids for dinner, I would get it done in one day by finishing into the night. The only other issue with this, is that I take my own photos when I finish. I can’t take photos with no natural light coming in from the windows at night so I almost always return the next day for finishing touches and photography.

Well, the 5 step process is complete and the property is ready for it’s new buyer. Tune in next week for tips on designing a home staging floor plan and see something you like to add to your own home or staging inventory, here are some of my fave pieces from this project.