Atlanta Georgia Home Staging : June 2007

This Atlanta Home Staging Company, Georgia Interior Solutions, has the expertise and experience to help showcase your home and/or listing so that it stands out from the others on the market. With years of experience and a massive inventory designed to compliment any style home, we implement solutions that draw the buyer in and allow them to emotionally connect with the home.

Home Sellers - Is Your Home Worth Remembering?

With the quantity of homes on the market, it's likely that the prospective buyers are visiting lots of homes/listings.  Some may do it in the course of a day, while others take weeks if not months to find the perfect home.

Having been a home buyer, I too can relate to the need to search.  Yes, we now understand that most will begin their search using the internet (80%, according to the National Association of Realtors).  And with all the many wonderful blogs on the importance of great listing photos, we understand that those photos need to "catch" the eye of the prospective buyer to help them take the next step;  which is to visit the home.

Now once they're there, is your home or listing worth remembering?  In my recent blog It's Hard to Connect with a Blank Wall it's highly unlikely that the blank wall in the "before" picture is something the prospective buyers will remember.

Here's another example and the impact Staging can have in making the home "memorable":

 

Home Staging Before Picture

Here's the after:

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture 

 

Results:  Home sold after staging!

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and surrounding areas.  View our web site at HomeStagingAtlanta.com for more examples of our work.  We make the process EASY.

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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It's Hard to Connect to a Blank Wall!

It's late but... I wanted to share this vacant home staging project I did today.

This home is located in Marietta, Georgia inside a wonderful country club called Indian Hills.  Unfortunately, it's been sitting on the market for a while. 

As with any vacant home, the minute I walked in, I couldn't connect with the home. 

Yes, there had been many wonderful upgrades done to the home and all were very wise investments.  However, despite these changes, the house wasn't moving.  Why?  Because it's hard to connect to blank walls.

Here's the before picture of the living room (hard to connect to these walls, isn't it?:

Home Staging Atlanta "Before" picture 

And now for the "after" picture:

 

Home Staging Atlanta "After" Pictures

Can't you feel the difference?

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and surrounding areas.  View our web site at HomeStagingAtlanta.com for more examples of our work.  We make the process EASY.

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Home Staging Atlanta - In the News!

Back in February of this year, I had the good fortune of working with one of the top Realtors within Alpharetta, Jeff Aughey with AlphaHomes.com.  Jeff had reached out to have me look at one of his occupied homes to assist the seller in getting the home sold more quickly.  I was able to work with Jeff on another one of his listings (again, occupied) and the results of the transformation turned out great.

So impressed was Jeff with the impact staging could have on his listings, he solicited the expertise of one our very own active rainer's, Angela Parker.  Angela owns and operates Wicked Word Craft and comes highly recommended for anyone seeking professional writing services.  Jeff wanted an article written on my staging services and I gladly supplied the content.  The magic in the article itself comes directly from Angela.  I was extremely impressed with her professionalism and I know you will be too.

The article itself can be viewed on my portfolio page HomeStagingAtlanta.com

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and surrounding areas.  View our web site at HomeStagingAtlanta.com for more examples of our work.  We make the process EASY.

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Is it Worth Staging the Bonus Rooms?

I'm often asked by home sellers whether or not to stage the bonus room.  As is often the case, the rooms are either on the 2nd floor or in a finished basement and typically have odd layouts and sometimes odd ceiling heights as well.

In staging homes, the objective is to allow prospective buyers to envision living in the home as well as to give them ideas on how they can utilize the space.  Given the challenge listed above on bonus rooms, I will always suggest having the bonus room staged. 

Here are two sets of "before" and "after" pictures of a bonus room just recently staged.   

Home Staging Atlanta "Before" Picture

Home Staging Atlanta "Before" Pictures

Home Staging Atlanta "Before" Picture

Home Staging Atlanta "After" Picture

The additional cost to stage the bonus room is, on average a couple of hundred dollars.   I'd say it's worth it!

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs and surrounding areas.  View our web site at HomeStagingAtlanta.com for more examples of our work.

 

 

 

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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The Art of Accessorizing

When I'm staging a vacant home, there are two items I consider most important:

  • Placement of the furniture and
  • Accessories

Knowing what and how much can literally make a difference in one stager from another.  Too little and you have "vignette-like" staging; too much and you take away from the features of the home.  Getting the right balance takes skill and experience.

And while as Val pointed out in her blog Shop til you Drop: the rules have all changed - shopping for accessories can be tiring.  However, if you check out her web site Staged2SellNY I'll bet she has many satisfied customers who greatly appreciate the time she spends searching for just the right accessory.

Maureen Henry with Rockland Home Staging definitely has it figured out.  For proof, just check out her web site and view her portfolio page!

And from my own portfolio:

Home Staging Atlanta - After Picture

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs.  View our web site at HomeStagingAtlanta.com for more examples of our work.

 

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Creative Staging Solution For A Small Space

Last week, I was called by a prospect to view a home that has been sitting vacant for a while.  One of the challenges I was faced with was to create a solution for the kitchen.

Here are the "before" pictures:

Home Staging Atlanta Before Picture

Home Staging Atlanta Before Picture

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The challenge:  The space was too small for an island as it would have consumed a great deal of the kitchen.  The wall pictured above - well, it too was too small to accommodate a bistro set. 

The solution:

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture

Coffee for two in this newly created space! 

The stand is something I had purchased to use in the living room.   However, all attempts to find a shelf, which would have worked equally as well, failed.  It's one of those weeks where when you need a particular item, the item can't be found anyway.  And when you don't need an item, you'll likely see hundreds of them.

As it turned out, this solution worked extremely well and the owner was completely thrilled with the results.

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs.  You can view our web site at http://www.homestagingatlanta.com/

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Model Home Staging

As a little girl, I would love when my mom would take us out and we'd go through model homes.  We couldn't afford a new home but that surely didn't stop us from looking and dreaming.   Little did I know that one day others would be looking and admiring my work.   

And the icing on the cake - I get to save builders thousands of dollars in getting their model homes decorated.

So... in the spirit of Active Rain, here are some of my "after" pictures of the models I've been blessed to stage:

This is the first room you see when entering this home:

Home Staging Atlanta - Model Home

Keeping room.  When vacant, this room was a challenge for the prospective buyers given the size.

Home Staging Atlanta - Model Home Decorating

A splash of color! 

Home Staging Atlanta - Model Home Decorating

Georgia Interior Solutions is a full service home staging company in Atlanta, serving Cobb County, Marietta, Roswell, Sandy Springs, Dallas, Kennesaw, Powder Springs.  You can view our web site at http://www.homestagingatlanta.com

 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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How Do You Tell A Homeowner.....

Whether you're an agent or even a friend, telling someone that they need to make improvements (sometimes drastic, sometimes minor; cleaning for example) can be challenging.

Behind this line is fineAs the picture suggests, staying behind the line is fine.  Crossing over it can sometimes lead to treacherous water.

So why is it challenging?  Because we honestly don't want to offend the homeowner.  And perhaps for some, they feel it could jeopardize their relationship with the seller.

Now granted, there are some agents that have no problem whatsoever with suggesting anything and everything to the seller.  For those in that bucket, I applaud you.  I would also like to recognize the thousands of agents that go far beyond the call of duty.  Case in point, the agent I worked with on the last vacant home I staged cleaned the fireplace, replaced all the light bulbs, found a sale on a microwave (the list goes on and on....).

For those that find it a bit more daunting, there are solutions.  If you don't already have a home stager as part of your team, I'd look to add one quickly.  Here are a few reasons why:

  • Home staging professionals are in the business of educating the homeowner on exactly what improvements need to be done to help move the home more quickly.
  • Bringing a professional stager out to ALL your listing implies that you aren't singling their house out but rather offer this service to all of your listings.
  • There's an art to communicating what needs to be done and why.  An experienced stager has had this conversation with many homeowners and will handle the situation delicately and professionally. 

Kathy ~ Georgia Interior Solutions, LLC

 

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Atlanta Home Stager Helps Investor

As a professional home stager, my advice to any and all investors is to budget for staging.  As you'll see in the "before" and "after" pictures, staging can truly make a difference.

In this "before" picture, you can see that they were nearing completion.  There were two items left for the investor to do; paint and the re-do the hardwood floors.  Two weeks later they were ready for us to stage the home.  See below for the "after" picture.

Home Staging Atlanta - Before Picture

Home Staging Atlanta - After Picture

Whether you're an investor, agent or a homeowner with a vacant home on the market, staging creates warmth and makes the home more appealing.  To see more examples of our work, visit our staging "before" and "after" pictures in our portfolio page.

Thanks for looking!

Kathy  - Founder of Georgia Interior Solutions.

 

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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Oh Oh - I've been Memed!

And now I'm suppose to tell you 5 things you didn't know about me.  Here goes......

1. I have two gorgeous boys and one handsome husband - Not two husbands, just one.  They mean the world to me!  My oldest son now lives in Maui and is actually home for a three week visit.  My youngest is soon to be a sophomore in high school. 

2. I can't cook and I'm not allowed to do the laundry! -  That handsome husband of mine does all the cooking.  In fact, I'm not allowed in the kitchen unless it's to make a salad or to set the table.  As for the laundry.... evidently he's not into pink tee-shirts.  Okay, so I made one little itty bitty mistake and threw a red towel in with some whites.  It was years ago.....

3. My most favorite thing to do?  Dance! 

4. My favorite flower?  Tulips.  Any color but by all time favorite is white!

5. I have an identical twin sister - Her name is Kerry Sue and she now lives only a mile away.  It was always our dream to live close to one another and now that dream has come true.  We speak at least twice a day!  And yes, to this very day, if we're out together shopping, we're often asked if we're twins.  In fact, people have been known to stare. 

Edited to add:  Professional Home Stager serving the Atlanta area. 

Kathy

 

 

 

 

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Kathy Nielsen RESA National Board Member of the Year

 

 

About the Author: Kathy Nielsen, a RESA 2010 Home Stager of the Year Finalists is  a nationally recognized leader within the home staging industry, offers affordable home staging solutions to help sell your home more quickly.  Kathy can be reached via email at info@homestagingatlanta.com or by phone at 678 522 8392.  Their Atlanta Home Staging services offer a variety of options to accommodate all budgets. To view examples of their before and after pictures, visit their portfolio at Home Staging Atlanta Gallery.

 

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