Adventures In Creating: Quick and Easy Way to Hang Pictures

Found this tip today! So simple! Would have helped last week when hanging all that art!



Adventures In Creating: Quick and Easy Way to Hang Pictures: I was hanging some pictures in Con-Man's room and thought it might be a good technique to share. I learned this back in the day when I worke...

Is Staging all glamorous????

I am Staging this vacant house right now. I had been planning for weeks to get this done. I felt like a kid at Christmas when it was Monday morning to go get it started! Yes, I really am that excited about what Im doing!

Long story short as with most things in life I had to WAIT! The house is not complete yet so I was not able to have alone creative Staging time. Lots of contractors in the house. Phone calls to be made to my moving trucks guys to come later than we thought. I went back out at 630pm after getting dinner on the table for the kids. My husband came later that evening ,so graciously helping me hang some art that couldn't be done while the workers were still in the home. I got home at midnight and my back hurts.

Oh and this house is  still not ready for me to finish like the investor had hoped. The granite doesn't come back until Friday. I thought I would get it done in 2 days but it has turned into several days and multiple trips each day in hopes that it will be AMAZING when done.

BUT! I am not at all complaining. I love love love love what I am doing! BUT it is not all glamorous and shopping! It is a lot of work!  However, the end results and making people walk into a house and say "WOW I want to live here!" That is what makes me love this job so much!

Sneak Peak.......when its complete I will post the end results of the entire house!
Stay Tuned!

TIPS for home Sellers!

It’s no surprise that I believe every seller should consult with a Home Stager but the truth is, there are so many things you can do without me.  Here are five things you can do on your own to prepare your house for sale.  You should still consider consulting with a Home Stager but if you do these things the Home Stager can help you with less obvious issues.

  

*Declutter! When rooms, closets and cabinets are cluttered, they leave potential buyers with the impression that there isn't enough space.

*Fix little things, if you don't buyers will assume you don't take care of the house and wonder what other problems they might find.

*Did you know that brightening up a room will make it appear bigger? Add a coat of light-colored, neutral paint to the walls. Open the blinds and let the light in. ( I get a very good discount on Sherwin Williams paint that I can pass on to you, just for asking!)

*Clean like the sale of your home depends on it ... because it does.

*Remove personal photos.  You want buyers to see themselves living in the house. That is hard to do if they’re looking at pictures of you. I know some disagree., but I do think its important but if you must leave some please only leave a few!

PLEASE DONT LEAVE THIS........

     For more tips, visit my Facebook page! Dont forget to "like" us ! I’d love to hear your story about how the step you took helped you sell your house quickly!

Wishing you a quick sale!

Giveaway POSTED!

Please go to https://www.facebook.com/StagedAbove to get more details! You do not want to miss out on this one!

Staged Above and La Rouge Vintage! GIVEAWAY TIME!

Staged Above and La Rouge Vintage are teaming up to do some really fun things!
The ladies at La Rouge are an amazing team! They work very hard to get their store ready for each monthly open. I can personally say that I have been in their store and they do such a great job!
I have bought things from them personally and plan to buy things for my Staging Inventory.
In fact, they are going to be bringing is some really fun pieces for my next Staging Job so please stay tuned!
If you haven't already please consider coming to my Facebook.com/stagedabove and like it!
Also go to https://www.facebook.com/LaRougeVintage and Like them as well. You will not want to miss the $50.00 giveaway to La Rouge Vintage leading up to this weekends OPEN!

“YOU can’t sell it if we can’t see it.”

A few days ago I talked about how " If you can Smell it you CANT sell it!"

Today i want to talk about another big NO-NO when you want to sell your home for the most money in the least amount of time!


You can see in these photos of this Master Bedroom that I did last week. The before pics are very distracting! Too personal as well. The Afters are much more calming and show the space and its purpose without being too fussy!

“You can’t sell it if we can’t see it.” !

Things are looking up for home sales !

According to a recent post by Roberto Gonzalez here in Washington County , MD things are looking up.

Please check out his recent blog post Things are looking up!


If you are thinking about selling your home give Roberto a call. He also knows the value a home stager can bring and how it will help your home sell for less time and for money.

He will pay for Staged Above to come and do a consult with you and also give you a $75.00 gift card for my hands on services.

Staged Above also offers Color Consults as well as "staged to live" for people that are either not selling or people that are selling and moving into a new place!

Please contact me for more information!

www.stagedabove.com

Giveaway Time leading up to T-giving! $15 to Hobby Lobby

A few days ago I talked about some of the different stores I like to shop at for Staging inventory.

http://stagedabove.blogspot.com/2012/10/favorite-places-to-shop-for-staging-and.html

Target was one of those stores and on my facebook page I gave away a gift card.

I am not giving away a $15.00 gift card to Hobby Lobby.

In order to be entered into the drawing you need to "like" us on Facebook.com/stagedabove

Share the post about the drawing on your wall as well.
Thats it!

Winner will be chosen tomorrow night around 9pm (EST)

Good luck!

In the mean time. What is your favorite place to shop for things for your home and why?

If you Smell it You cant SEll it / PART 2- solutions

Here are some effective ways to eliminate and neutralize unpleasant odors.

Clean your house from top to bottom. This is of utmost importance. Remove all spices (curry powder, cumin, coriander, garlic powder, etc.) in the cupboards; put them away while your property is on the market. Use bleach and clean all kitchen cupboards, counter tops, and cabinets as thoroughly as possible. Most often than not, the kitchen is where the odor is coming from, so it has to be spotless. 

Wash all drapes, linens, seat covers, throws, and shampoo the rugs and carpets. Odor sits on fabrics all the time, washing it is the best way to get rid of the odor and to freshen it up.

Use water and vinegar. Try using a 50/50 mixture of water and vinegar to clean, wipe everything. This is an old and proven way to eliminate and neutralize unwanted odor. It works and is inexpensive.

Half a cup of coffee beans, in a filter, placed on top of your cupboards can help neutralize odors in the kitchen after cleaning.

Electric air filters, air purifiers, and oil essences are another way to eliminate unwanted odors . ( no plug-ins!)

Open all windows (if you can) after cleaning, and let the fresh air in. Let your house breathe. Let the fresh air circulate inside the house.

Some people even go to the extent of baking cookies hours before the open house, allowing the smell of the baked cookies linger in the air.

Clean some more. I can’t stress this enough. Everything should start from cleaning. Your house should be impeccably clean. Q-tip CLEAN!

When selling, what you are aiming for is for potential buyers to stay and linger in your house, and to have them appreciate the beauty and comfort of your home. The best way to do this is to make sure that your home smells fresh, is comfortable, and is clean before the weekend open house and every scheduled viewing.

Again, no amount of potpourris, scented candles, baked goods, or even the most expensive air freshener can replace the smell of a clean house.

When all else fails call in the pros.  If you need suggestion on specific things or people you can call to help your situation please shoot me an email or call me. You can find my contact info on my website at www.stagedabove.com

Or on facebook.com/stagedabove

"If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell IT!"

If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell it!

I bought my house a little over a year ago. When i was looking for homes I looked online before ever calling my Realtor to take me out to see it. I knew I wanted to be in a certain school district. In my area there is not many to choose from, especially at the time.  I was very excited about a particular home, especially driving by it! The neighborhood was great! It was less than 1.5 miles from the schools! I was pumped! I called my Realtor very excited about this all brick home in the perfect neighborhood! Yes i did see the photos online and yes it would need painted but I was ready to make the offer after driving by and seeing photos online!

We went the next day to see this house and it had already been dropped in price by more than 25k. Of course "things weren't moving right?" or  "The  listing agent had it overpriced in the first place?" I walked up to the door so excited!

THEN all at once BAM!!!!!! I was so upset as we walked in the front door! The lingering smell of SMOKE just slapped me in the face. I was so glad I did not have my kids with me because 2 of them are very allergic to cigarette smoke. I couldn't believe the smell , especially since the house was only about 10 years old! Obviously I never made the offer on this "perfect" home. We moved into our home about a year later and guess what, it was 2 houses down from the "smoke" house.  The house was still on the market with many price reductions. :(

A little more than a year has gone by and that "smoke" house finally sold! The price came down from the original, almost 75k and finally sold to someone who I believe is now fixing it up to rent it out. 

My point is this! This house was great! It looked great in pictures, It looked great driving by! But the second I walked in it  I knew it was not my home! I could not get past the smell.

As a Stager my job is to talk to sellers about these things. I believe 100% that had this seller known that he would have his house sit on the market for almost 3 years and have that many price reductions he would have taken the steps BEFORE putting it on the market to take care of the odor! His house would have sold a long time before it did and I may even be the one living in it! 

The same exact things can apply to any strong odors! Pets, foods, molds and musty smells and so on and so forth.

The cost to take care of these odors before listing can save you thousands in price reductions and frustrations! 

Don't let the Smell of your home on the market cost you like it did this now neighbor of mine!

I can come in and make your house look beautiful to appeal to  every buyer on the MLS photos , but if they walk in and are hit in the face with a strong odor they WILL most likely walk away from it or offer you a lot less money for it!

Tomorrows post will give you some good tips on how to take care of these odors before you list your home! Stay Tuned..........

And remember " If you can Smell it YOU cant Sell IT"

Shari- Staged Above!

Guessing game? Come play.....

Come "like" us on Facebook and Start playing! Facebook.com/stagedabove

Who wants to PLAY for a $10.00 gift certificate to Target? Why is Staged Above excited about November 8th, 2012? One guess per day by making a separate comment on my page with the answer. You can guess again by "sharing" this post on your page with your friends. You can guess a third time by asking your friends to come "like" us. They can guess then as well. If no one gets it right each day leading up to November 8th I will give a clue! GO.........

Weekend project! Spray- Paint those Shutters

This is the front of the house we moved into a little more than a year ago. One of the first things we did to chance the curb appeal of this home was to take the old worn green shutters off the house and clean them really well with DAWN dishwashing soap. I scrubbed them really well and let them dry for about an hour. I used outdoor black spray paint to achieve the new look we wanted. This project only took about half a day and most of that was drying time! Super easy!

Before

DONE! super easy and a quick update to give curb appeal!

Whats In It For Me? The Realtor?

 (What’s In It For Me) - in other words “What’s in it for YOU - the Realtor”?

Staging is a Market Differentiator – you will win listings over non-staging agents because you are offering Staging as a Standard Service

Staging is a Value Added Service – Your listing will sell for more than comparable un-staged homes, AND you will make more money (and so will your sellers) if you Stage

You Get more business – you will get repeat and referral business because Sellers will appreciate the extra effort and the fact that the Realtor did MORE to Get Them MORE!

Here is my two cents on how to have a “Must Stage” conversation with your sellers so that the property gets packaged, merchandised, i.e. Staged before it goes to market:

- The way you live in a home and the way you sell your home are two different things

- Once you have decided to put your home on the market, it immediately becomes a product, therefore it needs to be “packaged” – turned into a home - merchandised ( that’s what Staging does – it’s the only thing that you can do to  “package” and “merchandise” your listing)

- Buyers don’t like the lived-in look. They only know what they see, not the way it is going to be

- Buyers need to feel they are AT HOME, not in YOUR Home

- Staging creates a serious of great impressions throughout the home motivating the buyer to linger; when buyers are browsing for homes in the neighborhood, one of two things will happen; they will either move in or move on!

- The cost of Home Staging is always less than the 1st price reduction. On Average, the cost would be anywhere from $75.00 for a Staging Consultation, to $400 - $1,400 for a Full house Occupied Staging project and up to $2500 for a Vacant Staging project (which includes rental fees for furniture and accessories).

And for those of you who are all about the numbers, which I think all of us should be, than please click on the link below to be directed to the RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) Staging Calculator.http://www.stagingsavings.com/stagingSavings.html