Tag Archives: Home Stager Minneapolis MN

April Showers Bring Staging Flowers!

It’s almost May here in Minnesota, and that means we are crossing our fingers and toes hoping that spring, and the beauty it brings, will be arriving soon! There is nothing better than the blooms of a magnolia tree, the bright colors of tulips and daffodils emerging once again, or the sweet smell of lilacs in the breeze. Close your eyes: imagine the scent, the joy, the warmth a fresh bouquet of flowers brings!

When staging a home, or during a staging consult, we suggest using plants and flowers to bring additional color and life to a home. It is a simple, lower cost way to add color, texture and freshness to a home.  Consider these basic methods for sourcing and displaying greenery in your home.

Trader Joe’s is A Home Revival staff favorite for sourcing fresh flowers and house plants. They have a variety of sizes and styles of plants and flowers, and tend to have a reasonable price point! A few ideas for Trader Joe’s greens:

  • Grab some baby blue eucalyptus and baby’s breath, toss them in a simple, neutral vase, and you have yourself a centerpiece that will last for weeks! Center it on the dining table, an entryway credenza, or on the dresser of the primary bedroom.
  • Take home a few succulents to stage bathrooms. Set small succulents in the corner of the vanity along with a candle or soap pump for a fresh, spa-like effect!

Treat Yourself to Fresh Flowers - The Purple Hydrangea

The Purple Hydrangea

  • Toss a mixed bouquet of bright, fresh flowers in your cart and use as a focal point in the kitchen or dining room during your home photo session! A fresh bouquet is also a nice touch for showings, but should be replaced when blooms begin to wilt. Bonus? They smell great without the overpowering effects of fresheners and spray (which we do not recommend using for showings).
  • Use a variety of house plants on coffee tables, nightstands, sunrooms, etc. to add interest and livability to the home. Plants tend to reduce stress and increase creativity, just what a potential homebuyer needs to envision their new life in your property!

Maybe you’re not into live plants, I get it! For vacant staging, we use artificial plants and stems for the sake of maintenance and longevity. A few favorite spots for faux plants:

Ikea – low price point, good variety of plants and stems, and cute pots and baskets to boot!

FEJKA Artificial potted plant, indoor/outdoor/lavender lilac, 4 ¾ "

World Market – great for artificial trees and larger house plants.

Target – wide variety of styles and price points available.

Medium Ribbon Fern Leaf in Pot - Threshold™ designed with Studio McGee, image 2 of 10 slides

Nearly Natural – an online retailer that has mastered the art of the faux plant. At a higher price point, this is a great option for investing in faux greenery you can incorporate into the design of your new home.

spring captions when in doubt add flowers

Good Housekeeping

When deciding whether or not to incorporate greenery in your staging design, just remember, plants are lean, mean, selling machines! They are one of the simplest, low cost ways to freshen and brighten a space. Not up for the effort of purchasing and placing plants? No problem! You can always reach out to us to do the heavy lifting with an occupied or vacant stage of your home.

 

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

 

A Peek Behind the Curtain

I’m sure you’ve wondered, how does staging actually work? Is it just moving a bunch of furniture in and out of homes all day every day? Does staging make that much of a difference? People don’t reaaaaalllly care how a home looks when they’re in the market for a new one, right? They can see the potential and know my couch won’t be here when they move in, of course. Today, we’re going to give you a sneak peek into just how exciting and effective staging a home can be!

Preparing for a stage is a multi-week process. We hear from a realtor that a client is looking for our support. We begin the process with a staging consult — up to two hours walking through a client’s home and prioritizing together the work that should be done and that changes to be made for the seller to receive the maximum price for the sale of their home. We take pictures so we can get to work designing and packing all the furniture and décor needed to impress buyers. After the consult, the seller gets to work cleaning, repairing and packing.

While the buyers are working hard at home, we are busy buzzing around our warehouse selecting furniture, bedding, lighting, art and décor that we strategically pack and ready for staging day!

Once the home is vacant, the selling family moved out, and everything spick and span, it’s time for us to bring our design to life with the help of our very beloved movers! We bring a big moving truck, full of beautiful items, and two amazing movers who help us thoughtfully and carefully curate homes. We place furniture, hang artwork, toss throws and do our absolute best to highlight the home’s best features and greatest potential. Again, our goal is to help you gross the most profit.

Here’s the best part — the final product! There is no higher compliment that a seller returning to their staged home and saying, “gosh, it’s so beautiful I’m not sure I want to leave anymore. I wish I had you come design our home years ago!” Check out these before and after photos from a recent stage!

Dining room before

 

Dining room after

Eat-in Kitchen Before

Eat-in kitchen after

Office before

Office after

Primary bedroom before

Primary bedroom after

Livingroom before

Livingroom after

A little paint, some updated, neutral décor, and voila! You have yourself a top-notch home for sale! Check out this beautiful home’s listing photos, and who knows, maybe its your next dream home!

Speaking of dream homes, you don’t have to wait until you’re moving to have us come to your home for design help! We offer design services, in addition to staging. We love helping clients fall in love with their homes all over again, so don’t hesitate to reach out, we are here to support you!

 

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

 

The Hidden Costs of NOT Staging Your Home

We offer a variety of staging services at A Home Revival and Rooms with Style: staging consults, occupied stages, and the most inclusive service — the vacant stage. Here’s a peek at what each service entails:

Staging Consult – Home walk-through to develop a prioritized To Do List. Homeowner chooses which items on To Do List to complete and executes these items themselves.

Occupied Stage – Homeowners live in the home with their own furnishings; furniture placement may be changed, and accessories and artwork may be brought in for staging.

Vacant Staging – Homeowners have moved out and the home is empty; furniture, artwork and accessories are brought in for staging.

All of these services are incredibly helpful during the moving process, and clients are sometimes intimidated by the process and cost of staging. Our goal is to explain why it can be more costly to not invest in staging services during the moving process, and why these services are pivotal to getting the most revenue from the sale of your home.

Did you know, the majority of home buyers do not have the ability to walk into a home and imagine themselves living there? Its based on how our brains are built, like color blindness or handedness! A realtor once shared with me that a client wasn’t interested in a home they visited because he really didn’t like the blue couch. The realtor had to gently remind him that the couch didn’t come with the home! We hear examples like this a lot : “I don’t like the paint colors.” “I don’t like their style, it’s outdated.” “We don’t need a nursery.” “I didn’t like how it smelled in the home.” According to the National Association of Realtors, 82% of buyers find it easier to visualize a property as a future home when staged.

During the staging process, we are able to come to your home for a consult, prioritize with you the work you are willing and able to do to ready your home for sale, and then decide together how we can assist you with the process. Our hope is to neutralize the home, and create beautiful spaces that would appeal to anyone and everyone. We show how each room is intended to be used and come up with creative uses for spaces that are awkward or oddly shaped. We help buyers see just how great the home is, highlight it’s best features, and give them a head start at imagining their new life in their new home! According to realtor.com, staged homes sell 88% faster and for 20% more. We often stage homes that have sat on the market for weeks, or even months, without a sale, and see them sell in just days!

As we mentioned, staging services are flexible and meant to serve the seller’s needs. We prioritize the work together because we know there is often not enough time and resources to do everything possible to sell the “perfect” home. That said, the National Association of Realtors says more than a quarter of buyers (27%) are more willing to overlook property faults in a staged home. That means we can take on making your home appealing to buyers and save you the cost and efforts of major updates to your home. We show how great your home can look as is, and modernize it with our stunning décor. 

We know staging is an additional investment, something that can feel “extra” or “unnecessary” with all the other costs and to-dos during the moving process. We can confidently say that the majority of our clients do save time and money by inviting us to walk with them throughout the selling process. We love partnering with realtors to serve their clients, and it is our hope to make the moving process a little more palatable. And if you like our work, we can even come to your new home and help you create your dream space! We’re here to serve and support you!

 

 

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival