No, I didn’t say Speed Dating! A few months ago, I began offering a “Speed Staging” service as an option for those putting their homes on the market. It works well for homeowners who have nice furniture and a good supply of decor items.
The Decorologist Home Staging in the Greater Nashville Area
How it works: The Decorologist and an assistant show up (never having viewed the home), make a quick appraisal of what needs to be done, then Speed Staging begins! Below is the living room of a home I worked in yesterday – take a minute and think about what you would do to make it market-ready before you move on to the “after” photo.
Living Room Before Speed Staging
You can see it’s a nice room, but a few important changes will make the room a WOW room. This view is from the entry of the living room. You have to navigate a bit to get through to the kitchen, right? Now, for the after. This is what we did, using only the homeowner’s furnishings and decorative accessories:
Living Room After Speed Staging
I decided the loveseat/chair-and-a-half needed to go. It was moved to the bonus room, where it’s scale works nicely. We moved a chair from the master bedroom into the room and reoriented it to where the view from the entry is a WOW. Did you notice something else different? Here’s a hint:
Window Treatments Before
The custom-made curtains demanded a lot of attention, and we wanted to put more of the attention on the architecture and the view beyond. We folded back the panels and hung them to reveal more of the window and more of the light and view. You may need to go back to the earlier “before” picture to really see the difference.
Re-Worked Window Treatment
Subtle changes can make a big impact! The sofa was previously anchored on the slanted staircase wall – not the ideal placement for a sofa, since it feels unbalanced.
Living Room Before
The new arrangement is anchored by the best focal point a room can have: a beautiful fireplace. Now there’s a direct pathway from the entry of the room and the kitchen, which is important in creating good flow.
Fresh, Open, Beautiful Space!
Start to finish, Speed Staging requires 2 Home Stagers staging at break-neck speed for 2 hours. When the 2 hours are up, the entire home is ready for its close-up. Now this home is ready to sell – what do you think of the difference?
The room is now so much more open and inviting. I really like what you did with the curtains, the felt too heavy before, now they’re just right and the room feels airy and light!
I have done this in the past, when a Realtor called, frantic that they had just gotten the expired listing, and needed it ‘staged’ before they put it back into the system (MLS) as a new listing. Do you charge by time/roo/square footage?
Ginger,
My “Speed Staging” is 2 hours, no matter the size of the house. If it’s huge, we obviously focus on the most important rooms and the others don’t get much attention. If you want more info, my rates are under the “Services” tab.
I think you made a huge impact with the seating shuffle. Pulling the seating away from the staircase was genius, and you’re right, feels way more balanced!
What a fantastic transformation. Love the idea of “speed staging”!
I think “wow!”.
At first I thought you removed the window panels but then I understood that you folded them in half to open the window and feel lighter overall … great move.
The classic furniture arrangement anchored by the fireplace really takes the room from “here’s where we crash” to this is a lovely space. Its amazing the homeowner had all this in their house yet didn’t put it together this way. Makes me wonder about my rooms and what a professional such as yourself would do with my space … too bad we’re in different states!
You know, I’ve always heard that you don’t present a house for sale the same way you live in a house, but I have to say, I could live in that room the way you’ve arranged it, and I think that’s a great compliment that the room is both sellable and livable.
Robin,
Thank you so much for your kind words. It’s true – you do present a staged house differently, but I feel like good furniture arrangement works the same in both staging and decorating. In this home, we did remove a lot of “fluff.” Lots of decor items and personalized decor went into storage to make it more appealing to a wider audience. Oh, and just so you know – I do virtual consults (you can check the “Services” page at the top). Thanks for reading!
I love the changes! You did a fabulous job! 🙂 I especially love what you did with the window treatments!
What a difference! The changes you made change the whole flow of the room and it looks more pulled-together!
Masterful work , Kristie! I agree with Robin, that this room could comfortably be lived in AND sold!
Another aspect was the division that backing the couch to the dining room, made a psychological
break between the conversational and food spaces. The airy-ness created by the two chairs (and NO side table!) also is refreshing. Sooo less is more. Thanks for pointing out your services tab–duh,
I never looked @ it before!
I love, love, love the Speed-Staging concept.
Great work! I love how reorienting the couch and setting in the right chairs just opened up the space and made if feel so welcoming. I love rearranging furniture – quickest way to breathe new life in a room!
Great post Kristie…I can picture it all now…furniture flying, sweat dripping, hair bouncing, and Red Bull all around. Have a great weekend and RELAX a little will ya???
You are so right Kristie- the room looked ok before, but look how beautiful it turned out with a pro making a few important changes. The room is now a wow! Great job- looks great!