Staging your home for every stage of your life


This is a place where home staging principles can be applied to anyone's home - whether selling or not. Please add your comments, share with friends, and feel free to ask questions on how you can live, entertain, and thrive in your home, no matter what stage you are in.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Happy Earth Day 2010

Green Home Staging: Reuse, Reduce and Recycle

Posted by: Stephanie Decker on April 19th, 2010

“Reuse, Reduce and Recycle” is a tune my grammar school son chants all the time. He learned it in school and I have even found myself chanting it at times. And as with anything, once something gets in to your head you find yourself applying it to your everyday life.green-home-staging-window

As Earth Day approaches I am excited by how I have applied some of the “Green” principles of my son’s song to my own home staging business in Marin. As home stagers, we try to have environmentally sustainable designs that improve our environment rather than detract from it.

REUSE & RECYCLE

The most obvious is that we reuse our furniture for home staging. And when we need to add to our collection we try to buy locally so we can reduce transportation costs and waste.

When clients are thinking of replacing their upholstered furniture I suggest that they have their furniture recovered rather than just throw it away. Upholsterers can recycle the furniture to look like new, with half the waste as buying new, and half the cost.

REDUCE

Lighting is also an easy way to be eco-friendly. Before any open house Realtors turn on all of the lights in the home. This creates light and a welcome environment. This is also something I do before a party when I want my guests to feel welcome and the energy in the house come alive. But before wasting all of that wattage consider using only compact florescent light bulbs. Switching from a traditional light bulb to a CFL is a simple change everyone can make to reduce up to 20% of our greenhouse gases without skimping on the ambiance.

Another way we reduce waste is to reuse our packing materials over and over again rather than have our moving companies use new materials.

GREEN SUPPLIES

At Staged Marin Homes we also make sure our suppliers are Green. We only use painters who use no-VAC paints, and flooring companies who specialize in eco-friendly flooring such as bamboo, wood and cork.

The other conscious decision was to have all of our linens made from bamboo, a renewable resource. Bamboo is not only incredibly absorbent it is also naturally hypoallergenic, anti-microbial, and odor resistant. It is also 100% biodegradable with all sections of the plant having usable applications.

As for our cleaning supplies we use Seventh Generation, who have made the first EPA-registered natural disinfectants, or Method Home, who is the first to earn a certification from Cradle-to-Cradle, an organization that assesses the environmental intelligence of consumer products. We also endorse The Laundress and Mrs. Meyer’s to name a few other green labels.

GREEN STAGING … OUTDOORS

Finally, something we can all appreciate – plant a tree! We can each do our part in cooling the earth if we just plant a tree, a bush or even a single flower. But remember to keep your garden fertilizer pesticide-free so that all living creatures can enjoy the beautiful green environment.

This Earth Day take the time to enjoy our beautiful planet and breathe in the beauty around you.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

First and Last Impressions

Recently I was called in to stage a home for sale and while doing the initial walk through I found a couple of problems. The overall house was nice but the first and last impressions were really bad.

I have already spoken a lot about first impressions, curb appeal. Getting people to want to come into the home to view it...and ultimately fall in love with it. And frankly, I think most people understand the concept of first impressions. The issue here is that if you don't have a great first impression then you MUST have a great last feeling, something to carry your buyer through to an offer.

Unfortunately most sellers don't spend the time at the back of the house when preparing it to sell. They are too overwhelmed, hoping that a buyer just won't notice. But they do. It is at this point that most sellers make their final call.

In the house I was recently called in to stage the master bedroom was in the back, and the master bathroom was behind that - the last stop on the train. It was horrid. Not only was it an awful color the tile in the shower didn't match the rest of the tile and the toilet was brown. The actual color brown. The idea that the future owner was going to be comfortable taking on this job was not an optimistic one. Maybe in a better economy but now if a buyer has any money it is put into the purchase price leaving nothing left for fixer-uppers.

In the case of bathrooms I always suggest getting the space clean with fresh linens. Update light fixtures and when the tile is bad, my go-to option is always Miracle Method, a bathtub and tile refinisher. It is truly a miracle. They will cover most flaws and can bring any bathroom to a clean white space. I love white tile in a bathroom - it is bright and clean.

So, when thinking of selling, if you can't fix up the front then please make sure that the last stop will carry the reluctant buyer through to an offer.

Monday, March 1, 2010

HomeGain Nation 2010

I am just back from HomeGain Nation 2010, hosted this year at The Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Wow, what an inspiring and informative group of people. If you don't know about HomeGain and you are a real estate agent then shame on you. If you are someone looking to buy or sell your home -- you too should be very familiar with HomeGain. They are an online real estate site based out of Emeryville, CA. I have the privilege of blogging for them on home staging issues, but even if I didn't I can list a number of reasons why I would follow them.

Today there were discussions about social networking, marketing, and how to increase your efficiency in this crazy fast-paced world we live in. I had the pleasure of meeting top producers from all of the country who were all there just to learn about how to be a better agent and community leader.

As a home stager I love helping people to prepare their homes for sale. I also love helping the sellers get prepared emotionally for the big change in their lives. But in the bigger picture I love being able to help my community. Sometimes all that might be is sharing information that I hope will benefit you. So, here is one - go to HomeGain and let them help you in all of your real estate needs.

Just your friendly neighborhood resource gal!