Home Staging Project No. 1- Living Room (After)

Home Staging Techniques Used for After Look

1. Showcase floor space - remove the big and bulky bookcase. It does not belong in the living room anyway. Remove the area rug to show shiny wooden floors as a selling point.

2. Paint the walls with a neutral color like yellow. Add a focal point by hanging a picture.  

3. Create a seating arrangement that will encourage conversation

4. Use inviting or warm colors for fixtures to define the space

5. Add window treatments like curtains to control light source

Home Staging Project No. 1 Living Room - Before

Home Staging Project No. 1 Living Room ( Before )

Challenges involve in the Living Room are the following:

1. Limited floor space - with only 3 pieces of furniture, room looks small and crowded

2. Boring white walls- plain and empty

3. Visible personal items - family photos, album collection and tripods 

4. Over-all look is not inviting - mix of dark colors, limited seating area

What is Home Staging?

Believe it or not, Home Staging is the opposite of interior design. It is the de-personalization of a room, making it more appealing to a lot of people. Simply put, everything must be "clean and neutral".

Home Staging is most commonly used by people who wants to sell their house for top dollars. It can also be for people who are experiencing transitions in their lives, a change in lifestyle or for families that simply wanted to have more space around their house because the kids are growing up or moving out for college.

Family pictures, collection of items and other personal stuff must be put away in order to make home staging works! De-cluttering, organizing and re-arranging are the core activities of Home Staging. It also entails a lil' bit of elbow grease, deodorizing and general cleaning here and there, ensuring that your house is on tip-top shape before your open house! Remember, it is important that your house is well presented and staged to attract more prospective buyers!

Bear in mind though that Home Stagers are not experts on renovations, repairs or architectural structures. We can make recommendation or suggestion but it is strongly advised to consult the experts on this matters.

A year ago, I watched an episode of an HGTV show that featured a simple yet wonderful transformation of a House For Sale. The said house was in the market for about 6 months and nobody has put any offer. The homeowner sought the help and expertise of a Home Stager as recommended by her realtor.  

The host of the show, also known as the Home Stager, used practical home staging techniques to help the worried homeowner. She only had a small budget to work with but still managed to make the rooms stand out. The results were well-received by the prospective buyers and positive feedbacks from the realtor. Her house was able to compete for top dollars among houses for sale in their block. There were no fancy interior designer sketches nor complex renovations involved. The only tasking activity showed was re-painting of the walls and the rest are do-it-yourself changes. I got inspired by the show. It showed a pragmatic format of transforming a blah to a wow!!!