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#livingrooms #decorate #pink #orange

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Staged #decorate #horses #coffeetableart

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#diningroom #blue #silver #decorate

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#bedrooms #decorate #staged #blue #yellow

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Happy (sleepy) 4th! #4thofJuly # dogpaintjobs #redwhiteandblue #Ibluemyself

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A pop of color #yellow # orange #green #decorate #staged

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This one is for the BSG fans #decorate #syfy #BSG #typography

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Sweet Dreams #decorate #boho #bedrooms

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Not sure how I feel about A's colors in decorating terms, but they're great at a game. My first design clients let us use their tickets today! #baseball #funcolors #Oakland A's

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The next big kitchen and bath trends

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Still Peggy Sue's #vintagesigns

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At Peggy Sue's in San Jose #vintage

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Do I NEED to Use a Home Stager?

When I look at a property online or go to an open house, I can tell right away if it’s been professionally staged.  Granted, I’m probably uniquely sensitive to that, but some of the DIY Staging I’ve seen is just distracting.  As in, it probably would have been better if you had just emptied out the house and called it a day.  I’ve seen a lot of homes that I can tell have been staged by a Realtor or an owner because of a few key things.

You clear everything off of all the surfaces.  I went to an open house once where a stager had been consulted but hadn’t been hired to do the actual staging.  I was really impressed by how great it looked overall, especially when I was told more about the family that currently owned it.  As far as being able to profile them, I absolutely could not.  The house was beautiful, the furniture was properly arranged and everything looked great until I got into the bathroom.  There was absolutely nothing on the counters.  Not a soap dispenser, not a plant, NOTHING.  It’s probably not something that would consciously make a buyer run from the house, but the place definitely did not feel like a home.  People buy homes, not houses and very few people can imagine what a place could be (watch any decorating show ever).  A home stager can help you depersonalize the space (as this one clearly did) but they can also make it feel comfortably lived in.  The key is that you don’t want it to look like no one lives in the house, you want to make it seem as if no one profileable person or family lives in the house so that prospective buyers can imagine themselves living there.

You don’t depersonalize your space.  There were two open houses recently that were perfect examples of this.  The first was generally pretty good until I got to the back hall and noticed what may have been a picture of one of the home owners (it also could have been a poster I suppose).  Either way it was distracting.  In all of the other rooms they had great neutral art that could have reasonably fit into any home.  Upon seeing this poster I automatically started picturing who currently lived here and stopped imagining myself living there.  Another house I only looked at online, but I really, really want to meet the owner.  She had absolutely beautiful taste. Her whole house looked like a decorating magazine and was a perfect eclectic mix of everything she loved.  I think she was also a traveler because there seemed to be a lot of world influences in the house.  What I could not tell you is what the house looked like.  I remember the basics of it, but mostly I remember that I thought she seemed like an awesome person.  It was a condo that could potentially have worked for a bachelor, an older couple or a family but unless they really had vision, they probably would have passed it by because it was only showcased to appeal to one demographic.

You ignore the closets.  At another open house I noticed that all of the closets were absolutely packed to the gills.  I couldn’t even tell you how big the closets were because all I could really tell was that these people had a ton of stuff.  This made it seem like there probably wasn’t much useable storage space in the rest of the house.  You don’t need to empty the closets completely but paring them down is always recommended.  Take out all of your off season clothes and anything that you don’t anticipate needing in the next 3-6 months.   Seasonal decorations, family mementos and valuable items should all be taken out of the house and stored somewhere safe (whether that is a storage unit or a friend or family member’s basement is up to you).  Think of it as getting a head start on packing.  With your new, pared down closet buyers will be able to easily assess that there is enough space for them to move in all of their junk.

You make some questionable decorating choices.  I’ve walked into two open houses recently where there was sparse, oddly arranged furniture and really weird décor.  You don’t have to have a lot of furniture in the home, but how it is arranged and the finishing touches do matter.  In one house a couch was shoved in a corner next to a dining table when it could have been showcasing a gorgeous fireplace at the other end of the room.  At another house the décor was so dated that it overshadowed the beautiful hardwood floors, bright rooms and plentiful closets.  You want people to look at the house, not what’s in it, so if your furniture or decorating choices are dominating your home it will be a problem.  A potential buyer whose style is drastically different may fit perfectly in your home, but if all they can see is what you have, they may well not notice it, meaning your house stays on the market longer.  Home stagers can help overcome this problem by showcasing the house, not what’s in it.  We know how to arrange furniture, what the most neutral décor is and how to emphasize all the great things about your house while downplaying the negative ones.

You think it’s good enough.  My husband and I were actually looking to buy this particular house and are generally speaking able to imagine the potential of a house.  There really wasn’t much storage room and a lot of work needed to be done so we passed on it, but the other thing that we noticed was that it really stunk.   I was honestly a little concerned as to what might have been under the carpets if we ever pulled them up.  This seems like a little thing, but subconsciously people do take things like smell into consideration.  Buyers pick a house based on how it makes them feel as much as if it fits their needs.  If the entire house smells like cats it probably isn’t going to make them feel very good so unless you knock them out with the rest of the house they may not be back.  A stager’s job is to politely tell you that the scent of your home needs to be neutralized and provide you with ways that this can be done.  Often times such a suggestion is less offensive coming from us because our job is to get the house showroom ready for sale.

You have a lot on your plate right now and don’t have time to notice whether there are cobwebs out your kitchen window or the baseboards all need to be wiped.  The same thing goes for you, Realtors.  You are definitely getting better at staging your own properties, but sometimes it would be more time-saving and cost-effective to hire someone else to worry about that part of preparing the house for sale (you already have enough on your plate as well). At the end of the day, no, you don’t NEED a home stager.  Your house will sell eventually.  However if you want to sell your home quickly and get every penny out of it I highly recommend using a stager.  The cost of staging will be less than your first price reduction!    Stagers evaluate the market and then objectively prepare the home to appeal to the greatest number of buyers so that your home flies off the market and you don’t have to sell it for less than it’s worth.

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Whether you want to sell your home or just create a neutral backdrop for all of your awesome stuff, these colors work.

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I found this mirror and "repaired" it for less than $10.  And my dog helped.

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Decking the Halls While You're Still Unpacking

My sister and her husband just bought a home (Congrats Maggie and Alex!).  They moved in very recently and are having both a housewarming party AND a family dinner party before Christmas.  The other day my darling sister mentioned needing help with decorations and since I live about 2000 miles away I can’t exactly go to her house.  So I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone and write a blog about this particular topic.  In no particular order, here are my tips for decorating for an event while you’re still unpacking.

 Don’t try to unpack everything.  Hopefully you have a holding area where you can put the additional boxes out of sight and unpack only the necessities and the key decorations you want to use.  If you try to unpack everything at once you’re likely to end up with a mess, especially if you are working and attending to family and social obligations on top of everything.  Eventually everything will get unpacked, but it doesn’t have to be today.

When choosing decorative accessories stick with large items or collections.  These will have the most visual impact and it’s what stagers use to make a home look “lived in”.  Groups of three or odd numbers always look great and try to vary sizes if possible.  You can also group items according to color or type which is particularly good for collections.  Put all of your vintage salt and pepper shakers in one area and they will have more impact than if they were scattered about the room.  If you have a collection of jadeite, it’ll pack more of a punch if it’s all in one area.  This rule can also be used for holiday decorations.  Put all of your Santas or snowmen together in one or two key places and consider decorating several small trees with different themes to spread cheer throughout the house.

Less is more.  You don’t necessarily need to have a bunch of decoration to make things look nice.  Depending on the size of the room try to have 1-3 areas where you display décor whether it is on top of your kitchen cabinets, on a table by your front door or on the walls of your family room.  Having some blank space will bring more attention to what you are displaying.

Stick with things that mean something to you personally.  Of course it’s nice to have a beautifully themed Christmas tree, but I find that having meaningful things ends up being more important than having pretty things.  During my first Christmas away from home I didn’t have much to decorate with and had no room for a tree.  I decided to have “Christmas strings” around the two of the walls in my living room to hang special ornaments and Christmas cards.  Even though I was only able to put out a few things my home still felt much more festive.  You can also use this rule for non-holiday décor.  If you don’t have time to unpack everything (as we mentioned above) pull out your family photos and your souvenir collection from your travels.  You’ll have few things make your house feel like home without too much stress and trouble.

Remember, almost everyone will realize you’re just moving in.  Most people that you would invite into your home aren’t going to care whether your house is perfectly decorated or not.  They want to see you and congratulate you on this milestone in your life.  Even if you just have lawn chairs in the living room, the people who matter will be happy they got to celebrate with you and get a peek at your house.

Hopefully this eases some of the stress of getting your home “house warming –ready” during the holiday season.  Enjoy!

Jane and Maggie

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Decorating is easy and affordable when you build upon what you already have. See how you can take ordinary items and work them into your decor with a few easy tricks, updates, and simple supplies.

A few ideas from Better Homes and Gardens on how to recycle and renew what you already have in your home.  Redecorating can be easier than you think!