All I did was....Home Staging Success Stories

In this example I would like to show Realtors and Homeowners the value of decluttering. Potential buyers cannot see past your personal belongings to appreciate the beautiful granite counter tops that you so lovingly picked out. They cannot see the fabulous stainless steel appliances that will make their lives so much easier. And they certainly won't envision inviting their friends and family over to sit at the granite counter while you serve them a cappuccino while you make your latest masterpiece in the kitchen.

Show buyers the lifestyle they could be living in your gourmet kitchen and you will have them bringing offers  to the table.

In this kitchen in the Beaches in Toronto all I did was replace the pine stools with dark wood shinto style stools, hung modern artwork and decluttered.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to demonstrate the critical importance of furniture placement when selling a home.

On viewing listings on the MLS, buyers will not place your listing on their "Must See List" if your photos do not show the space and scale of a room properly. Placing the furniture in a way that is not a distraction to the room is a very important part of marketing a home.

The before and after photos show how well placed furniture actually makes the room look larger. And in Real Estate, we are always selling space and light. The two most sought after features in any property.

In this dining room in The Beaches in Toronto all I did was position the furniture to allow everyone to sit around the table without feeling crowded, added artwork showing people getting together for a good time and installed a proper dining room light fixture. Now buyers can see how they could have their family and friends over for dinner and fabulous get togethers.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to demonstrate to Realtors and Homeowners the importance that colour and decluttering has when marketing a property on line to get onto "The Must See List" of buyers. In this room all I did was paint a neutral colour, use bedding in a less busy pattern, hang appropriate artwork and declutterd.

It's a well known fact that vibrant colours do not show well on listing photos. It is much more appealing to see a neutral backdrop in a room to allow the scale of the room to be highlighted.

The second important step in marketing the space in a room is to declutter. Excess furniture should be stored off the premises to allow the buyer to see how they could live in this room. Does it have enough space for their things? To accomplish this you must show as much floor space as you can. It also allowed the beautiful wood floors to be featured.

In this property in The Beaches in Toronto the final step is to make sure that patterns in fabrics do not distract from the focal point of the room. In Real Estate you are selling space and light. By using a lighter coloured bedding ensemble it created a more open feel to the room. Now buyers are able to see how they could move their belongings into this room.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to show Realtors and Homeowners the importance of decluttering and storing items that are not essential to everyday living. By doing this, you allow buyers to see the scale of the room in the listing photos so they can see how they could live in your home. It allows the function of the room to shine through for all to see.

This is a critical part of the Home Staging process to market the home and get it on the "Must See List" of buyers. In this room all I did was reposition the furniture to create a conversation area and ease of movement through the room, added lighting, an area rug and decluttered.

In the before photo you cannot see how warm and inviting this living room was. It really needed to be decluttered to allow the ambience of the room to be featured. Now this living room in The Beaches in Toronto makes you feel at home as soon as you enter the front door and look into this room right off the foyer.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to demonstrate the importance of addressing negative issues to stop offers from coming in from buyers in the main bathroom of this property.

For some reason, when the previous owners renovated the main bathroom, they installed the sink on the wall below the window instead of on the opposite wall where they could have mounted a mirror and cabinet for storage.

Moving the sink was out of the question, so I did the next best thing. All I did in this room was suggest installing a mirror on an expandable arm so the new owners could see their face to wash or shave. I also suggested that a storage cabinet be installed above the toilet for storing personal bathroom neccesssities.

In this property in The Beaches in Toronto the before and after photos clearly show the immediate benefits of the simple, cost effective minor improvements to this room. The buyers are now able to see how they could use the room and not be inconvenienced by the lack of a mirror or storage options.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example, I would like to demonstrate how important it is to create a cozy retreat from the world in a Master Bedroom. The potential buyer must make an emotional connection to the home and there is no better way than to create an image of coming home to nest.

In this property in The Beaches in Toronto the before and after photos demonstrate the dramatic difference that bedding and artwork play in creating this welcoming feel. Now the master bedroom has buyers saying I want to live here. In this room all I did was add bedding, lamps and artwork that tied in with the warm paint colour on the walls and the beautifull hardwood floors. The overall effect was one of a romantic getaway weekend in your very own home. And who wouldn't want that?

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment, minimal.

Impact, priceless.

I recently replaced the 30 year old carpeting in my master bedroom. There are many options out there today from wood to laminate to bamboo to low VOC carpet. I would like wood but I also wanted the softness of carpet in the bedroom. Decisions, decisions.

It took awhile to decide, but I finally opted for Low VOC carpet from Gallery of Floors in Barrie. The carpet cost a little more than regular carpeting, but the upside was no off gassing from the carpet. As you spend 8 hours sleeping this was a concern for me as I have asthma and did not want any odours and off gassing from the carpet to effect my health.

I knew I had made the right choice when my husband came home from work that day.

The first thing he said was "didn't the carpet guys come today?" He couldn't smell the new  carpeting (he works on new residential construction sites all day so he knows first hand what new carpeting smells like).  I told him that the carpet was in and there were no odours to speak of. We slept very well that night and I suffered no ill effects from the carpet off gassing.

So if you are in the market for new flooring, take a look at Low VOC carpet. It may be exactly what you are looking for. Especially if you are marketing a home for sale, it is a great marketing tool to use when listing the house.

I would like to show Realtors and Homeowners that a simple declutter and placement of some key props will work like magic to create a spacious, model home feel to a kitchen.

In the before photo you wanted to pass through the kitchen rather quickly as all the products to clean the kitchen were out, and there were too many items on the counter making it feel cluttered. As a buyer, you really didn't get a sense of how large this kitchen was and how you would cook for your family in it. You just wanted to move on quickly and not spend any time in the kitchen which is after all, the heart of the home. The seller was not taking advantage of this major selling feature in a home.

In this property in Barrie, I all did was declutter the work surfaces and placed items strategically on the counter to elongate the room. You can get a sense of how large the room is as your eye is drawn down the length of the counter.

Advantage Staging will market your property to stand out from the competition every time.

Investment minimal.

Impact, priceless.

In this example I would like to show Realtors and Homeowners the difference finishes can make on a fireplace being the selling feature in a room or being completely missed by the buyer.

In the before photo the relief highlights on the fireplace are painted white. In the after photo, the reliefs  have been painted Black Bean Soup by Benjamin Moore. This allows the marble around the fireplace to become the feature in the room. The fireplace is the focal point of the room and now a buyer can actually see it instead of missing it entirely.

I went on to declutter and place a warm, textured sofa and chair in the room to replace the cold, dark leather set there originally. In this room all I did was allow the marble fireplace to become the focal point of the room instead of the buyer being overwhelmed by excess furniture and the distracting artwork in the room.

Now the room is an inviting place to curl up by the fireside and watch your favourite movie with your family.

Investment minimal.

Impact priceless.

Way back in the early 90's, my children attended a school Prince of Wales in Barrie that believed the children should not bring anything to school in their lunch that would have to be sent to a landfill.

Their solution to this was as follows-

In each classroom there was a container with 4-5,000 worms in soil inside a box. All vegetable and fruit scraps would be placed in the box and the worms would take care of it from there. It is called vermicomposting.

Of course it was only a matter of time before there was a box of worms in our home. Children are early adapters to things that make sense. They could see immediate results to their actions and how those choices effect their environment.

Any container that was brought had to be reusable (first choice and heavily promoted) or recyclable (distant second choice).

This pretty much took care of any waste that had previously been taken to a landfill.

A list was provided to the children to post on their fridge with ideas for a healthy lunch that did not produce waste.

Does anyone know of any schools that are practising this method of reducing waste in their town?

It makes more sense to not create the waste in the first place instead of trying to figure out how to dispose of it afterwards. You have the choice in how big your carbon footprint is. How about it? Ready for some worms in your life? They are quiet, you don't have to clean up after them and they cost nothing to feed except your scraps that were previously going to the landfill.