The Decorologist | Paint Color Consultant | Home Staging
Home Staging and Paint Color Expert Kristie Barnett, draws on her background in psychology and education to provide design and color advice to residential projects.
The real estate market is really heating up in Nashville. My assistant is booking more home staging appointments than I can keep up with!
Real Estate is HOT in Nashville
Many of those calls come from real estate agents who have come to rely on me for efficient and effective staging. I’ve worked with my share of great agents, the best of which care about one thing: getting their clients what they want quickly. If they are really good, they’ll go the extra mile for you. [Read more...]
This self-employed, own-your-own-business thing is quite an education, I must tell you. I know what it was like to work for “the man.” For about a decade I worked as a school psychologist with specific duties, a set schedule, and regular work hours.
There are few things that can give away the age of your home, or the date of your decorating, like how you paint out that trey ceiling. I recently did a Staging Consultation for a Nashville Realtor who was about to list a home to sell. This was the first thing you saw upon entry into the home:
Dining Room Before
A top Nashville Realtor hired me last week to help get a listing on the market. She gifted her new client with 2 hours of cut-to-the-chase, get-her-done, down-and-dirty Speed Staging.
This is Speed Skating, NOT Speed Staging
Speed Staging is a process I created to serve my clients get their homes on the market quickly and affordably. I work quickly and give lots of specific instructions, so my clients typically get out of my path and chase me around with a notepad and pen as I speed stage their rooms. I recommended just the right paint colors for several spaces in this home, so I won't show you those rooms yet. I will show you what we accomplished in 20 minutes flat in this homeowner's bedroom using only what she already had. Here's the before:
As many of you who follow The Decorologist on Facebook or Twitter may know, it was a big week for me! I was thrilled to be notified that I had received the 2013 Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) award for Best Staging of North America! I waited until my award arrived in the mail to write this post:
When the design board website, Olioboard, asked me to participate in a bloghop with nine other home staging experts, I said heck yeah! As a Nashville-based home stager, I’m ALL ABOUT befores-and-afters (in case you haven’t noticed). I pulled an actual “before” photo of a vacant room that I staged a few years ago. At the time I actually staged it, I had to rent a houseful of furnishings. I was limited to what was available from this particular rental company, but I’m not limited as to how I can stage it virtually on Olioboard! It’s such a great tool to use with clients when trying to visualize a design plan. So here’s a shot of the “before” of this neutral living room.
Vacant Property Before
When I gave up my first career in School Psychology a decade ago, I never dreamed my heart for interior design would take my life in the direction it has. If you know me, I kinda go “whole hog” on anything I decide to do. If I was going to forfeit seven years of higher education to pursue my designing dreams, I was going to train and learn and work my tail off to make it happen. Ends up, I didn’t forfeit that psychology training or the experience I had being a psychologist at all. In fact, I think that background gives me a unique perspective in the field of design, color, and home staging.
I know lots of ways to make a real estate listing look like a million bucks, without spending a ton. After staging over a hundred homes in the Nashville area, I’ve learned lots of tricks and budget-friendly ways to make a dated space feel fresh and fabulous. Here’s a look at my latest staging project:
Staged Dining Room
There’s a science to effective home staging, and there’s an art as well. Specific furniture placement, on-trend color, and judicial use of accessories is important [Read more...]
Ever heard of the saying that every room needs a touch of red? I don’t necessarily agree, but I do think many rooms could benefit from a touch of black.
I recently did a Home Staging and Color Consultation with a new client who is putting her home on the market. Her home is in a desirable neighborhood and school zone, but her entry didn’t really make much of an impression.
Before Color Consultation
Like many houses built 15-25 years ago, the oak banister or handrail was faded from the sun and the yellow paint color looked more dated than sunny. [Read more...]
Do you ever walk into a room and feel as though things are off-balance? I do – all the time. It’s a curse. As an Interior Decorator and Home Stager, it’s my mission to balance out every room I am asked to design or stage. Last week, I speed-staged a formal home in Brentwood, TN. This was the living room arrangement in its “before” state:
Living Room Before Staging
Can you guess what was bugging me? The rug was off-center from the fireplace and bookcases, the sofa was off the rug, the coffee table wasn’t centered on the rug, and the chairs were too far away from the sofa and fireplace. With a few adjustments, the room felt a lot better to me:
After Speed Staging by The Decorologist
Here is a view of the “before” from above – sometimes viewing from above gives you a different perspective as to whether or not the furniture arrangement works. Notice that you can’t even see the two chairs in this photo because they are so far separated from the rest of the seating.
Aerial View of Living Room Before Staging
Now doesn’t this just feel more “right?” The listing photography looks much better because of it – and we all know how important that is! If you don’t know, you should read this.
Staged Living Room by The Decorologist
Try it yourself in your own living room and see what a difference a little balance can make!
