Like a good suit or the perfect LBD (little black dress), wainscoting and trim work are always in style…and unfortunately in short supply in many track homes. Trim work is an incredibly easy place to start with home improvements, even if you are new to the DIY scene or have limited experience with woodwork. It offers lasting value you can enjoy now and reap the benefits from when you sell.

Case in point, my dining room:
It’s a lovely space with lots of light and an equal amount of hideous, dated wallpaper caped with cheap oak chair rail.

After thirty seconds of consideration I realized I had two options…scrape and re-texture or cover it up.
It was a no brainier. I’ll take the smell of fresh cut wood and gorgeous wainscoting any day over messy chemicals.

Wondering where one stops and the other starts? Let's break it down:

Interior Designers have the creme de la creme of educational design credentials. They work in all facets of design work, with owners, contractors, builders, and typically with the ultimate goal of creating a space that works in both form and function for the owner or the owner's clientele.

Home Redesign is very similar, however without offering the educational credentials that an Interior Designer holds. Home Redesign is often not as in-depth an experience as working with an Interior Designer and can be an excellent budget-conscious alternative for those who need a little assistance, direction, or basic services. Home Redesign focuses on revamping, refreshing, and redesigning to create a beautiful and functional space for the owner.

...and then there is Home Staging

Home Staging is a term thrown around frequently now in the real estate market, and what someone means when referring to “home staging” can vary greatly…as can the outcomes based on how it’s approached. Fluffy pillows and a tidy home are the minimum buyers will expect to see, not the extra that will push them towards a healthy offer and keep them emotionally invested through stressful inspection and objection deadlines. 

Home Staging is, in a nutshell, the process of physically presenting a property in a way that will increase desirability and sales price. Most consumer purchases are based much more on emotion that we’d like to admit, and home buying is no exception. Billions of dollars are spent each year on branding and marketing campaigns for just this reason.

A buyer’s perception of value is largely based on emotional triggers, and good Home Staging is the process of catching as many of those trigger point as we can for a property within our operating budget and parameters. Buyers hear the words “bright”, “open”, “spacious” so often they hardly mean anything now and when searching in a suburban area where so many of the homes are basically variations on a theme, your home needs to stand out for something other than just being clean and tidy.

Home Staging takes a very unique spin on redesign. We aren't designing for the person who lives there or even the future buyer’s tastes, but for a hypothetical feeling of belonging and desire that will catch as many people as possible. Where am I going to drink my coffee in the morning? How am I going to feel coming home after work? What would it be like to entertain friends here?

Since Home Staging can encompass such a broad range of services, let me break it down into my own personal 3-Phase process to help describe what it encompasses, what to do from DIY perspective, when to hire a professional, and how to get the most “bang for your buck” from a Home Staging professional.

Whether you are working with an agent, prepping your home yourself, or considering hiring a professional stagger remember your home's value is only as much as a buyer is willing to pay! And as consumers we are always willing to pay more for a product that "calls" to us than one that is blandly sitting on the shelf. Find those emotional trigger points in your property and let your home put it's best foot forward! 

Colorado winters can be harsh on your home's exterior...a little prep work now can save you time and money come spring! Check out this EASY EXTERIOR FALL HOME IMPROVEMENTS CHECKLIST to make sure you home is buttoned up for the winter.

Rules & Restrictions:
No purchase necessary and no obligation for additional services. Must sign photography release to allow before and after property photos to be used by One Nest LLC for portfolio and/or marketing purposes. One appointment per property address, per household, and subject to approval and conditions. Offer not transferable and holds no cash value. While staging has been shown in many studies to increase selling time and price, One Nest LLC makes no specific claims or guarantees regarding property values. Free services offer expires November 30, 2018 and must be redeemed in full prior to expiration; offer subject to availability, rules and restrictions may apply. Offer is not a guarantee of services and One Nest LLC may, in it's sole discretion withdraw offer for any reason, including but not limited to availability.  

Think about the last time you were browsing a clothing store. It’s a safe bet that the items displayed on the mannequin or window poster are the ones which will be either sold out or in limited supply. Why? Because of how the items are presented. There are tons of other equally decent choices hanging on the racks, but we get caught by the visual of the one presented in the store window (or banner ad), which draws us in. It’s all in how the items are staged.

Take the above advertising photos for example. If you buy this manly sweater you too could be walking along a beach with perfectly rugged locks, looking broody and making women swoon.

Here’s the reality: the child’s sweater looks like a gray blob borrowed from an older brother, the man’s sweater was likely a gift from his grandmother, and it’s not so much the woman’s super plain knitted cap I want as the perfect hair that is, unfortunately, not included with purchase.

Presentation makes all the difference in the world when it comes to whether a buyer notices you. You want to be the home that draws them in, not the one that hides on the rack getting passed over!

Data suggests that the average home buyer will only visit about 10 homes before making a purchase. That means they are meticulously sorting through MLS listings, pouring over photos and descriptions, and paring down to just their very favorite top few. And you want to make sure your home makes the cut!

A buyer isn’t going to offer on your home if they didn’t even make a showing appointment…and bland, tidy, and straight forward aren’t emotions that will inspire them to make that appointment.

Think about your home’s personality, the type of buyer who will likely be purchasing, and the features which will likely be most sought after and bring the highest selling price. Play up those features!

Not sure what those are or how to accomplish it? Comment below with questions!!! Unless you don’t like free advice ;-)

"Salem!" you ask, "Why would you post such an ordinary picture?!"

Because excellent home staging starts by evaluating what is realty...a client's budget, ability, time frame, the home's style and price point, and making sure we know the sweet spot of when to spend and when to re-use. There are an infinite number of things you could spend money on to make your home more desirable; there is also a sweet spot where, should you go past it, you start seeing a drop off in your ROI. We want to get as near that sweet spot as possible without crossing it. Remember, we aren't trying to renovate or decorate! We are improving upon your product with the sole intention of bringing top market value.

Not every home will look like a million bucks becasue that's just not their price point, but every home CAN give a buyer a warm, welcoming feeling that makes them say "oooh, that's the one I want to call home!" 

Seriously friends, this quick staging transformation for photos was literally done in 10 minutes (spending $0) by rearranging what the tenant already owned. Imagine what we could accomplish in an hour with a small improvements budget?!

We all love to troll Pinterest looking at gorgeous kitchens that would never bring a good return on investment if installed in the average home. Welcoming foyers with huge, custom, sun filled windows, and arched french doors leading into professionally landscaped gardens...ok, back to real life people. Home Staging is about putting our best foot forward and evoking an emotion from buyers, not bulldozing and building from scratch. We work within our budget and parameters. In the photo above our budget was $0 and we had 10 min. And we have a listing photo improvement that will draw buyers in!

Who wouldn't like to sell faster and make the most money on their home possible?! Let's take a look at our process:

What we're working with:
1) We have a bland listing photo that makes the room feel small, cold, and uninviting
2) We are on a time crunch
3) We are working with tenants, therefore will a) not be bringing in "extras", b) need to be in and out quickly to respect their space, and c) get decent listings photos that pull buyers in rather than scream "forlorn rental property"
4) We have a whopping $0.00 in Improvements Budget to spend on this project

What we do:
1) Take inventory of what's available and start pulling together a cohesive look for the main rooms. As a side note, I was working with the current tenant through this process and she LOVED seeing her things come together in a whole new way!
2) Make it feel like a home...warm, inviting, peaceful, and loved.

We may not be able to fix everything (or even most things), but regardless of the parameters you are working within if you give a space life, light, order, warmth, and cohesiveness you've created an environment in which a buyer can linger long enough to start imagining themselves there.