Staged by Design Blog

Do you find yourself secretly longing for the sleek, clean lines of modern furniture, while surrounded by flea market vintage and Shabby Chic? How do you deal with combining your antiques with your future husband’s love of leather sectionals? Now that the children have moved out, you can finally purchase furniture without having to attest to its stain fighting abilities, but where do you begin, and what are the rules when combining widely disparate looks?

A change in style need not be cause for a crisis, whether it’s brought on by the evolution of our own personal taste, or a change in lifestyle.

Here are a few guidelines that allow for an easy transition when coordinating the look of your home:

Scale of furniture-Consider scale as well as the shape. Be wary of paring an overstuffed chair with a petite end table, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create a sitting area in a corner that combines a smaller scale table and chair in the same room. Breaking up the grouping allows for diversity in scale.

Color- If it’s your eclectic accessories, not furniture that need to be integrated, create groupings by color to help create a harmonious look. On tabletops, use groupings of three to add visual interest.

Unifying element-These can be colors, patterns or textures. Repeating these in pillows, window treatments and fabrics will help to pull a space together, even if the pieces of furniture are very different.

Remember, this is your home after all. Modern, Eclectic, Traditional-the only style it needs to fit is your own.

Leigh Newport is owner of Staged by Design Home Staging and Interior Redesign. www.staged-by-design.com.

Originally published in the Loudoun Independent, October 29, written by Leigh Newport

I love Fall. However, cool weather and afternoon light are just the beginning of what quickly turns into the chaos of back to back holidays. If you can’t believe I’m even mentioning the holiday season in October, just take a whirl in any of your local retail stores. You’ll find skeleton costumes right next to the turkey decorations that are a mere aisle away from the Christmas lights.

If you find that you need to list or sell a home during the holidays…..

-How do you Stage your home, live in it while keeping it on the market, yet observe holiday rituals?

-Should homes that are vacant be Staged using Holiday decor?

First let me state that I’m the last one to talk about moderation when it comes to personal Holiday Decor. I have 16 boxes of assorted holiday decorations alone in my basement. (Seriously, 16. Just ask my husband.) However, since I’m not selling my home, I can deck my halls any way I like without it affecting the value of my home.

When Staging a home, your goal is to appeal to the broadest group of individuals. This goal does not change with the calendar. The following are suggestions for observing the season without alienating potential buyers.

Halloween: Seasonal décor vs. Holiday specific is always preferred. Tablescapes could include mini-pumpkins or mums instead of draping your front porch with faux spider webs and a graveyard along your front drive. (Just a tip: that cute little pumpkin tastefully placed on your buffet will continue to look fresh for well over a month until you pick it to reveal its rotten bottom. I learned that one the hard way.)

Thanksgiving: Put away the crepe paper turkeys prior to a showing. Consider incorporating warm colors into table settings or accents instead.

Christmas: A simple fresh evergreen wreath on the front door is always welcoming. A partially deflated Santa on your lawn? Not so much. Does this mean that I wouldn’t put up a Christmas tree if my occupied home were on the market in December? No, that’s not practical for me. But I would only use 1 box of décor of my personal stash, as moderation is key.

Vacant Homes: Beware of using any fresh seasonal options in vacant homes. That lovely bouquet will be rotted and unappealing in a few days. A tasteful, seasonally appropriate wreath on the door may be all you need to observe the holidays while still maximizing your home’s appeal to the masses.

Leigh Newport

Staged by Design

www.staged-by-design.com

This is my very first blog post and I hope you enjoy it.

First off, let me say that I am happily married, and it’s been quite a few years since I’ve been on the dating “scene”. My idea of great date now constitutes a quiet dinner with my husband, sitting at the kitchen table after the kids are asleep. Although my dating years are far behind me, it’s the anxiety that I clearly remember, and led me to parallel the experience with the effort of selling your home.

When selling your home, you are essentially courting your buyers. Imagine it as the most expensive first date you can imagine. Blow this first impression and you’ll have more than unreturned phone calls; it will be price reductions in the tens of thousands.

How do you channel that first date anxiety into preparing your home for sale?

- Pull out the proverbial full length mirror and be honest. You must scrutinize your home with a buyer’s eye. Stand in the doorway of each room and take pictures. This is what buyers will see online, where you have 3 seconds to grab their attention. Is there more furniture than open space? Does it look inviting?

- Just as you would be selective with your fashion accessories, the same applies to your home. Pack up the nick-nacks and personal photos and breakables. You are planning on moving anyway! Your goal is for the buyer to envision themselves in your home. De-personalizing and de-cluttering is key.

-When selecting the look for your big night, determine your best feature and highlight it. Do the same in your home by creating a focal point in each room. Create a conversation area around it, or use it as inspiration for what colors or furnishings should remain in the room.

If you find that you’re still not sure where to begin, your Accredited Staging Professional (ASP) takes on the role of the trusted girlfriend; sharing your goals, being supportive yet brutally honest when a complete makeover is needed. ASPs can do as much or as little as you like. If it’s your furnishings that could prevent your home from looking its best, they offer accessories and furniture for rent, and provide much needed direction for what it will take to sell your home for more money in less time.

Leigh Newport is the owner of Staged by Design, a Home Staging and Interior Redesign company based in Loudoun County, Northern Virginia. Visit us online at www.staged-by-design.com.

*Originally published in the Loudoun Independent, September,  2008, written by Leigh Newport