I was asked recently to help some dear friends of mine stage their home so they could put it on the market. Staging is not typically a project I will take on, but anything for a friend right?

Here is why I have a hard time with staging:

– I’ve never been formally trained in staging. (Can you be formally trained?) So I actually haven’t really done much of it which can be intimidating.

– Budgets are typically little to non with staging. You typically have to work just with what the clients have. Luckily I was able to convince them to invest a little money (under $1000) to freshen up the space. This, we found out, makes a BIG difference.

– Typically, you go in to a clients home, and by the time you leave that day it is supposed to be staged. That can be a lot of “fly by the seat of your pants” designing.

The nice thing about staging for clients is it doesn’t cost too much to have done. Really its just a one day design fee. Not too bad for the difference it can make! And any space can benefit from it. The house doesn’t have to be a huge gorgeous mansion to make it worth it.

Here are a few before and afters from the day:

(again, apologizing for cell phone images… someday I’m going to get that fancy camera!)

The great news is, its been on the market for less than a week and they already have multiple offers! So excited for them and so happy I could help out 🙂