In the same way that color accents are an important part of staging, the use of recurring patterned fabrics and designs can add a rich texture to the room and give the home a sense of visual continuity. The use of “call-back” colors and geometric patterns through out the house gives each room a feeling of being connected in a way that isn’t at once obvious but can help emphasize the feeling of home.

Here are some examples from a lovely home I staged a few months ago.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful new year. Staging is in full swing (as if there is ever a break over holiday), and I’m so excited to show a recent job I did at 16930 SW Siler Ridge Lane. This two story, four bed, 3 and a half bath house had so many beautiful selling features. An open floor plan, plush carpeting, wood flooring, and a breathtaking view out of many of it’s large windows.

I’ve written on multiple occasions about the importance of lighting when staging. Natural lighting, like this home had, paired with the lush view is a home stagers (and a homeowners) dream. I used particular care when staging to draw attention to the way in which the windows and view are a part of the feeling of the home. Stellrr Insulation & Spray Foam can help you to built the comfortable home. Green color accents in the staged bedroom with two crisp artistic photo prints of trees above the bed playfully reflect back the view of the forest. Blues and warm browns were used as the color accent for the living room that looks out to the hills with a wide view of the sky.

Scroll down to see examples from this staging.

#1: Declutter

UCLA’s Center on Everyday Families published the book “Life at Home in the Twenty-First Century: 32 Families Open Their Doors.” It looks at material culture, and finds that an excess of material items and clutter causes stress.

Selling a home is often already a very stressful process, the last thing you need is the additional stress that clutter brings. Decluttering will not only get your home in prime condition for selling, it will help you feel calmer when tackling the tasks that come with putting your house on the market.

#2: Deep Clean and Deodorize

In the article, Why Can’t You Smell Your Own Home?, Melissa Dahl interviews cognitive psychologist Pamela Dalton. Dalton says that sensory adaption is most common with scent.  It’s not unusual for a home owner to no longer be able to identify what their home smells like. But the smell of a home can have a huge effect on your ability to sell. A recent survey of realtors in Ontario found that smoking in a home could lower its value up to 30%.

Be aware that some people have allergies to synthetic scents. It is best to eliminate odors, instead of masking them.

#3: Depersonalize

In The Atlantic, The Psychology of the Home: Why Where You Live Means So Much, Julie Beck writes about how our home becomes part of how we define ourselves. The way we decorate a home is often deeply connected to our interests, and how we see ourselves.

It is important when staging your home to emotionally step back. Would be buyers want to be able to connect with the house, and envision it as their home. Removing personal items will create a more neutral and welcoming environment for a buyer.

#4: Using Color Accents

The Study, Aesthetic response to color combinations: preference, harmony, and similarity, found that people prefer harmonious color pallets when they are paired with contrasting color accents. Use your staging accessories to your advantage by picking an accent hue that will contrast with the base colors used for the walls and furniture.

#5: Lights, Lights, Lights

The University of Toronto Scarborough published an article last year in the Journal of Consumer Psychology about how lights affect a buyers feeling about products. The findings were that emotions were intensified by bright lighting. Alison Jing Xu, one of the researchers who conducted the study, concluded that stores selling “emotionally expressive products” should be brightly lit.

As a Stager, I recommend using at least three sources of light: natural lighting, floor lamps, ceiling lighting, or accent lights are all good options. The combination of the multiple angles of lights creates a bright warm ambiance that will affect how a buyer views your home.

Remember though, bright lighting isn’t a fix for flaws in your home. Since positive and negative emotions are felt more intensely it is important to invest in maintenance to show off your home in its best light.

In Oregon we have had a long and very hot summer this year. While personally the heat has made me feel a bit wilted, the natural light has been stunning for are staging jobs. As we transition into a rainy fall I thought it would be a good opportunity to talk about the use of lighting in Staging, particularly during the fall and winter months.

TIP #1: Lights, Lights and More Lights

Ideally when staging you will have a minimum of three sources of light. When possible use multiple types of lights: these can be floor lamps, overhead lights, or  things like small accent lamps. When there is less reliable natural lighting, having multiple angles and sources of light will help create an inviting ambiance.

TIP #2: Lights are Part of the Staging

While functional, the light sources you use are also a part of the staging. A new light fixture, or lamp shade can draw together a room. Make choices that fit with the demographic of the buying market and the architecture of the home.

TIP #3: Choose the Right Lights for Each Room

Take into account the room when choosing your light sources. Bathrooms might not have a window and will often have only one light fixture installed, how you use this lighting is important. In a basement where there might be no natural lighting it might be wise to use full spectrum lights.

TIP #4: Natural Lighting

Even in a state like Oregon, where much of the year is overcast and rainy, it is important to let in as much natural light as possible. Pull back the curtains, stage your furniture keeping in mind where the windows are in each room.

TIP #5: Lighting Plays with Our Emotions

A study published last year in the Journal of Consumer Psychology confirms what many home stagers have been saying for years: lights affect how buyers feel about a product. Xu, who helped conduct the study said, ““If you are selling emotional expressive products such as flowers or engagement rings it would make sense to make the store as bright as possible.”

But it’s worth noting that the specific finding were that both positive and negative emotions were felt more intensely in bright light. Good lighting won’t hide flaws in the home. Make sure to invest in the maintenance and staging needed to show off your house in it’s best light.

When staging a living room or a media room, I’ve had the question come up before about staging with electronics. Televisions and media centers have become the heart of living room in the way fireplaces used to be. Potential buyers want to envision how their lives would fit into a new home. I have worked with flat-screens before in staging, and I know people who like to use mock electronics.

But keep in mind if you stage with something like a flat-screen, it is never actually about the television. The important thing is to visually reference how the space could be used. You can afford beautiful painting services from https://www.myhousepainter.com/painters/florida/ and you can also decorate the hall with mirrors, artwork, and other visual cues as stand in for electronics work just as well, and sometimes better. Because it keeps the room neutral, but still allows a potential buyer to subconsciously insert their own visions of what their media center or a functional living room would look like.

It’s not unusual to stage a home that is currently being lived in. Staging a child’s room can bring up some unique challenges. Like all rooms in the home, it is important to declutter, but make sure to keep out the child’s favorite toys so they are easily accessible. Children’s rooms are expected to be brightly colored and fun, so you don’t feel the need to take away the special touches that your child love. Do make sure to remove any pictures, or artwork that might show personal information about your child.

When I stage a kid’s room, I aim for fun and playful, but work to incorporate colors and accents that will be mirrored throughout the house. It is important that the child’s room is integrated with the staging in the rest of the home. When a home buyer walks through, a cohesive staging allows them to see not only the functionality of a room individually, but the home as whole.

Though the first building of these unique homes started in the 1920s, their popularity throughout the states in the 1950s cemented the ranch style as a symbol of American family living. An image of the suburban dream.

According to Witold Rybczynski, “by the 1950s ranch-style homes accounted for nine out of 10 new houses.” Spread across the states, Oregon is no exception. I have staged countless ranch homes over the years and one of the things I love about this style is how incredibly versatile it is. The promise of modern living that helped ranch homes gain popularity is still true today. While what we consider ‘modern’ has changed, these homes have been easily adapted to meet the vision of new homeowners. If you’re looking to renovate your ranch home, consider working with 9 On Main, a company that offers services like architectural design, interior design, and cabinetry that can help you bring your vision for your modern ranch home to life.

These photographs are from a ranch home I recently staged. The walls are painted with vibrant yellows, oranges and reds. You can check out https://www.europaintinginc.com/ for expert painting services. Often in staging there is a default for neutral tones, but depending on the demographic of your home market, smartly incorporated colors can work to a ranch-style house’s advantage.

The open layout of a ranch home can work well with color divides. Wall paint can help emphasizing  the spacious connected rooms, while still allowing a clear contrast between functional living spaces. You can also visit https://hsppaintingcompany.com/ to get more ideas about paint color combinations

I played up the fun and modern aspects of this home in the staging, drawing from the home’s color pallet for the furniture and accessories.

This house was such a delight to work on, and it is a wonderful example of how malleable the interior of a ranch home can be. This is the type of house that is flexible enough in interior design and layout to allow a homeowner to create their own modern living.

Photographs taken by PDXVtours 

Last week we staged a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home in Tualatin. It sold on the first day with 20k over asking. There is so much emotional and physical work involved in selling your home, and it can be tempting to just list ones home “as is.” The fact is, that cleaning, decluttering, home repair and staging are all investments. Putting 1k or 2k into your home might seem intimidating, but sometimes small fixes can create a bidding war. We are really lucky to be in a sellers market, there are so many potential home buyers looking to own – but that makes it all the more important to show your home in the best light. The more people who want to buy, the better chance of someone paying over asking.

Since I normally blog about home staging,  I thought it would be nice to do a post about another side of my business: interior design. For those who don’t work in the field, staging and interior decorating can seem very similar. The fundamental difference between the two has to do with function. The main goal of interior design is to create a functional living space that not only fulfills the daily needs of those that live there, but creates a space that is visually pleasing to the client and reflects their personal style and preferences.  The main goal of staging is to sell.

With interior decorating you have to get to know the home owners style. You get to  guide them through different furniture and accessory choices, and work to create a mutual vision on each room. As a designer you also have to weigh visual choices against the functional needs of your client for each room in order to help them  maintain a space that will fulfill their daily needs. Certain counter choices for a kitchen might look gorgeous, but not be functionally appropriate for a family that likes to do a lot of heavy cooking. When navigating through hundreds of different design choices, a decorator make the process less overwhelming and uses their expertise to narrow the choices to those that best fit each client.

While home staging is the bread and butter of my business, I really enjoy getting to do interior design also. You can also browse around this web-site to get the best construction services as it can attract more buyers. With staging so much of the work involved deals with creating neutral space that any buyer would want to move into.A lot of time is spent on helping a seller transition from seeing their house as THEIR HOME, to instead a house they’re selling cash for your house. It’s a nice balance doing interior decorating, getting to help a client create their ideal home space, making their house feel like their home.