Los Angeles Home Staging Info

I thought this was a really funny (but true) post from Greg Nino, Houston real estate agent. Most of the tips are either tips I've given my home staging clients or information I've passed on through my Los Angeles home staging website. The comment about fake cookies made me laugh. It reminded me of a post I wrote a while back:

Fake Food Is Not Fit For Human Consumption

As a top notch Los Angeles home stager, my clients expect me to bring beautiful, realistic silk, faux or fake flower arrangements to use in their homes or listings. While most people would prefer live plants, due to the expense and need to maintain them, it is not always realistic to use live plants. Here's photos of 2 arrangements that I made to use in this Larchmont Village Hancock Park home staging project this week.

I really enjoy creating these plant and flower arrangements. It allows me to create exactly what I want and need for my home staging projects.

Read Los Angeles Home Stager Gets Crafty With Fake Succulents

Read Los Angeles Home Stager Gets Crafty With Silk Flowers

At Moving Mountains Design, we provide certain comfort items in all our vacant staged homes, regardless of price point.

One of those items is a fresh roll of toilet paper. We do this, in part, out of self defense. There's not much worse than having to "go" when you're staging, with not a square of toilet paper in sight.

Another reason we provide 1 roll of toilet paper is that I like to control which bathrooms get used and which ones are "for display purposes only". No, I'm not a control freak. I feel that by channeling all open house bathroom users into one bathroom (usually a powder room) it cuts down on cleaning and maintenance for the listing agent. Keeping one bathroom clean is a lot easier than keeping 3 or 4 clean. Also, it cuts down on the likelihood that our display staging towels will get used. This keeps our inventory of display towels looking like new.

We tape all the toilets shut, except the designated "for use" toilet, with a pretty sign that reads "Please use the toilet in the powder room". I've never had a complaint about this and most listing agents think it is a brilliant idea (I've even provided a few of my listing agents with these signs for use in homes where staging is not an option)

Some of the other expendable items I provide are paper hand towels, a trash can (that matches the decor) and a bottle of hand soap.

Providing comfort items in all our vacant home staging projects is just one way that Moving Mountains Designhome staging services provides that are above and beyond most other staging companies.

What expendable (not reusable) items do you provide as part of your home staging package?

As a professional home stager in Pasadena and Los Angeles, one of my primary jobs is to make smaller homes feel larger, or at least, feel as large as they really are.

Here's a list of my tips for making a small home feel larger. You can use these tips whether you are staging your home to sell or if you are planning to stay, but just need some help dealing with smaller rooms. These tips will work with either vacant or occupied homes:

• Pare down what you need to have in a smaller room to the essentials. Do you really need a chair in your bedroom, or can you sit on the bed to put your shoes on?

• Clutter makes a room feel smaller. Lots of smaller items, like your Hummel collection or your bowling trophies displayed on every horizontal surface, eat up visual space. Only display 3-5 items at a time. Store the rest and rotate them out of storage throughout the year. Not only will the room feel larger, but each item displayed will stand out more.

• Use fewer pieces of furniture. Its better to have one larger dresser than 2 smaller ones.

• Use appropriately sized furniture. Having a large sectional in a small family room will highlight how small the room is.
  

• Cooler colors recede, so painting a room a pale blue, green or gray will make it feel larger.

• Show more hardwood. The larger the expanse of hardwood, the larger the room will look. See how the room looks without an area rug.

• Try using one larger area rug instead of several smaller rugs.

• Use fewer patterns on upholstery and bedding. For instance, use a solid color blanket or bedspread on a bed in a small bedroom to make the room feel larger.

• Strategically placed mirrors make a room feel larger.

• A well lit room feels larger.

• Minimize window treatments. The simpler the better. Shutters, blinds or simple drapes (no flounces, ruffles, strong patterns or complicated valences) take up less "visual space".

These home staging tips work if you are staging to sell or just want to make the home you are living in feel larger.

If you need some help figuring out how to make your home feel larger, consider hiring us for a home staging consultation. You'll get some expert home staging and interior design tips from the Real Estate Staging Association 2010 Professional Stager of the Year. Prices start at $250 for a verbal consultation or $350 for a comprehensive written consultation. Its the best "bang for your buck" and it's a great investment in preparing your home for sale, or making your home more livable if you are planning to stay.