Three Common Home Staging Myths

These 3 common home staging myths are based on my experience staging and selling Montreal West Island homes.  Please note that I am NOT an international expert on home staging and real estate, nor do I play one on TV…at least not yet LOL.  

That being said, in the years that I have been staging and selling Montreal West Island homes, I have come across many homeowners who believed they knew how to stage their home.  Many did have a good handle on how to prepare their home for sale.  

Others…well, not so much.  Some had spent considerable time and energy falling victim to 3 common home staging myths:  

Myth #1: When in doubt, paint the walls white.  

 While this may sound like a good idea, in reality, there are hundreds of different whites to choose from.  Pick the wrong one, and your home ends up looking antiseptic.  Yes, I know, a clean home is good.  But an antiseptic one turns people off.  

Unless you have loads of big, beautiful works of art for a gallery-type feel, or someone who can choose a white just for your space, it’s safer to go with a light beige.  I know – light beige, how boring.  But it is warm and neutral and rarely elicits a negative response.  

And by the way, a gallon of light beige paint costs exactly the same as a gallon of white paint, so no excuses! 

The blue is too strong...

Not white, but soothing grey.

Myth #2:  Go crazy with the decluttering.

OK this one is tricky.  I’ve been called in many times after homeowners had spent hours and hours decluttering their home because that’s what they had learned during their HGTV marathon.  In many cases, this is great.  In other cases, not so much.  

 The thing is, you CAN go too far with decluttering, leaving your home devoid of any personality, charm or character whatsoever.  Buyers are looking for homes that feel warm and welcoming.  They are turned off by homes that look “cold.” 

Before-Cluttered

Some clutter...

Decluttered, but still some personality and life.
 
 
Myth 3: Banish all family photos.  

Nope, I disagree. Surprised?   

Family photos add a piece of you.  They add life, character and warmth.  They show that a real family, real people, lived here…happily.  They show a lifestyle, and buyers are drawn to things that evoke a lifestyle that looks happy and content.  

Buyers are also naturally curious — they like to get a feel for the persons living there.  Leave them a few cues and they’re happy.  

But not ALL family photos need to be displayed, and they shouldn’t be all over the place.  I tend to cluster family photos, for example on a wall, a dresser, a console table or an end table.  Clustering makes an impact, but only for a moment, so that buyers are not continually distracted by you and your family every step of the way as they visit your home.  

Family photos scattered about...

No more dots of family photos, but still some around.

Common to all 3 of these myths is the premise that a home for sale should be devoid of the family that made that house their home.  I disagree wholeheartedly.  You and your family SHOULD be there, symbolically, but in tasteful measures.   

It’s like adding seasonings to your food: add none and the food is bland, too much spoils the dish, but a little goes a long way.  

With home staging, we like to leave just enough spice in a home to give it flavour, without overwhelming a buyer’s tastebuds.  

By the way, I stage all my listings…at no extra charge.  It’s part of my service package as a Montreal real estate agent/broker.  I also hire a professional photographer to take photos of your home for the MLS.  

Professional home staging and professional photography: two critical factors to making sure your home looks its best, both in person and on the Internet, and neither of them cost you a thing when you list with me.

 

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, October 5th 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Real Estate

Adding Some Life to a Home: Montreal Home Staging Before and After Pictures

I’ve got some Montreal home staging before and after pictures for you here.  These come from a Montreal West Island home staging project we recently did.  The home sold after 6 weeks on the market, which was great considering it was in the $500,000+ range where homes generally take longer to sell. 

It was another real estate agent’s listing, but I was happy to stage it because the homeowner was the mother of my very first client as a Montreal home stager. 

The home was essentially vacant, as the homeowner spent very little time there.  It needed a bit of PERSONALITY and LIFE.

I like to give each bedroom in a home a personality of its own.  I think it helps potential buyers remember them: “Remember the one with the funky green art on the wall?”  

With the inundation of information in everyone’s life, anything we can do to help potential buyers differentiate our listing/home from everything else they see has gotta help, no? 

More to come later on the main living spaces…

In the meantime, feel free to visit my web-site for some more home staging Montreal before and after pictures.

Bed and window

Hello? Anyone home?

Master Bedroom

A little more panache.

Ensuite bathroom

Completely renovated but...

Ensuite bathroom

A few finishing touches and voila!

Bedroom with bed and window

A little bland...

Bedroom with bed and window

Still soft but pulled together.

Bedroom with bed and window

Big room with little personality.

Bedroom with bed and window

A bit of colour brings this room to life.

No Comments

Tanya Nouwens, June 17th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging

The Difference Between Montreal Home Staging and Interior Decorating

What is the difference between Montreal home staging and interior decorating?

As a Montreal home stager and Montreal real estate broker, where home staging is still a relatively new concept, I’m often asked, “What’s the difference between home staging and interior decorating?”

There are many, not the least of which is the fact that interior decorating caters to the tastes and preferences of one home owner/family, while home staging caters to the tastes of a whole pool of potential buyers for a home.

But it goes beyond that too. Here’s a picture of a room that we were presented with at one of our Montreal home staging projects. 

Before shot of the home office 

Now it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that a good clean-up of the room would work wonders.  And as an interior decorator, I could quickly come up with some window coverings, a nice desk lamp and other touches to pull the room together into a pretty nice office.

But as a professional Montreal home stager, my job is to think about the target market for this home.  According to the Montreal real estate agent (this wasn’t my listing), the most likely buyer for this home, in this neighbourhood and in this price range, would be a young family. 

Aha!  Young family = about two children.  The office was taking up one of the three bedrooms in the home.  Clearly, to attract as many potential buyers as possible, this room had to be converted from an office to a bedroom to clearly show that there were three bedrooms in the home. You never want to make a potential buyer “work” to picture a home working for them or to picture themselves living there.  

So, this is what we did.

After shot of how a home office turns into a bedroom 

The home sold within a week of the staging, with offers coming in at the first open house.

And THAT is the difference between interior decorating and Montreal home staging.

Happy staging everyone.

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, June 3rd 2010 | Tags: , , , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Real Estate

Quick Fix for a Stuffed Dining Room

We run into a lot of properties in Montreal’s West Island real estate market that have more furniture than they can handle. This was one of them.  Among other rooms we tackled in our Montreal home staging of this property, the dining room was over-stuffed and didn’t show off all of the available space.

Here’s a home staging tip: Remove the top half of a buffet/hutch, i.e., the hutch portion.  This presents a more contemporary look, cleaner lines, less clutter and, most importantly, more space!

Before

After

We also removed the dated wallpaper throughout the home and applied a fresh coat of paint.  Under the salesmanship of a great real estate agent (no I’m not bragging – this wasn’t my listing!), the house sold within a couple of weeks. 

Yup, space is real estate…and a more contemporary look makes for better showings.

No Comments

Tanya Nouwens, May 6th 2010 | Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Real Estate

Please STOP IT with the cheap, DIY laminate floors!

Did I say that loud enough?  Seriously.  Stop with the cheap, DIY laminate floor, people!

I’ve been showing Montreal West Island homes to my buyers for the past month.  And I cannot get over the number of crappy, self-installed, cheap laminate floors we’ve seen!

If you can’t afford to get a better-than-absolute-bottom-feeder floor…then don’t do it.

If you fancy yourself to be good at this, but your wife and/or husband looks at you with those eyes that plead, “Tell me you’re not serious”…then don’t do it.

If it is crap, and it’s installed crappily (new word), it will look like crap!

And once a buyer thinks something as significant as a floor is crap, they’ll be looking around your home to see what else is crap.

‘Nuff said.

1 Comment

Tanya Nouwens, May 4th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Interior Decorating, Musings, Real Estate, Renovation

Montreal Home Staging: The Proof is in the Pudding

The proof is in the pudding: home staging is way more than smoke and mirrors.  In this case, it helped an agent in my office sell a vacant Montreal condo that she had had on the market for a year. A year! 

Our vision: to make the condo appeal to a young and hip clientele.  Being located within walking distance of two of Montreal’s major universities, this was prime Montreal real estate for students and/or students’ parents looking to make an investment while at university. 

Once staged by Ready, Set…Sold! Inc., a Montreal home staging company that I started three years ago (before I got my real estate license), it sold with multiple offers within two weeks.  No price change, no difference in marketing…with one big exception: great photos for the MLS listing.

Before: Nice but…

Picture of Living Area Before Staging

After: Young and hip, just like the most likely buyer for this condo.

After Shot of Living Space

2 Comments

Tanya Nouwens, May 3rd 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging

I Must Be Losing It

I’m in the middle of a great Montreal home staging job.  Yesterday was a really big day of loading and unloading artwork, lighting, bedding, pillows, accessories, etc.  You know, the stuff we use to make a home look and feel warm, inviting, comfortable and full of life.  I hope to finish the job today. 

This morning at breakfast, my husband asks, “So was the homeowner there all day while you were working?” 

“Yes.”  He knows I don’t like this because home staging always looks terrible before it looks great…like any work in progress.

“Oh. Was she bugging you?” he asks.

“Well, sort of.  I mean, she kept to herself and let me do my thing.  But…her being there meant I couldn’t talk to myself while I worked.”

And I meant it.

I must be losing it.

No Comments

Tanya Nouwens, April 28th 2010 | Tags: , , ,
Posted in Home Staging

According to Warren Beatty, I'm Successful in My Field

 

Yes, that’s what I said: According to Warren Beatty, I’m successful in my field.

Did he tell me that over drinks?  No.

While discussing my business plan?  Um, no.

While lounging with me in a bubble bath, overlooking the Pacific ocean? Yes! Okay, maybe not.

Did he ever tell me that?  Well, no.

His exact words were: “You’ve achieved success in your field when you don’t know whether what you’re doing is work or play.”

Those are the first words in Chapter Four of Jennifer Allan’s “If You’re Not Having Fun Selling Real Estate, You’re Not Doing It Right.”  Great book.  Great philosophy.  A common-sensical approach to doing anything (not just real estate): Be yourself, be very good at what you do, and have fun. I’m loving the book. But this post isn’t about that.

Back to Warren Beatty…and his quote…

Is this Really Work? 'Cause It Sure Feels Like Play

I could spend hours on Matrix, the Quebec real estate agents’ version of MLS, analyzing comparables this way, that way and upside down.  Looking at average sell times for Beaconsfield real estate and Kirkland real estate - my markets. Seeing what’s moving and what’s not, and trying to figure out why.

I could spend hours home staging Montreal clients’ homes.  Hell, staging friends’ homes!  I love, love, love staging.  I love taking something and making something fabulous out of it.  I love finding the diamond in the rough, or helping something’s true potential shine (or someone‘s true potential shine, hence my previous career in criminology).

Sourcing new lighting, art, bedding and kitchen cabinet knobs for my home sellers? Is that really work? ‘Cause it sure feels like play to me.

Speaking to my buyers over and over again about how I don’t want them to compromise on location, or on that wood-burning fireplace that is such a big part of their evening chill-session.  Is that really work?  Really?  ‘Cause it sure doesn’t feel like it.

And let’s not even talk about how much time I spend on ActiveRain (an on-line real estate network of 171,000+ real estate professionals), acting like a living sponge for all the wisdom, experience and sheer knowledge that’s being shared there. Are you SURE this is work?  Can’t be…

I am doing what I was meant to do.  And I’m having so much fun. 

You’re a wise (and sexy) man, Warren Beatty.

No Comments

Tanya Nouwens, January 19th 2010 | Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Home Staging, Real Estate

No, Please, Not Another Melamine and Oak Strip Kitchen!

I once had this kitchen. You’ve seen it before, haven’t you? Or was it just a Montreal home-builder’s brainchild? You know, that beautiful (?) almond-coloured melamine cabinetry and then, for a pinch of the organic, a strip of oak at the bottom of each upper cabinet door and at the top of each lower door and drawer. Beautiful? Ummmm, how can I say this … NO. Dated? Just by about two decades. I don’t think anything screams ‘late 1980s’ more to a home buyer than this kitchen. What to do, what to do, what to do?

Here’s an idea that worked well for me: paint out all of the oak strips in the same colour as the cabinetry and then install beautiful hardware on the doors and drawers. Et voilà ! You’ve just been teleported out of the late ’80s and into the new millenium – not quite 2008 but close enough.

Now, what to do with those blasted grey melamine and black tiled bathrooms that had their day back when we all had big hair and kept a bottle of Final Net (a.k.a. Final Helmet) in our purses to cement the effects of all of that hair teasing. Ahhhhh, the good ol’ days…

2 Comments

Tanya Nouwens, December 23rd 2009 | Tags:
Posted in Home Staging

Have Fruit, Will Travel

On a recent staging job here in Montreal, Canada, an ordinary dining table went from good to great with the injection of a bowl of real, live fruit. Unfortunately, the cat found the new all-you-can-eat buffet atop the table simply irresistible. And somehow, while strawberries with little chunks taken out of them might qualify as “art nouveau” to some, it’s just plain creepy to most.

On my next shopping trip, I went to Pier I and found really great fake fruit: green apples, red apples, red and green apples, amber pears, green pears and lemons. They were quite pricey ($4 each) but apparently each piece is hand-painted so that they don’t all look the same. And they are beautiful – not at all cheesy. Now the cat’s not quite as happy, but I am and so is the homeowner.

No Comments

Tanya Nouwens, December 22nd 2009 | Tags:
Posted in Home Staging
« Older Posts


JJJ RealtyRESACSP logo

Tanya Nouwens is authorized to pursue the activity
of real estate broker in the Province of Quebec.