Home staging: my love and passion.
Home staging. The concept that got me to take a leap of faith as a small business owner. My happiest “office days” are in a home stage. I first become interested in home staging when my husband and I were looking to move back to North Carolina have a stint of several years outside of Houston, TX. I thought my house was good. I mean, I nearly rolled my eyes when my realtor and friend insisted on sending her stagers to come to prep our house. Her stagers — her “secret weapons” as she adoringly referred to them. As a receiving customer of home staging services from our Texas realtor, I am truly a first-hand testament to the power of staging.
The confidence my husband and I felt going to market with our beautifully staged home settled any nerves when it took a few weeks to get the perfect buyer. Housing markets inevitably ebb and flow. We have been on the receiving end as sellers to all real estate markets (even the dreaded early 2010s). I am forever a believer in home staging and the impact it makes as a home goes to market. I want to be local realtors’ secret weapon in occupied home stages. I was amazed by what stagers did in my own home with substantial artwork, linens, and strategic placement of furniture. So when my position in “corporate healthcare” (I’m trademarking that) was eliminated, I took advantage of my time at home and sought to build this little bit of happiness I call Southern Staging and Styled.
Here is a sampling of the transformations to expect in a typical home stage. Everyone enjoys a good before and after series, am I right?
The occupied home stage process starts with an in-home or virtual consultation with the homeowner, realtor, and myself. I then compile a “homework” assignment for the homeowners to prep their home for me to stage. This is sent to their realtor for review. Once the homework is complete I and my team get to work making the client’s home photo-ready. This home sold sight unseen on day one to market. The client later told me the confidence she felt going to market after the staging and was convinced it impacted the sale of her home sight unseen. It brings me great joy to do this for realtor and homeowner clients!