apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Hi Sola -

I am not a professional stager per se, but have helped many friends with staging. Depending on how extensive the project I may be able to help you. If you look at my blog and my House Tour here on AT, and like what you see, please let me know and I would be happy to work with you.
http://sanfrancisco.apartmenttherapy.com/sf/071806/house-tours/house-tour-victorias-bomo-pad-010620

I seem to have messed up that link! :)

Search 'bomo' here on SF/AT and it will link to the House Tour. Thanks!

What,exactly, is staging?

gekko - staging basically involves hiring a company to come in and fill your home with nice/tasteful furniture so that it will show well to prospective buyers. chances are good that if you went to an open house and the rooms looked like they were straight out of a catalog, it was all staged.

I had a two bedroom apartment staged in DC -- it was about $1000 for the whole thing but the stager only had to bring in a few small pieces of furniture and was able to work with most of my pieces. The main thing is to purge your home of excess clutter and/or furniture -- it seems that people who are shopping for homes want to imagine a future full of clear surfaces. You also should make sure the apartment is really clean and windows washed -- that was not included as part of the stager service I used and I did a lot of it myself to keep the costs down. And, naturally, after all this, I only got one low bid on my condo, but it sure did look pretty when I rented it out!

I agree with JP - you don't have to bring in all new furniture. Just clear out excessive furniture and make the rooms appear larger. Clear out all the clutter, add fresh flowers during open houses, and make sure your home smells nice and fresh - maybe bring in some potted lavender and rosemary in the kitchen area. People hate it when they walk into a home and smell kitchen or pet odors. perhaps bring in a professional cleaner to really give it a good scrubbing. If you have an outside garden, plant some flowers and brighten it up. I think the more natural it seems the better - like it's a live-able space, not a generic model home.

I Sola,
I am a professional stager here in S.F.Our rates vary depending on the amount of work involved.We do anything from a full stage, where we come in and furnish an empty house with furniture and art to what we call an edit where we come in and help you arrange your own pieces and make the most of your square footage, eliminating clutter and arranging furniture possibly adding art or small accessories.Our average pricing is around $800 to $850 a room for a full stage and $150 an hr. for an edit.We can also do a consultation for a flat fee of $250. Where we come in and give you advice on placement and paint color etc.And then you do it on your own.We are very good at what we do and staging is even more important in a sluggish market.Which is the case right now.You want your property to stand out from the crowd.On average a staged home gets more offers and more profit than unstaged.If you want to talk more e-mail me at cherrystreetstaging@hotmail.com I can send you some examples of our work or give me a call at (415)200-7850.