Tag Archives: Home Staging in St Paul

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 Couple Quick Tips when Selling Your Home in the Summer

There are a couple things I see in the summer when doing Home Staging Consultations that many times need to be addressed and are super easy to correct.

1. Cobwebs

   For most of us, we go in and out of our homes through the garage door, very rarely using the front door or even taking a look at it. In the summer months a cobweb can appear in a matter of hours. Sometimes it seems like minutes.

Every day when I water the flowers on my front steps I see cobwebs in the corners of the house and around the door. I spray them off and the next day they are there again. If I don’t get out there for a couple days it looks like I have an abandoned house! There are cobwebs everywhere and they stick like glue. Even the jet force on my hose won’t  get them off and I need to bring out the broom.    

So please, when your home is for sale check your front door every day and wipe down any cobwebs. The is nothing more unattractive to a buyer than seeing these unsightly things and sometimes with spiders dangling from them to boot. It sets the tone that “if they can’t even take care of a few cobwebs did they take care of the larger things like the furnace and air conditioner?”

If you have a back patio area you may need to do the same thing there.

2. Flowers

Lately I have had a few homeowners not have a single flower by their front door, deck or patio. Their reasoning was “I’m moving so I don’t want to waste money on flowers.” I think this is a wrong mindset.

   The flowers not only add color for the buyer when they are at your home, they add color for the exterior photographs online which is the first time the buyer ever sees your home.

Flowers add a sense of beauty and calm and it sets an emotion for the buyer to see the full potential of your outside space. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on them, but a few pots in key areas will be well worth it. Plus you can take the pots of flowers with you to your new house to enjoy so it’s not a sunk cost. 

 

If you are selling your home, walk around the exterior of your home with a very critical eye. Sometimes it is difficult to see our own homes so bring in a friend who will be honest or a professionally trained Home Stager.

 

 

But Those Valances Were Expensive!

I get that response many times when I recommend to clients that they take down the valances above windows when they are preparing to put their home up for sale.

I understand they may have been expensive but many times that was 20-30 years ago so you have gotten your money’s worth. Even if they were purchased more recently you can take them with you to your  new home or leave them folded in a closet for the homeowner if they want to use them

The reason I make this recommendation is:

1) Valances cut the ceiling height down.

It chops the room off visually part way up the wall and the buyer’s eye tends to stop right there.

2) Valances shrink the window size.

A large portion of a window is cut off because of a valance, sometimes 1/4 of the window on smaller windows. Buyers love large windows and lots of natural light. Valances hinder both of those making the windows look smaller and the room darker.

 

 

3) Valances cover up the view.

Many times homes have beautiful lots, gorgeous back yards with tall trees and you have to look under the valance to see it all. Show off what they are there for and where the value is, the land. The valances will not add value to the house no matter how expensive they were.

 

 

4) Valances are a personal preference

Some buyers like drapes, some like blinds, some like valances, some like bare windows. It is a personal preference and with the valances they see it as a chore to take them down, patch the wall and repaint if they don’t like them. It is always best to reduce as many personal style items as possible for a buyer.

There are many times I recommend drapes come down as well but valances are a must. For these and all recommendations when putting your house on the market, contact a professional Home Stager for a Home Staging Consultation.