Ep 6: Getting Ready to Stage and Sell Your Home

All the world’s a stage, that’s what Shakespeare said. You know what I say? I say, all the home’s a stage! Hey, ya gotta love the English language… it's the only place where one word can hold two entirely different meanings. Or does it? Because when you think of setting the stage, you think of setting a mood, a theme, a tone, and an arrangement of elements by which the cast and crew can easily and swiftly navigate… that is a performance stage… a place on which to perform… the place a performer acts upon so that an audience may observe and applaud that performance. This is the applied use of a stage in the arts… and staging a home takes its inspiration from the arts. It’s a creative exercise in form and function, practicality and expression, a place to showcase beauty and wonder, creativity and comfort, and it’s all the talk today on this, our sixth episode, of Real Talk with Big Red.Happy day to you all, and how are you on this fine spring day? Here we meet again in this market gone wild, spring 2021. How many of you find yourselves perusing the interwebs and looking at houses you’d love to buy? Or maybe you are looking at houses to get a sense of how to redesign your own? Maybe you want to sell someday soon and would like to spruce it up and give it a more modern flare? Or maybe you just enjoy a good voyeuristic journey through your neighborhood. Maybe you’ve found yourself walking past that one house you so admire in your neighborhood one night after dinner, when the blinds have yet to be drawn and the lights are all still on and you catch a glimpse inside of the furniture, the bookcases, the lovely artwork on the wall… the lighting, the upholstery, the paint color… sigh… it’s enough to make you want to pull up the Amazon app on your phone right then and thereSigh… why is it that we always want what everyone else has? My point is… why do we as a society admire, obsess, fixate, pore over and consume what OTHER people have and do? And for the sake of today’s episode, we’re talking specifically about what other people have and do... with their homes.We’re talking about home staging.So what even is home staging?Ah, in short, it is the activity or practice of styling and furnishing a property for sale in such a way as to enhance its attractiveness to potential buyers. It is the visual satisfaction that comes with smart interior design.Well, maybe easy for me to say…. some people, who shall remain nameless of course, may find themselves fairly paralyzed at the thought of “making a house a home.” We’ll talk about that a little later on in the episode, but for anyone who wants to know just what, for the love of Pete, do I mean when I say home staging?We are talking about how you feature the nuances of your home, whether you are hosting a party, or getting your home ready for sale, when you stage your home, you are taking into consideration compatible colors, the arrangement of elements, minimalism  (or maximalism if that’s the kind of thing you’re into), the careful appointment of accessories, adding dimension through layers of decor, varying textures of upholstery, the feel of fine furnishings, the appeal of eye-catching artwork…. We are talking about dressing your home up and stepping back to marvel at the transformation… seeing how \ with a few tricks and tips, and a flick of a not-so-magic wand, you can creating a look and a feel, a vibe and an energy that feels inviting, interesting and uniquely your own.Why is home staging such a big deal?Contrary to what you might think, home staging is about more than just preparing your house for sale. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, decluttered, painted, and made minor repairs. It's about vision. It's about mood. It's about making the home look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, and more comfortable. It's the metaphorical lipstick, mascara, and single strand of pearls that pulls the whole look together.If you think you can't afford to stage your home, and that professional stagers are so expensive, you're not wrong, and you're not necessarily right either.Prices vary depending on where you live and the local demand for professional home staging. Coastal areas and large metropolitan cities where home staging has been prevalent for years command higher prices.Some real estate agents help sellers stage the home themselves. Most listing agents agree, however, that vacant homes show better with professional staging. Even if an agent is capable of helping to stage a home, they're likely to encourage sellers to hire a professional stager. Fees range from $500 to $4,000—sometimes more, depending on square footage, the number of rooms staged.Real quick, I’d LOVE to share with you some of my favorite home / lifestyle picks that I’ve curated myself on Amazon. I’m a sucker for the perfect area rug and I know these items are gonna help you.In fact, I’ve created a quick one stop shop so, if you’...