STAGING TO SELL
You're Moving and Selling Your Home
Ask your Realtor to take you on a tour to visit a minimum of five properties in one day to scout the competition. Take your Buyer's Eye with you during the process and keep emotions at bay. Upon arrival at every home and in every room, ask yourself, "Do buyers want to see this?" and "Do buyers want to feel this?" Carefully consider what the other homes offer and you will see first-hand what buyers will be looking at during a tour of homes in your price range and size competing with you.
Occupied Home Staging: Have a Life

Now you are ready to schedule a home staging consultation.
When I first arrive at your home, I will walk through your whole house with you from top to bottom. After the walk-through we will go through your house room by room and I will tell you exactly what needs to happen in every room without spending a lot of money, using a checklist I will provide. At the end of the consult you will have a Game Plan that will set you up for success to sell your home for the maximum amount the market will bear.
I will use as many of your furnishings as possible to minimize costs, however, supplemental rental furniture may be necessary to complete the look for the greatest appeal to buyers. For a small additional charge, I will be available for on-site final tweaking for your first open house. Ditto for being available for on-site for delivery of rental furniture (if any).
By the way, I believe in value-added service. I will bring 8x10 wall color samples, checklists, strategies for keeping your home staged with kids and pets, and much more. When I leave, you will be armed with all the tools you need to help you get your house ready to sell while you and your family are living in it.
The price is $200 (2-hour minimum, $75 for each additional hour). Payment is due at consultation.
STAGING TO DWELL (ROOM RE-DESIGN)
Let's Create a Livable, Lovable Space
Re-design is not a new concept but it is popular now for a number of reasons:
- Current turbulent economic times leave us fearful of spending too much right now
- Baby boomers are downsizing and moving--what to keep, throw out, give away?
- Households are blending--who gets to keep what?
- Younger adults are inheriting furniture and don't know what to do with it
- We are in a society who thinks twice now about throwing something out only to have to replace it at double or triple its original cost
- Lifestyles are changing more rapidly than previous times--we want new looks more often now
People have been moving their stuff around since the dawn of time. But that does not necessarily mean they have been doing it with flair, or even correctly. What it does mean is that most people want great looking rooms in their home but they are not sure how to achieve it without spending a fortune. Enter room re-design, a service that gives a designer-look without the designer price tag. This is achieved by focusing on staying authentic and unique to the homeowner's sense of style.
Do you feel your decor isn't working for you? Room re-design is the re-arranging of your furnishings, in a skillful way, to create function and flow in your home. What makes re-design unique is that it’s all about you and your personal, authentic, sense of style. Authenticity is the key element in re-design because it is the state of being genuine and avoiding anything copied.
Here's how re-design works. First, working with the homeowner, the room is cleared of all accessories and artwork and small furniture pieces. Then the room is analyzed for architectural features and points of focus. Space planning and traffic patterns are established. The house is shopped for usable items. Next comes the re-building of the room. Furniture is placed properly for maximum usage and traffic flow. Lamps are then placed throughout the room for optimal lighting. Next the artwork is hung to its best advantage. Finally the accessories are skillfully placed to complete the finished look. There are no surprises! The homeowner approves each step as we go.
When you choose to have your room re-designed, you are selecting an affordable design alternative. A room re-designer is not there to sell you a room full of new furniture. This is appealing especially when you’re the one footing the bill! A re-designer’s goal is to honor the choices of the homeowners by working with what the homeowners already own, and showcasing those choices in the best possible way.
If you find yourself going through one of these lifestyle changes, re-design can take the household assets of all parties and make a very livable home:
- Moving out of the childhood home to start a home of one's own
- Downsizing
- Moving in together with a partner
- Melding families
- Taking out childhood furniture
- Adding antiques or furniture that was passed down from someone in the family
- Deciding to share an already perfectly furnished home with a loved one who moves in with all his/her furniture
- Moving out of the old house and into a new home (new home move-in assistance)
Re-design services include selection of paint colors, proper furniture placement, how to hang art, lighting solutions, accessorizing and much more. This takes on average 2 hours for one living space. The price is $150 (2-hour minimum, $75 for each additional hour). Payment is due at time of service.
COLOR CONSULTING
What Gives the House the Most Character is Color
Each color has its own vibration; color can be used to bring harmony and balance into your life. The invisible vibrations of color can be used to either relax or stimulate. The color spectrum is made up of seven colors, with thousands of tones, shades and tints in between. The longest wavelengths, or yang colors--red, orange and yellow--are considered warm, expansive and outgoing colors. The shorter wavelengths, or yin colors--blue, indigo and violet--are cool, soothing and introverted. Pure green is considered neutral because it is made up of equal parts blue and yellow. Add more blue and you have a cool green; add more yellow, warm.
When planning the predominate color theme in a room, warm or yang colors--red, orange and yellow--are best used in rooms that are meant for social and physical activity, as these colors stimulate the more physical aspects of life (eating, socializing and exercise). Cool or yin colors--blue, indigo and violet--are ideal in spaces meant for rest or meditation, as these colors invoke feelings of calmness, creativity and inner transformation. Green, which represents balance, health and harmony, is ideal in all rooms.
Paint to Sell your Home
For decades, when you got ready to sell your house, the conventional wisdom was to paint all the walls back to white. But white does absolutely nothing to warm up your house. It doesn't highlight architectural features and it doesn't enhance the colors of your wood, counter tops and other finishes. To sell your property today, it's best to use soft, warm decorator colors that are current. A color consultation will help you paint out the colors that turn buyers off and select ones that turn buyers on.
Accent Walls
Do you know which walls should be accented? Where should the accent color start and stop? An accent wall can create or enhance a focal point or it can highlight an architectural feature. It might be the wall with the fireplace, built-in shelving, or the wall your bed sits on. Selecting the wrong wall for your accent can pull focus away from important features of your house or even make a room feel unbalanced, which most people sense as a vague feeling of discomfort in the room, even if they can't put their finger on why it feels that way.
Red Walls
Unfortunately, the news here is that you must paint red walls out! Although many people like to paint dining rooms red, and I see them all the time, red walls stop most buyers in their tracks. Agents will tell you... well, they'll tell you if they aren't afraid of losing your listing by offending you... that there is ALWAYS negative feedback when showing properties that have bold red walls of any shade. Red is a tough sell. Why leave something in your home that has the potential to turn off so many people? When staging a home, you can mitigate some of that impact through the use of art and accessories, but painting AND staging will bring you the best results.
The same goes for any bright, bold or deep colors. If the color names "sunny yellow," hunter green," "peach," "navy blue," "maroon," or "burgundy" can be used to describe any of your rooms, your decor will likely feel dated to home buyers.
Even though guests in your home over the years always tell you they love your bold colors, don't fool yourself into thinking the bold colors can stay. The problem here is that when guests come over they aren't thinking of living in your house! Don't take it personally, it has nothing to do with having good or bad taste. It's all about wide appeal to potential home buyers.
The "Right" Colors
If I could tell you the exact colors to use, I would, but it isn't that simple. When I choose paint colors for a property going on the market, I look at the wood tones in floors, cabinets, doors and moldings, and I also consider any finishes such as counter tops, fireplace stones, carpeting, tile, amount of light and exterior house colors. The colors of the house should flow from the outside to the inside and the colors in all rooms should work well together (not change radically) so that as you walk through the property you always feel you're in the same house. Colors that are smoky or creamy work better than pure colors. Think of colors like toast, caramel, latte, taupe, sage and muted water colors.
Sustainable
Remember to select paints that are "green." I don't mean the color! There is no good reason not to use paints with zero or low VOCs. They are readily available and only run about $5 more per gallon than the ones with the nasty chemicals. Your prospective buyers will be happy that they don't smell your new paint, and most of them will consider it a positive point about your home.
If you are getting ready to sell, an abbreviated professional paint color consultation is included in your Home Staging Consultation. Or, if you want a new look for your home or are moving into a new space with a blank palette, then a color consultation can help you select the right colors for your personal taste and style. You will learn the process of color selection, how to select a color scheme, and what sheen levels are and where they should be used. The price is $75/hour (8x10 color samples, a fan deck, a color wheel and more are provided). I proudly present Sherwin-Williams products. Payment is due at consultation.
VACANT HOME STAGING

There's Nobody Home
When a home is empty, it can be much easier to stage because you start with a blank canvas. On the other hand, there is nothing there to work with and the stager has to bring large as well as small pieces onto the property. Less is more, but when you start with nothing, you need a little more! By only staging the most important rooms, I make the budget doable. Staging includes the cost of furniture rental (free delivery/pick-up), the staging plan and a very reasonable staging fee. I supply art and accessories free of charge. Selection of furnishings will be made by me in keeping with the neighborhood and your budget needs. Areas staged will be the kitchen, master bedroom, master bathroom, dining room, living/family room. The price is $1,200, plus the cost of one month of rental furniture (usually less than $500). This service is limited to the South Tampa area and specializes in bungalows.
OTHER SERVICES
Art and accessory shopping ($40/hour, 2-hour minimum). Anything else? If you don't see it here, ask. If I can't provide it, I will introduce you to someone who can.