Home Staging in Portland Oregon » Staging Tips

Tip for Sellers: Dark Cluttered Office Transformed with Paint & Staging Help

admin — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 02:13:59 +0000

This is one of the rooms in a Portland OR home we staged last week … but the transformation is quite dramatic! Not only that, it was quick and easy, too ~ something anyone could do before putting your home on the market.

The main floor bedroom was being used by the sellers as a home office — perfect use for the space. It was painted about 8 years ago when dark red was a very popular color. It was also overstuffed with furniture, making the space look much smaller than it really was.

Here’s how the office looked BEFORE

We recommended a lighter paint color to brighten up the room, and removal of the existing furniture. We then staged it lightly, letting buyers see the function of this space as an office.

And here’s how it looked AFTER

For a minimal investment, buyers don’t have to “see past” a dark, cave-like room to imagine how they might use it. EASY!

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Room Solutions Staging offers home staging services to Portland Oregon homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors to prepare homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our customer service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior restyling service. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

~ Staging and Photos by Room Solutions Staging LLC ~

Home Staging Tips: Make your Master Bath Irresistible to Buyers

admin — Sat, 29 Oct 2011 15:31:33 +0000

When your home is on the market, every room should be appealing to buyers. But there’s something about a Master Bathroom that can really help buyers make an emotional connection with a home, so today’s home staging tip for sellers is all about the bathroom.

Whether your bathroom is large or small, you can add elements that will make it a light, bright, spa-like oasis for relaxation. Here’s a master bath in Portland OR that we staged recently to bring it up a notch by making just a few small changes in decor — no cosmetic or structural changes were needed. Here’s how the bathroom in this home for sale looked Before staging:

and here’s how it looked After we added spa accents (fluffly white towels, plants, shells, spa accessories, art with a botanical theme, natural-textured basket)

A few more Before & After photos of this master bathroom:

Here’s a few home staging tips for staging a master bathroom:

Always start with squeaky-clean surfaces & fixtures
Make the most of natural light (remove fussy window coverings)
Add products with natural elements: textured baskets, seashells, plants (they don’t have to be real for staging)
Use spa products that will remind buyers this is an oasis of relaxation
Use wall art with a relaxing theme
Fluffy white towels are usually more calming than brightly colored ones

These are simple things that anyone can do — but if you need help, remember to contact your local professional home stager. We can do all the staging for you, or we can suggest where you can buy any needed items to give your Master Bath a “tweak” so that it stands out in the minds of potential buyers.

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Room Solutions Staging in Portland OR helps our clients maximize home equity by staging to sell. Join the Portland Oregon homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors who turn to Room Solutions Staging for help preparing homes to sell faster. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

Staging Tip: Selling Your Home? Stage the Entry to Welcome your Guests

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 05:15:15 +0000

When your home is on the market, you’ve heard about the importance of Curb Appeal. Buyers make lots of judgments about your home simply by driving by. So once the front of the house and yard is in order, remember that you want to capture their attention with a welcoming, inviting entry.

Sometimes pictures can speak louder than words ….. for a simple illustration of a home that was on the market for many months, here’s the “before” photo of the entry area. It seems kind of bland and the antique sofa pushed up against the wall just doesn’t capture your attention, does it?

Here’s how we staged this area: added two chairs and a table, making a cozy conversation area, and some wall decor. The colors used adds energy to the space and makes you want to see more!

For more easy ideas and tips on how to stage your home to sell, contact your local professional home stager. We’re here to help you enhance your property with a home staging consultation or we can also do the staging for you!

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Room Solutions Staging offers home staging services to Portland Oregon area homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors to prepare homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our customer service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

Home Staging Tip: Simple “Tweaks” Can Make a Big Difference in how Buyers Feel About Your Home

admin — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 09:00:39 +0000

From previewing the online photos to an in-person viewing, buyers are making judgments about your home ~ everything from whether they can see themselves living in it — to whether it’s well-cared for, clean, and big enough for their needs. We recently staged an occupied home in Beaverton Oregon that had been on the market for several months but had no offers. The sellers selected a new listing agent, and also agreed to stage the home to make it more appealing to their target buyer.

This home was already decorated very nicely, had great paint colors and was immaculate … however, some of the rooms just needed a few “tweaks” to make them better. See if you agree that the changes we made helped this home “show” better … Here are some Before & After photos.

The great room had a large sofa blocking the entry to the room. By moving it over to the large window, we opened up the main floor space in this room, and also caused buyers to notice the great views this home has.

The dining room was OK, but it needed just a few tweaks to make it memorable to buyers.

The kitchen has great features, but looked a little too plain in the ‘Before’ photo so we added a few accents.

The master bedroom was well decorated, but a wider angle & a few added items helped it shine.

~ “After” photos courtesy of Shoot It LLC ~

If your home is going on the market, be sure to contact your local professional home stager for tips on how to make your home irresistible to buyers! A verbal home staging consultation is a very cost-effective way to help your home make its very best impression in the online photos as well as in-person viewings. Room Solutions Staging helps Portland-area homeowners, Realtors, builders, banks, and investors prepare properties for a faster sale. Give us a call at 503-246-1800 for a free home staging proposal. Room Solutions ~ Staging that Sells Portland Homes.

Home Staging Tips: Transforming Spaces that are Large or Awkward

admin — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 20:22:17 +0000

Sometimes when homes have large rooms or awkward room shapes, it can be challenging to help home buyers overcome their typical question, “How can we use this space?” In order for buyers to make that important emotional connection to a home they’re viewing, as professional home stagers we need to show them how they might use the space, so that they can imagine themselves living there.

Our Portland-based home staging company was recently selected to stage a vacant home in the upscale Portland suburb of West Linn. This home has some very large rooms which buyers might feel overwhelmed in if the rooms were vacant. You might think that the more square footage your home has, the better — but making a large room feel cozy can be challenging for buyers, especially if the home has no furnishings to act as a reference point. This is one example where home staging can make a big difference in how buyers react to the property.

~ UPDATE: this home SOLD in just 15 days! The seller told me that the buyer loved how the home was staged ~

This space is just inside the entry with high windows on one side and a curved wall for the staircase on the other. The room shape makes you wonder, what is this room used for? Here are 2 views of the vacant space

We staged this space as a conversation area where you could sit and enjoy the light flooding into the room

The family room is large and adjoins the kitchen. When vacant, it seemed too big, but staged it’s much cozier

The Master Bedroom is huge! When vacant, it just felt big & cold

Staging it helps add warmth and the important emotional connection for buyers. Taking photos from several angles helps buyers imagine living here – so different than viewing photos of vacant rooms on the MLS listing

Breaking down the big space into smaller ones helps buyers imagine this room as a peaceful retreat

The long wall for the bed doesn’t inspire buyers when vacant, but adding furniture puts it in perspective

Selling a home with large or awkward spaces can be challenging — consult with a professional home stager in your area to ensure that your property is presented at its very best!

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Selling Your Home? Don’t Just "Show" the Space ~ Buyers Need to "Feel" Emotion Too

admin — Wed, 04 May 2011 04:29:53 +0000

When we’re selected to stage a vacant home in Portland Oregon, we keep a few important goals in mind:

Show the spaciousness of each room … and make sure there’s a good flow from room to room

2. Give the buyers a chance to connect with the house on an emotional level ~ this includes having great photos that show the home’s best features in an inviting way

The best way to illustrate these ideas is with Before & After photos … here is a Portland-area home that we staged recently that’s been on the market for over 2 years. Although it’s beautiful new construction, when it was vacant it just didn’t “feel” like home. Here are some examples of staging that helps a buyer “see” the space, but also to “feel” the emotion of what it would be like to live there.

Here’s the Great Room as shown in the MLS for the past 2 years: does it evoke any emotion? Does this photo show enough of the room to give a buyer previewing it online a compelling reason to put it on their list? Not really …

We also took this photo to show buyers more of the space to buyers, to help them “mentally move in”

The Dining room is for sharing good meals with family & friends ~ but when it’s shown as a Vacant room, there’s no way for a buyer to “feel” much about it … but add some simple staging, and they’re hosting a dinner party …

For 2 yrs the online photo of the Den looked boring in the MLS, so we took 2 photos to show buyers more of the space:

Buyers think of the Master Bedroom as a peaceful retreat, but when vacant, it looked cold in the online listing for 2 yrs; After staging we show more of the space to let buyers “feel” an emotional connection!

Here are a few other photos of this home that can help buyers “See” and “Feel” it better than Before

Remember when selling your home that buyers want to “see” the possibilities ~ Don’t make them guess!

~ Photos by Room Solutions Staging ~

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Room Solutions Staging offers home staging services to Portland Oregon area homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors to prepare homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

Home Staging Tip: Remember what a little wall Paint can do!

admin — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 06:13:44 +0000

We’ve all seen homes that have bold paint colors on the walls, especially those painted in the 1990’s. When you’re living in your home, you should paint your home whatever color makes you happy … but when it comes time to sell, think “neutral” paint colors so that buyers don’t think “too much work is required” and move on to the NEXT home on their list.

This townhouse is in a wonderful suburb of Portland Oregon, but has been on the market for over 6 months with very few showings. It’s well-priced and in very good condition … BUT the wall colors were so bold in the online photos that likely, potential buyers just couldn’t see beyond them.

The listing agent recommended that the sellers consider staging with rental furnishings (they had moved out but left furniture behind) so the old furniture was removed. The sellers’ Realtor also agreed with us that painting the living room and master bedroom walls would make a big difference in how buyers would perceive this home. Here are some Before & After photos of the transformation . . .

We thought the bedroom should present a calm retreat … and toned down the bold wall color to “move in ready” neutral

To keep expenses down we recommended repainting just the bold terra-cotta accent walls in the great room and master bedroom, using a neutral wheat color. In the kitchen / dining area, we left the terra-cotta accent color, and brought color-appropriate art and accents to work with it, rather than fight with it . . .

Sellers ~ Remember when selling your home that neutral walls are more appealing to buyers

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Room Solutions Staging offers home staging services to Portland Oregon homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors to prepare homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

Home Staging Tip: Dated Oak Cabinets? Update them with Paint!

admin — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 04:57:24 +0000

As a professional home stager based in Portland, Oregon I often see dated oak cabinets in kitchens and bathrooms. This was the height of style back in the ’70’s & ’80’s but today’s buyers want a more modern, fresh look. Here’s an easy fix that you can do yourself (or hire someone to do it for you).

My homeowner clients in Beaverton OR were planning to put their home on the market and asked me to provide a home staging consultation. Because the target buyer for this home was younger, one of my recommendations was that they update their kitchen cabinets – but I told them that they didn’t need to spend a lot of money replacing them, or even refacing them. Paint and new hardware can do wonders! We recommended an excellent Portland general contractor and this kitchen was updated for under $1,000:

Here’s how the kitchen looked Before …

And here’s how it looked After painting …

Before — potential buyers would have walked in and thought, “Since we’ll have to replace those dated oak cabinets, we’ll have to make a lower offer for this house.” Once the cabinets were primed, painted, and had new hardware added, this house was viewed as move-in ready. It was listed and had a pending sale in just 12 days!

The products used for this project were:

Primer: Zinsser Bulls Eye 1-2-3 Water Base for Interior or Exterior

Paint: Behr Ultra Semi-gloss Espresso Beans (paint and primer in one)

Hardware: IKEA Vinna handles

Before you list your home for sale, contact a professional home stager for a cost-effective consultation. Our verbal staging consultation service provides lots of cost-effective tips and advice for a very reasonable $175.

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Home Staging Tip: Sometimes just a few Props are all You Need

admin — Sat, 19 Mar 2011 20:18:18 +0000

When staging your home to sell, it’s not necessary to stage every room … our Portland home staging company usually suggests staging the key impact areas such as the living room, great room or family room, kitchen, dining area and the master bedroom. Many sellers in today’s economic climate are on a budget – so we offer home staging services that are cost-effective.

We recently staged a remodeled 3-story home that’s over 4500 sq ft. We fully staged all of the key rooms, but to reduce costs, other areas were given just a few staging props to show function & to warm up the space. This home has many interesting areas that were fun to stage using a “less is more” approach. Here are a few examples of using a few staging props to show buyers how they might enjoy these spaces:

This modestly-sized open space is somewhat of a pass-through area, with a sliding glass door to the deck, a low window to enjoy the view, open hallways on two sides, & powder room off it, with no wall space for conventional furniture. By using a round table with four chairs, we showed a conversation area …

On the lower level, a large room was remodeled into a media room. Although the budget didn’t allow for furniture in this space, we placed some movie-themed wall decor so that buyers would instantly “see” the room’s intended function …

This space off the master bedroom was a perfect spot for a desk; since this home already has an office on the main floor, this provides a more intimate space; light staging gives the buyer some ideas …

This area off the entry has a natural spot for a chair but not much more, because this is a main traffic area …

On the lowest level of this home you’ll find a second, huge family room that resembles a bowling alley. Rather than stage the entire room, we staged just one end of it .. leaving the other end open for a ping-pong or pool table or a huge sectional …

Remember that if you’re selling your home, buyers not only look for the size of home they want, but they also like ideas for how to use any extra spaces (especially ones that may have more than one function). Consult with a professional home stager to find the best advice for staging your home!

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Room Solutions Staging offers staging services to Portland Oregon metro area homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors in preparing homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and live-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.

Angie’s List Magazine Features Article on Home Staging!

admin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 02:29:21 +0000

Home staging as an industry has come a long way! It’s no longer surprising to find articles and books on home staging in national newspapers, magazines, and your local bookstore or library.

Recently, I was interviewed by a feature writer for Angie’s List Magazine who wanted some tips for homeowners who were planning to list their home for sale. She said I was contacted because of the high ranking my Portland-based home staging company has on Angie’s List. We discussed various ways that home staging techniques can help a home look more spacious and appealing to potential buyers. You can read the entire article in Angie’s List Magazine here: “7 Surefire Home Staging Tips…”

I’ve been a consumer member of Angie’s list since 2006, and have found their service to be invaluable when I’m searching for local contractors in many categories. Whether hiring them myself or providing referrals to my home staging clients in the Portland, Oregon area, Angie’s List is a proven and valuable resource for finding great service providers.

More Information on Angie’s List:

Angie’s List is a consumer-driven online referral site that collects consumer reviews on local contractors and service providers in more than 500 categories for homeowners and consumers across the U.S. Angie’s List members have access to local ratings via internet and phone, to Angie’s List magazine, and complaint resolution service as well. Companies listed on Angie’s List may not pay a fee to be listed — they can only be nominated by local consumers, who then provide a rating “grade” in multiple categories including Price, Quality, Responsiveness, Punctuality and Professionalism.

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Room Solutions Staging offers help to Portland Oregon homeowners, real estate professionals, builders, banks, trustees and investors in preparing homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a complimentary home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.