Why Interior Designers Make Great Home Stagers

If you work in interior design, you have probably noticed that a number of industry professionals have added home staging to their list of services in the last few years. Home staging can be a great complimentary service to a creative-based service portfolio, but how do you know if it’s right for you? What some may love about home staging, others might see as a deal-breaker and a reason to stick with strictly design.

I have met a number of home stagers over the years that began in the field of design, only to realize that their true passion was for home staging. That said, don’t be misled – while these two industries share a number of similar traits, there are just as many fundamental differences:

Let’s do a comparison:

As a Designer:
You work with a client’s overall style to create your design plan, based on their specific likes and dislikes.

As a Home Stager:
You work with a home’s overall style to create your staging plan, based on the neighbourhood, house characteristics, and buyer demographics. Your aim is to appeal to the largest variety of buyers possible.

As a Designer:
Projects can take several months to complete.

As a Home Stager:
Most projects are completed in less than a month from consult to completion, and in some cases they can be completed in just one week! Be warned – this instant gratification can be addicting.

As a Designer:
More is better!

As a Home Stager:
Less is more!

As a Designer:
The elements used to create a room are often a large part of the central focus of that room, including all furnishings and statement pieces, as well as the accessories and artwork throughout.

As a Home Stager:
Ideally, in home staging, you want to eliminate anything that could be considered a distraction in order to place the focus on the appealing selling features of the house. For this reason, statement pieces are often avoided in favour of more neutral selections.

As a Designer:
The goal of a project is to provide an attractive and functional space.

As a Home Stager:
The goal is to sell the house – therefore you are merchandising the home in order to effectively market it. While function should play a role, some comfort of living is often sacrificed to create the best overall look and feel.

As a Designer:
Personal elements help to create a comfortable home for the owners.

As a Home Stager:
Personal items are removed in order to eliminate this potential distraction. Buyers want to envision themselves in the space, and an overly personalized space can make this challenging.

Where Home Staging and Design overlap:

• Proper furniture placement is critical to a successful plan. In home staging, standard placement rules apply as they would in design – in fact, in home staging, you’re often outlining for buyers the ideal position of items throughout the space.
• Room flow is especially important when selling a home. Just as it can affect the comfort of a room for living, improper flow can easily turn off buyers without them even realizing it! The flow of a space can affect buyers on a sub-conscious level, and prevent them from placing an offer on the property.
• Current trends are applied to both design and home staging plans. In home staging, these trends should be applied in the decorating aspect, and avoided in more permanent elements and fixtures.
• A well thought out and cohesive plan will always create a warm and inviting space.

While there are many stylists that will cross over both industries, and enjoy the challenges that each brings, there are others that prefer to work in their creative niche and comfort zone. The diversity of offering both services can help to keep your designs fresh and fluid! Home Staging is a great complimentary service for design professionals, putting their natural talent to work with a quick turn-around and outcome. Let's face it - eventually, design clients will sell their house, and that allows designers to easily turn these same clients into home staging clients. Whatever you choose, if you are passionate about what you do, you’ll find your way.

Interested in learning more about home staging? Check out Talent vs Training to see what your certification program should provide, and why formal training is critical to success in the home staging world, regardless of a design background.

www.StyledListedSold.com

10 Low Budget Home Staging Hacks to Use in Everyday Life

Our home staging clients often tell us how much they wish that they had brought us in sooner, before they decided to sell the house, so that they could have enjoyed some of the changes that we made! They especially love seeing some of our home staging tricks and hacks first hand, so we’ve decided to share some of our favourites with you! You can put these low-cost ideas to use in your home, regardless of whether or not you are selling.

1. Use baskets to hide cables
It’s not a fancy trick, but it can be incredibly effective. Hide routers, cables, and other messes using baskets. NOTE: some items (such as routers) need room to vent, so be sure to account for and allow for this.

Consider adding a shelf under your desk to get the cords and cables off of the floor.

2. Zip tie your lamp cords (and other electronics)
In staging, there is nothing worse than seeing a long dangling cord behind a table. By zip-tying these, they can be cleaned up and out of site. Wind up extra slack in the cable or cord not needed and tie. You can bundle the cord close to the table top and tie, or tie the cord to the table leg at the top and bottom, and bundle the cord at the base. It’s easy for cables and chargers to become a bit of a mess as well. Group your office or tv cables together and zip tie in a few spots to keep them from getting tangled. It’s also a great idea to label your cords (close to the plug) so that you can easily unplug one when you need to without needing to do serious detective work to find the right one to disconnect. There are a variety of cord labelling systems available for sale, but it doesn’t need to be fancy - you can these create with any labels or tape that you have in your household already.

3. Use painters tape or masking tape to hang art on plaster walls
This will prevent the wall from splitting when you puncture it with the nail. Simply place a small piece of tape (approximately ½”) where you want to hang the nail before hammering.

4. Disguise your everyday products
Hat boxes are an attractive way to hide your everyday toiletries, and come in sizes large enough to fit your lotions and sprays easily!

5. Freshen your furniture with touch-up markers
While it’s not the most glamorous fix, this is a trick that is often used in home staging, and works great for giving furniture a quick touch-up from nicks and scratches. When you’re selling your home, even though you are not likely selling your furnishings, showing care of these items will help to show pride of ownership in your home.

6. Get rid of your fireplace's brass trim
One of the biggest things that can show a fireplace’s age is a brass trim! Pick up some black barbeque paint and cover the brass for an instant update!

7. Fix outdated backsplashes
Have an out-dated backsplash but can’t afford to replace it? Painting it will give it a fresh new look! This is intended as a temporary solution, but with the right paint, it can last for a few years. Not recommended for floor tiles.

8. Yes, you can paint brick!
Paint brick to give an instant update, whether on the interior or exterior of your house. Again, you’ll want to ensure that you are using a paint designed for this type of surface; you’ll be amazed by the finish.

9. Need a table runner? 
Create a “make-shift” table runner from an old drape with a few tucks and folds (if you don’t intend to use the drape again, you may wish to cut it and add some hem tape to create a proper seam).

10. Get a custom closet for less!
Hang all similar colours together with matching hangers and add baskets to your shelves. Use space saving hangers for best results – your closet will look and feel much more organized and spacious!

Talent vs Training - Which Matters More?

So you have a creative eye, you love re-arranging your furniture, you’ve watched EVERY home renovation reality show, and you’re ready to launch into the world of home staging! Where do you start?

Since home staging is not a regulated industry, technically you can wake up tomorrow and decide to be a home stager and *poof* - you’re a home stager! But is that enough to sustain a career?

Talent is certainly key to a successful career in this industry, but it’s not enough to establish you as an expert, and it doesn’t mean that you can make it into a successful and thriving business. Training will help you with understanding the home staging processes, how to manage your clients, as well as some "techniques" for showcasing and merchandising a space. Home staging and home decorating are quite different, and understanding buyers and buyer perceptions, as well as how to effectively prepare a home to best showcase it will come through your training.

That said, not all training programs are created equal, so do your research and select the one that provides you with the most comprehensive information, as well as fits your learning style.

What should you expect from your home stager training?

• How to run a business
• How to manage your clients
• Insights into buyer AND seller behaviours
• How to merchandise a home to make it a sellable product that your buyers will want to buy
• How to “sell” – sell the house, sell potential clients on your services, and sell your home sellers on your recommendations (what good is it if you know what they need to do, if you can’t convince them to make the changes necessary?)
• Home styling trends and styling tricks
• Post-training support to help you to successfully launch your business
• Current and up-to-date information regarding industry standards, trends, and expectations

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Talent gets you started – it’s what drives you to turn a passion into a career, but it’s the training that will help you to properly hone your skills. Your certification also tells your clients that you are serious about home staging as a career – you are an expert in your field! The investment in the proper education provides credibility to you, and will be recognized by your peers as well as your prospective clients.

I’m a firm believer that you should never stop learning. Unless you already have a ton of experience running a business in the real estate industry, and you’re right at home working with and managing various types of clients, during one of the most stressful times of their lives, you’ll want to review your options for professional training!

10 Quick Facts about the REAL Shauna Lynn

Shauna Lynn, Owner and Founder of SLS Academy and Beyond The Stage Homes, is known for her creative designs, upbeat personality, unique look and style, and of course, her dedication to her students, and her clients and their homes. But do you really know who she is? Here are 10 quick facts about the REAL Shauna Lynn, some of them might surprise you!

1. She was in a marching band (and went to band camp).





2. She was President of the Math club and the debate team in high school, and President of the Business Club in University - first class geek!

3. She's a crazy cat lady - Shauna Lynn fosters families of cats through the KW Humane Society, plus has three rescue cats of her own. It’s not unusual to have anywhere from 5-10 cats in her house at any given time.



4. She loves anything peanut butter and chocolate

5. She completed two Tough Mudder’s in 2013 - don’t ever let anything limit you!



6. She had a pyrotechnics license in her younger years, and performed a fire show at the classic Inner City Nightclub!

7. She’s left-handed, so she’s always right.

8. OCD - Okay, if you’ve ever met Shauna Lynn, then this isn’t exactly a secret. To further this, she hates yellow highlighters and believes that they fail to properly do the job they are intended to do. Subsequently, she has banned all yellow highlighters from the BTSH office.

9. She had a pet lizard named Soako for several years. He passed away 9 years ago.



10. Her favourite colour is yellow, not pink.

Everything I Know... I Learned from Bartending ~ by Shauna Lynn

When I began bartending in my third year of University, I had no idea the long-term impact that this would have. I always knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, which is why I studied Business as my minor, but little did I know that the best business lessons I would learn would come from my real-world hospitality experience. I often joked that I was getting paid to make drinks and socialize – two of my favourite past-times! I didn't realize then that I would later attribute much of my success to this fun industry. Bartending helped me to graduate from University debt-free, while still allowing me the time I needed to complete my studies. Following school, it acted as a great “break” from a stressful career as an analyst. And when I was laid off from my last corporate job with mortgage payments and bills to pay, it provided me with a full-time income and the time to re-evaluate my life focus and next steps.

As I began my career as a Home Stager and Designer, bartending provided both the financial and mental relief that I so often needed to get through until my new career became a success.

In the spring of 2013 I officially bartended my last shift at a local restaurant, and the day was met with somewhat mixed feelings about this. Everything I am, and how I have shaped my business to where it is today, can be attributed to the hospitality industry. You can take me out of the bar, but you'll never take the bartender out of me. Some things that I have learned through my bartending over the years and will continue to apply in my business, as well as in life:

• If you don't have the answers, ask someone. When that fails, fake it and hope no one notices. 
• No matter how badly you screw up, apologize, take responsibility, fix it, and smile.
• When things get crazy, keep moving forward - you'll get to the end eventually.
• It doesn't feel like work if you're having fun.
• You get what you pay for.
• It never hurts to ask.
• Snapping your fingers or waving money around does not get you things faster, but sometimes a smile will.
• "Shut up and listen" is an effective strategy.
• Don't be afraid to state the obvious - "that sizzling plate is hot", "the suicide wings are spicey", "be sure to make the bed before showings" 
• Everyone has a story, don't pretend you know what it is.
• When all else fails, cheers to another day!

How To Hang Artwork Like the Pros!

As a home stager and designer, I often get questions from clients, friends, and family about how to ensure that artwork is hung properly:

• How high should they be hung? 
• Should we stagger groups of artwork, or align?
• Should the art go behind the bed, or behind the lamps, or both?
• Is this piece big enough/does it work well in this space?
• What type of screws, nails, and tools do we need?

Hiring a professional designer to take on the task of hanging the artwork answers all of these questions, and more. We have the tools, the training, and all of the equipment (including a ladder that works great on stairs)!

That said, if you are interested in tackling this task on your own, these tips will help you to (almost) hang artwork as well as the pros do.

Nails, hooks and more

Picture hanging hooks come in a variety of sizes, based on weight handling capabilities, so be sure to select the one that best suits your needs. Standard single nail hooks will hold up to 30 lbs. There are 2 and 3 nail hooks that will hold more weight, so be sure to review what your needs are before purchasing.

An alternative to the standard picture hooks is the fairly new Monkey Hook®. These do not require a hammer, and are simply thread through the drywall, holding up to 50lbs on their standard hooks! We recommend using ONLY on drywall.

Once you have found the perfect wall art for your space, and you’re ready to hang, you need to purchase my ultimate favourite picture-hanging tool – I can’t leave home without this, and clients are mesmerized when I use it. I know, it’s starting to sound a bit like an infomercial, but trust me when I tell you that this little tool will change your life, regardless of the type of artwork that you are hanging.

Ready?

It’s called the Hang & Level™, and I’m pretty sure it’s magic. I have included a link to buying this online, just in case you want to see what the fuss is about. If you choose to purchase one, there are some handy instructions on the back of the packaging, but I’ll sum it up for you in 5 quick and easy steps:

1. Hang your artwork from the hook of the Hang & Level™ tool.

2. Position on the wall where you wish to hang the artwork.

3. Once in position, remove the artwork from the hook, and press the “button” on this hook into the wall (you’ll notice a small indentation mark on the wall).

4. Place your nail, or the bottom of your picture hanging hook if using a hook, on this marked spot, and hammer in your nail/hook.

5. Hang your artwork on your nail or hook, and use the Hang & Level™ built-in level to ensure it’s straight.

That’s it! Seriously! No need to measure how far down your wire or sawtooth sits on the back of your frame. It’s that easy!

Now, unfortunately, this handy tool won’t work for all pieces, but it does work well for most, and will significantly reduce the amount of time needed for your art hanging project.

Moving on, here are a few basic guidelines for positioning your artwork:

Gallery Walls:

• These do not need to create a nice, neat square or rectangle – consider an offset shape that creates a visual balance.

 

Hanging pieces side by side or stacked

• Be sure to leave 1” – 3” between pieces, depending on the size of the piece (larger items can have more space between them).

How high should you hang it?

Standard:

• Most pieces should be hung at a standard eye level (60 in from ground to centre of artwork).

Above a sofa or bed:

• Minimum 6” above the back of the sofa or headboard, and no more than 10”.

Above a console table or sideboard:

• Generally 4” – 6” – there may be exceptions, especially if there are other artwork pieces in the room, in which case you’ll want to align the centers of the pieces of artwork with each other.

Above a mantel:

• For most mantels, we recommend 3” – 6” above.

Additional tips:

• For hanging artwork on plaster walls, place a piece of painters or masking tape where the nail will go BEFORE hammering – this will keep the wall from splitting.
• Carry a magnet in your tool pouch or pocket – this will give you quick and easy access to nails, without the risk of choking on them!
• Remember scale when selecting which pieces will be hung where – ensure that large walls have a large piece or grouping of small pieces, and smaller walls are host to smaller display pieces.

www.StyledListedSold.com

10 Things Stagers DO NOT Learn From TV

We get it, you've watched all of the home renovation and home sale shows, read all of the online articles and tips regarding setting up your home to sell, and you have found every home selling checklist available online, so why would you need to take a home staging course? I have often heard future home stagers say that they shop for home decor all the time, they have decorated and redecorated their home a gazillion times, and my favourite, “I don’t need to take a course, I watch HGTV all the time, and I know that home staging is all about removing clutter and personal items.”

These reality shows have really put the home staging industry in the spotlight over the last few years, and have helped homeowners to better understand the importance of preparing their home prior to listing it for sale. But, while these shows provide the basics of what this preparation involves, they don’t provide the full picture of what it really takes to properly style and STAGE your home in order to evoke the emotional connection that your prospective buyers are looking for.


Every home is one of a kind, and it should be treated as such! You as a home stager are providing a value to your clients, so you need to show them that you are a trained expert, qualified to assist them with their home. Each home deserves the right attention with specific recommendations, geared towards their home, from an expert that specializes in doing just that, in order to highlight the home’s greatest features.

So what are these articles and lists NOT telling you? These are just a few of the things that a trained home stager will learn, through our professional home stager training program, and many years of experience:

      1.      Where to place YOUR furniture so that the room remains open and inviting, while maintaining function and flow

This does not mean simply moving all of your furniture to the edges of the room. This means understanding proper traffic flow, as well as the latest furniture styling trends. We help you to evaluate what should stay, what should be removed, and where to properly position furniture to optimize flow, eliminate awkward spaces, and highlight the best features of the room.

      2.      Shelf Styling

By far one of the trickiest decorating techniques to master, this is the art of filling the shelves to catch your eye, without diverting attention from the room. This means selecting the right size and style of pieces to compliment the space and the shelving unit, and understanding the balance between too little and too much.

    3.     Paint Colour selection

Just because a colour is popular or trendy, does not mean that it’s the best one to use when selling a home. Colours should be selected based on lighting, home style, and the colour of the finishes of the home. Sure, we all have our favourites, but each colour is selected to best suit the home.

      4.     How to find the best local trades to provide your clients with the best services, at the best value prices

A successful home stager will spend time forging valued relationships with highly skilled trades to ensure that all clients receive quality work, every time. Working with professionals will also allow you to build a reputation within the industry for your designs.

      5.     Where to shop for the final touches and accessories that your home needs

Home Stagers spend more time than anyone shopping for home décor items and finding the best deals. This is valuable information for your clients, regardless of whether or not they're selling their home. Of course, the easiest solution for your clients would be to simply hire you to provide them with the accessories and accent pieces that their home needs. We'll show you how to build and maintain your inventory so that it continues to bring in profits.

      6.     Which updates/upgrades will most benefit YOUR house in YOUR market, neighbourhood, and price range

Home Stagers not only evaluate what upgrades and repairs would add to the value of your home, but we look at what will help to increase it’s overall sell-ability – upgrades are not worth much if they’re not the right ones to entice the specific buyers of the home you're working in. I once consulted on a home that spent a great deal of money replacing their kitchen, but for their target market, their funds would have been better spent doing other repairs to the home and minor updates to the kitchen. Understanding the value of each of these recommendations for every type of home, and the return on the investment into these, is critical to the success of any home stager.

      7.     How to make a bed

Forget what your mother taught you – making your bed before work, and styling a bed to sell a home are completely different! I can’t tell you how often we see this common mistake in listing photos.

    8.     How to utilize a piece of furniture for an alternate purpose

This does not mean putting an end table in an office and calling it a desk. It’s about thinking outside of the box when it comes to finding the right piece, often within your home already, to fulfill a purpose for a room and help to clearly define the space. A quality home stager provides solutions to their clients, especially when replacing all furniture with rental items is not an option.

      9.     How to enhance curb appeal

Yes, cut the grass, trim the trees, and mulch the gardens, we know that you have that covered. But there is so much more to exterior styling. If buyers are not engaged with the home before they get to the front door, your sellers could potentially lose out on that sale. We are property stylists, and we want to be sure to create an inviting space, inside and out.

      10.    How to maintain function and daily life, while living in a staged home

      We understand that it’s not easy to maintain a show-ready home! Experience stagers have seen it all and are prepared to provide clients with easily implementable solutions to help them to get through the day-to-day. Of course the best part is, in a professionally staged home, your clients won’t have to maintain it for long before it’s SOLD!

A Professional Home Stager provides the specific recommendations that will help to bring in the buyers and sell their clients home. Learn everything you need to know to be successful in a home staging career. You won't just learn WHAT you need to be successful, but you'll learn how to build on your experience, your knowledge, and provide quality service every time.

What Most Home Staging Courses Won't Tell You

A glimpse at Shauna Lynn's upcoming book! The following is an excerpt from the only home staging book of it's kind - learn the truth about the home staging industry!

Expected release date: Fall 2016

Most home staging courses will sell you on the big picture, selling you on the opportunity to put your creative style to great use by transforming homes and producing magical masterpieces, but the truth is that there is a lot more to it than that. While I list the following as the “cons” of the business, the truth is that they can actually be the best part of the business; they’re simply not the part that gets most new home stagers excited. I can remember the first time I booked multiple consultations on the same day – I had truly arrived! My business was really picking up, and I was getting more and more comfortable with each client meeting. I still wasn’t doing a great deal of larger projects, but I was enjoying watching these houses transformed, and I knew that I was providing a valuable service to these homeowners. I was establishing myself as an expert in my field, and homeowners and agents were taking my recommendations as intransigent. I was enjoying meeting the homeowners, learning their stories, and assisting them with preparing their homes, regardless of the scale that I was doing this on.

The Cons (Things you may not be expecting as a home stager)

Consultations are your bread and butter

We all want the dramatic transformations, but every large staging job starts with a single consultation. Your main bookings when first starting out are generally owner-occupied home staging consultations. This means that the homeowners live in the house, and will continue to live there for the duration of the listing until the house sells, and it is your responsibility to advise them of the areas that they should address in order to increase the value and sell-ability of their home. In these cases, it is generally not practical to remove all of their current furnishings and accent pieces to replace them with the pieces of your choice. Ideally, it is best to work with what they have where you can, and replace only what is necessary. This means that walking into every consultation your end sale may only be the price charged for that consultation (depending on your location, this can range from approximately $150 to $400). In a consultation, you are simply advising the homeowner on what they should do, but you are generally not actually implementing the recommendations on their behalf. You may offer this additional service, but most will choose to simply do this work themselves.

In cases such as these, it’s easy to feel like you’re not a part of the process the way that you had hoped to be. You’ll need to ensure that you provide the homeowners with clear direction for your vision, and some will interpret this information better than others. In most cases, you likely will not have a return visit prior to the formal listing of the house, so your opportunity to review the changes made will be through the online listing photos only. As your business grows, you may find that you are selling more and more additional services that will allow you to return to assist with the final preparations, but if it is not cost-effective for the client, they will choose to simply go it alone.

Not every house is clean

This was actually incredibly shocking to me, though it seems like such an obvious expectation in this business. I had been in some not-so-clean houses growing up, but nothing prepared me for what I would see. I’m not talking about the houses that have too much clutter and piles of stuff everywhere, I’m talking about absolute filth. Socks are a part of my company’s dress code and must be worn for every client meeting. While my stagers may not always understand and appreciate this, they certainly do when they find themselves standing in a pile of dirt, beside the dirty diapers left on the floor, and whatever the dog has left behind. The most amazing part to me is that all-too-often the homeowners in these cases really don’t realize that this is not an acceptable standard of clean to their potential buyers. This requires a firm but sensitive hand, to help them to understand the importance of cleaning, what that standard of clean is, and how to get their home to a higher level of clean. An effective stager is one that is respected by their clients, while they proceed to tell them everything that is wrong with their house. If you can leave the home on your terms without having the clients toss you out, and still manage to get your point across as to what is needed to be done, you can consider your efforts a success. In my bartending days, I was known for getting the highest tip average from the guests that I cut off. It is not a skill that everyone can master, but those that do will find the most success.

...to read more, you'll have to wait for the release of the book! Stay tuned for details!

Top 10 Home Staging Myths

What exactly is home staging? Which house should be staged? How do you know if it's the right move for a house? If you've seen home staging featured on all of the great real estate television shows, you're probably thinking that all home staging projects are expensive, and intended only for high-end homes, or homes that are in a serious need of decluttering. But you would be WRONG! Home Staging actually refers to the entire process of preparing a home for sale, ANY home for sale, and professional home stagers are working with every type of homeowner every day. Here we dispel the top 10 myths about Home Staging:

1. Home Staging is Expensive

Absolutely not! A trained professional stager is skilled at maximizing their client's budget, whatever it is. When preparing a home for sale, it’s likely that the homeowners will need to plan to spend some money to get it to move-in ready, but with the recommendations of a professional home stager, often the largest investment is their time. Accessory packages and other staging packages vary by stager, but all will generally start with a full-home evaluation, providing a list of recommendations for preparing the home.

Did you know? Buyers are actively looking for a move-in ready home, and 63% of home buyers are willing to pay more for this!

2. A home stagers job is to remove everything in a home and replace with new stuff

A professional home stager will not recommend adding or removing anything unless they believe that it will contribute positively towards the sale of the house, and they will do their best to work with a homeowner's items, wherever possible, to achieve the desired results. Often, a little re-arranging of what they already have can work wonders for improving the flow, and overall appeal of a house to potential buyers! The truth is, sometimes it’s just not in the budget to invest in a large staging package.

3. All rooms should be painted builder’s beige

When selling a home, neutrals tones are best for showing off the space, but your typical “builder’s beige” is not recommended. In fact, today’s buyers are drawn to grey tones more than browns, giving the home a more modern look and feel. Whatever you choose, ensure that you select a neutral shade, and avoid colours that are too light. By choosing a colour a little further down the colour chip you’ll add warmth and a cozy, welcoming feel to a room.

4. Home staging is only for vacant homes or homes with ugly carpet and wallpaper

Certainly some homes can use updating more than others, but the truth is that every home can benefit from home staging, and often a few subtle changes can make a significant difference, whether it’s simply re-arranging some furniture, or more dramatic updates and repairs, every home is unique and requires a unique home staging plan. Vacant homes can tend to sit on the market longer than occupied and furnished homes, since with these properties buyers will struggle to make the necessary emotional connection to the home, and the same can be true for occupied homes that are not styled to suit the target buyer market. Home staging will help to improve the overall flow of the home, and provide the final touches that buyers will be drawn to. 

5. Home staging is a way to fool buyers

Absolutely not! In fact, it’s the complete opposite! Our goal is to provide buyers with the home that they are looking for. Homeowners are still required to disclose any major flaws of the home that they are aware of, however home staging will help to minimize minor flaws by drawing the focus to the features of the home. 

6. Home Staging is just removing personal photos and de-cluttering

We all know that we need to declutter and remove personal items from a home before listing, but home staging helps to address so much more. A professional home stager will help to create a style plan for your home, and address where to invest your money in repairs and updates. Home staging focuses on maximizing a home’s space, lighting, flow, design and best features, not just decorating the space.

7. It’s best to list a property first, and address home staging when it doesn't sell

Home staging should always, always, always be considered BEFORE listing the home for sale! Cliché as it may sound, you really do only get one chance to make a first impression. When a home is listed, it should be ready to show at it’s best, both in pictures and for showings. Any Realtor® will tell you that you get the most attention for a property listing during the first couple of weeks that it is listed – these are key buyers! Home Staging is an investment with proven results for selling a home in less time, and for the most amount of money possible.

8. Staging is just the latest real estate trend

Home Staging has actually been around since the 1970s, and is a real estate service that is as common today as home inspections!  Showing buyers that the home offers good value is always in style. 

9. Buyers should be able to see past the updates that are needed and the homeowner's "stuff"

Here’s a fun fact for you - only 10% of buyers have the ability to visualize a space! This means that only 1 in every 10 people that view a home will be able to look past things, and see the home’s true potential. If you're considering a career in home staging, you clearly fall within the 10%, which means that you can help 90% of potential buyers to see a home's true value! Show them the best way to live in the home by showing optimal furniture placement, and eliminating anything that might distract them from seeing the features of the home.

10. Home Staging means living in a show home, and that’s just not realistic to expect clients to do

A professional home stager provides options and solutions to allow their clients to maintain the function that they need while the home is listed. It's not easy to live in a show home, but by providing the right recommendations for preparing their home, they won’t have to do so for long! As their home stager, you will help to provide them with tips and creative solutions for the things they need every day. 

The Price of FREE

Don’t you just hate when people offer to do something for you…for nothing? Sure, everyone loves to get FREE stuff, but is anything ever free? Get free groceries, by signing up for a new credit card. Get a free muffin, you just have to buy 3 more muffins to get it.

You’ve heard the saying “you get what you pay for”, so what do you get when you pay nothing?

I know that I don’t like to work for free, and I don’t know many people that do. Yet everyone wants to get a deal, and we often forget what the cost of this is. Allow me to demonstrate a couple of examples:

You ask your friends to help you move – this is going to cost less than hiring movers, right? 

Let’s do the math:

- 5 friends’ labour = free

- Case of beer = $40

- Pizza for everyone = $60

- Truck rental and gas = $150

- Broken or damaged furnishings = potentially hundreds of dollars!

- Cost of a no-show that either slept in, had another commitment, or simply decided they didn’t feel like it?

What happens if no one shows up?? What did "free" really end up costing you?

I hire cleaners to come in once a month to help with the house cleaning that I would prefer not to deal with. I hire a property maintenance company to clear my snow in the winter, and care for my lawn and gardens in the warmer months. Does this mean that I have a lot of money to spare? No, but it means that I value my time, and I value the notion of hiring someone to do what they do best, and leave me to do what I do best. My neighbour generously offered to take care of my lawn needs for me, but what happens when I notice that it’s been a couple of weeks, and the grass is growing out of control? Am I allowed to get upset? How do I get him to cut it…like now...when he has offered to care for it for "free"?

When building your business, it’s easy to look for cost-savings and thrifty alternatives, but use caution with these. I had a friend ask if a friend of theirs could photograph my next home staging project for free to build up his portfolio. I explained that I didn’t like getting things for free, and my friend looked at me like I had two heads. “Who doesn’t like to get things for free?” he asked. I explained that I didn’t know this guy, or the quality of his work, and if the pictures didn’t turn out, I would then have to schedule a second shoot with my standard photographer! In the end, I caved and booked this friend’s photographer. I set up the appointment through the listing agent to shoot at the house and blocked off the time in my own calendar accordingly. The evening prior to the shoot, the photographer asked me if we could reschedule, explaining that he had hurt his back, and apparently this would affect his ability to hold a camera. Not only had I already booked this time for the house, but the property had already accepted a conditional offer, and we would be expected to destage the property any day now. Add to that the time of year, which was peak season for us, and my schedule was jam-packed for the next two weeks! I politely thanked him for his time, and called my own photographer. If you want quality work, pay for it. And if you expect to get paid for your quality work, you need to respect other professionals.

Looking at the flip side of this now – NEVER offer your valuable services free of charge, no matter what. Ultimately, this devalues your services, and sets an expectation of future fees. This is a common mistake made by new entrepreneurs, in order to build up a portfolio, and a presence, but there are better ways to do this, and create an expectation of quality and value. Create accountability by setting your fees, and abiding by them.

Bartering – this is a great way to build your portfolio, while still receiving compensation in return. Get to know other small business owners, and see about doing a trade for services. Make sure that the services traded are valuable to both parties (eg don’t trade your time for a dining table that you don’t need, or for dinner at a steakhouse if you’re a vegetarian).

Friends and family discounts – I don’t believe in discounting services generally, but this is a great exception. Time spent providing service to friends and family is time spent away from building your business and bringing in paying clients, so do not ever offer your services for free. By providing a discount, your friends and family feel that their relationship is valued, and it provides them an incentive to give you a chance and "try you out", which can easily turn into additional referral business for you, as well as help you to build your own portfolio.

Trials – this is a great way to offer a ONE-TIME discount, but be sure to keep it to one-time only, and set your parameters for this. This is not my favourite option, but it could be a way to get your foot in the door with a new client if you operate a business that is likely to have repeat clients (ie in home staging, I would offer this to real estate agents exclusively, and would not offer it to homeowners – agents sell a few houses a month, and homeowners sell a few houses in a lifetime). Make this a limited time offer, and make your future pricing very clear in your offer. Then, be sure to wow them with your service so that they’ll want to keep coming back for more, at the full price.

Remember that you are in business to make money, and your expertise is valuable. Be sure to respect what others have to offer, and be respected in return. 

www.StyledListedSold.com