Atlanta Home Staging Company

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.

Who Says Houses Don't Sell In The Winter?

Who Says Houses Don't Sell In The Winter?

I've heard it, and I'm sure you've heard it as well.

Well, it's time to kick that old adage to the curb.   

All of these homes pictured below have received contracts in December and January. Yup, that's right. And.. they all had:

  • Great real estate agents - who were aggressive with their marketing
  • Were priced correctly - always important, regardless of what month your home goes on the market
  • Were staged by Atlanta Home Staging - to further showcase the features of the home and to add warmth!
 

Viewpoint condo in Atlanta professionally home staged


Living Room after home staging


Home Staging Living Room After Picture

Kitchen after home staging

And here's a close-up of one of the kitchens:

Close-up of accessories used by Atlanta Home Stager Kathy Nielsen

See, houses do sell in the winter!

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Is Your Vacant Home Confusing the Buyer?

Is Your Vacant Home Confusing the Buyer?

While no seller would intentionally confuse the buyer, most are so familiar with their own home and how they used a sepcific area within their home, that they don't consider that a buyer might not be on the same page.

Case in point:

Here's an area within the home that I recently staged in Atlanta. I walked by this area no less than three times and did NOT know what the intended area was suppose to be. It wasn't until the end of the appointment, when discussing the home with the agent, that it became clear. 

Can you guess? 

Vacant area within a home

That was tough, wasn't it?  Here's the "intended purpose" of this area. 

Dining room area after home staging

Here's another angle:

DR area after home staging

And here's a photo of the living room:

Living Room after home staging

One of the greatest benefits of having your home professionally staged is that buyers are not left to guess. Instead, it's clear as day when furniture and accessories are added. 

Kathy

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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No. I Don't Stage My Photos

Yes. I'm a Home Stager who stages homes all throughout metro Atlanta. But, no - I don't stage my photos. 

There was a post recently by an agent who had asked if we, as stagers, ever stage our photos. More specifically, the question was whether or not we change up an area within the home specific for the MLS listing photos. My response was no. I'm more of a what-you-see-is-what-you-get kinda girl. In other words, the photos I capture are always how the room appears if you were to see the home in person. 

Why? Personally, I feel it's important for a potential buyer, who has viewed the home on-line, sees exactly what they saw from the Internet. I never want to disappoint the buyer which is why I'm not a fan of virtual staging.

Now having said all that, I do take close-ups (which I call "detail shots"), like the one below. And while I always provide the agents and homeowners with all of my after pictures as part of my service, I have no expectation that they will use these in the listings. 

Here's a detail shot of a home we staged and recently de-staged. If you were to visit this home when it was on the market, it's exactly what you would have seen on the dining room table.  

 

close of a dining room table professionally home staged

 

 

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Atlanta Investment Property Gets a Makeover (Before and After Pictures Included)

Atlanta Investment Property Gets a Facelift

What an amazing project to have been involved in. Our Atlanta Home Staging company, Georgia Interior Solutions, was asked to create the decorator schedule for their recently purchased investment property in Smyrna, Georgia.

A decorator schedule is a schedule of all the selections for the home. For example, light fixtures, wall color, flooring, granite, backsplash and the list goes on. It's a lot of decisions but... extremely rewarding. We were also asked to home stage the home.

Here's the kitchen before the renovations. 

Kitchen before renovations

Here's how the kitchen looks after the renovations and after home staging.

Kitchen after renovations and after home staging

Here are just a few of the decisions made for the kitchen:

  • Granite selection
  • Backsplash
  • Sink size
  • Faucet
  • Handles - I decided to have them cleaned versus being replaced
  • Flooring
  • Light fixtures

Here's an after picture of the living room:

Living room after home staging and renovations

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Are You The BEST Home Stager?

Are You The BEST Home Stager?

Yesterday, after returning from a home staging a home in Smyrna, Georgia, my phone rings. I answer promptly and listen to the seller as he tells me that he has an occupied home and knows that he needs advice and perhaps accessories to showcase it better.

After answering a series of questions, he asks: "Are you the best home stager?"

Me, tired, and not prepared for this question, reply with: "Absolutely!"

He then asks: "Why?"

Did I mention I was tired? 

Me: "Because I am."  Truly, is this not the worst answer ever?

Seller: "Why?"

Me: "Because I was voted RESA Professional Stager of the Year 2011, Southern Region."

Seller:  "Oh."

Me: "And because I know what I'm doing. I've been successfully helping sellers sell their homes for the past 6 years." (Note to self: Think of a sentence with a few less "s" when tired).

Seller: "Oh"

Me: "Have you seen my home staging before and after pictures gallery? If not, go to: Atlanta Home Staging Gallery."

The call ended with the seller intending to check with his real estate agent and then asked me to call him tomorrow afternoon.

The moral of the story? Be prepared to answer the question: "Are you the best home stager?"

All funnies aside, I am a firm believer that you need to strive to be the best. It's why I spend countless hours perfecting my trade, improving my photos, studying the latest trend in colors, etc.

And because I can't possibly write a blog and not include a picture, here's our latest collage of Atlanta Home Staging After Pictures:

 

Atlanta Home Stager After Picture Collage

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Is The Furniture In Your Home Eating Up the Real Estate?

Is The Furniture In Your Home Eating Up the Real Estate?

One of the biggest challenges for homeowners, when living in their home while selling, is understanding what goes and what stays. Another challenge is understanding whether it makes sense to repurpose a room. Let's review both challenges:

Deciding on what stays and what goes:

  • Always begin by standing in the doorway of the room (specifically, the doorway that buyers would be at when they enter the room).
  • Decide and remove those items that serve no purpose. It could be an inherited piece that you spent hours refurbishing and want to proudly display. If it doesn't serve a purpose, you're better off storing it.
  • Have a bedroom that leans on the small side? Try removing one of the night stands.
  • Remove all stacks. Whether it's a stack of bills, or a stack of magazines or newspapers - stacks of anything take up real estate.
Deciding on whether to repurpose a room:

Right, wrong or indifferent, buyers have preconceived notions on how they'll use a room. For example, over 10 years ago, I converted our dining room into a den. This dining room is positioned immediately off the kitchen and made a great dining room. The reason why I converted it to a den is that we had spent only a few days out of the year using the room as a dining room. Designed as a den, we use this room every single day. However, should I elect to sell my home, I would repurpose the room back to a dining room. It stands to reason that this room would be perceived by a buyer as a great dining room. And... they'd be right.
 
To further prove how valuable it is to repurpose a room, here's an example of a home we recently staged in Atlanta. 

In this particular home, the homeowner had converted her living room into a dining room. As you can see below, this entertainment room was absolutely gorgeous. I'm quite certain that friends and family enjoyed many a great meal or two.

Here's the before picture. And while I'm standing pretty close to the dining room table, you can see that it's large and is capable of seating up to 10 guests.

Living room before home staging

Another before picture taken with the dining room table and chairs removed:

LR before home staging

The end result: This is how the room appeared after we repurposed the room as a living room. By repurposing this room, we a) show more of the beautiful flooring, and b) you can see more clearly how much real estate the room has to offer.

Living room after home staging

Click on the following link to see how this Atlanta kitchen was transformed

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Atlanta Kitchen Gets A Transformation (Before and After Pictures Included)

Atlanta Kitchen Gets A Transformation (Before and After Pictures Included)

This galley kitchen is beautiful. Those were my exact thoughts when I first entered. With the rich dark wood, the beautiful granite and the stainless steel - I knew exactly what I wanted to do. As a professional home stager in Atlanta, my job is to further enhance and showcase the beauty of the features the home has to offer. 

So how does one take an "already beautiful kitchen" and make it stand out? It takes some thought, that's for sure. Home staging a kitchen is all about the accessories. What we use and where we place it, is important.

Here's the before picture. I loved it the minute I saw it.

Kitchen before home staging

Here's the after picture. As you'll see, I chose a deep burgundy/red color to further enhance the richness of the dark wood tones. 

Kitchen after home staging

Close-up (kitchen countertop left). Limes were on my mind as my husband had just made ceviche the day before. It's funny how things that happen in the course of our days that help influence some of our decisions. I chose the container (with greenery) in the corner as it looks "old world" to me and seemed the perfect height. With its' rustic-look, set inside a contemporary kitchen, it seemed the perfect touch.

Kitchen counter close-up

Close-up (kitchen countertop right). The small tray of olives was a carry-over, keeping with the rustic element I wanted to bring in. The red container - newly purchased (well, months ago) just matched perfectly to the burgundy vase and bowl. Envision it filled with lentils or a small pasta such as pastina.

kitchen countertop close-up

Stay tuned for more pictures of this beautiful home.

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Staging Atlanta Helps Secure a Contract Only Hours After Listing

Home Staging Atlanta Helps Secure a Contract Only Hours After Listing

And for full asking price! Music to my ears! 

I had staged two houses that week and both went under contract in a matter of hours. The other agent called and said "Can you say, zero days on market?" Needless to say, it was a great week. As a home stager in Atlanta, my objective is to help sell homes more quickly. 

In the home pictured below, we were used the homeowners existing furniture on the main floor and replaced the bedroom furniture in the master. With the exception of the master bedroom picture, the after pictures were taken by my favorite Atlanta Real Estate Photographer, Iran Watson.

Here's the entrance before home staging:

Entrance before home staging

Here's the after picture. As you can see, it's the same entrance table. The tapestry on the wall, while nice, was all too consuming.

Entrance After Home Staging

Here's the living room before home staging. This was taken from me walking into the living room from the entrance. Notice the back of the chair? Not good.

LR Before home staging

Here's the living room after. By moving the love seat into the formal, and by placing the couch on the wall, we opened up the living room so that you can see the size of the room.

LR After Home Staging

Dining Room Before:  I had folded back the table cloth to see exactly the condition of the table. 

DR Before home staging\

Dining room after: We replaced the light fixture, removed the table cloth as well as the window treatment - the results, a more sophisticated look.

Dining room after home staging

Master Bedroom After Picture: As mentioned, we brought in all new items as a master bedroom is "key" to a buyer. I took this after picture.

Master bedroom after home staging

With this Atlanta home under contract - the homeowner intends to move closer to her children. It thrills me that I was able to assist her in making that happen quickly.

 

 

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Staging Atlanta Close-ups

As a professional home stager in Atlanta, Georgia, I've always had an interest in ensuring I take the very best pictures possible. The reason why is that not only do I use then in my portfolio, I also provide them to the homeowner AND agent for their use in the marketing of the home at no additional charge. It's my way of saying.... I understand the importance of marketing and the impact it can have. 

The more exposure - the more visits. The more visits, the more likely we'll get an offer.  Having great photos, even close-ups such as these below, help bring in buyers.

Here are two I had recently taken of a home we staged last week.  As you can see, I applied the "Iran Watson" technique.  Thanks to his guidance, I was able to make the background blurry. It's my first-ever picture that I've tried this technique and I know I have some work ahead of me. 

The first picture is of the end table.

Atlanta Home Stager Close-up of end table

 

Here's a similar shot of the coffee table.

 

Coffee Table

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Home Staging Atlanta - A Vacant Home Transformation - Before and After Pictures Included

Home Staging Atlanta - A Vacant Home Transformation - Before and After Pictures Included

So... here's what I did today.  I took this vacant home and transformed it. I brought in the furniture and accessories (called home staging) and helped create some added warmth that was so desperately lacking.

Here are the before and after pictures:

Note: You'll have to excuse the before pictures as they were taken with an older camera. My Nikon D90 had to go into the shop and I, fortunately, got it back yesterday.

Here's the kitchen before staging:

Vacant kitchen on the market

Now it looks like this:

Home Staging Kitchen After Picture

Master Bedroom Before. Hmmmm, not very warm or inviting.

Home Staging Atlanta Master Bedroom Before Picture

Master Bedroom After:

Home Staging Atlanta Master Bedroom After Picture

Living room before:

Home Staging Atlanta LR Before

Now....

Home Staging Atlanta After Picture Living Room

Simple, yet warm and engaging - makes the perfect solution for selling.

Home Staging Atlanta - Kathy Nielsen - 678 522 8392

RESA Professional Stager of the Year - Southern Region 2011

Whether your home is vacant or occupied, this Atlanta Georgia Home Stager, Kathy Nielsen, understands what it takes to sell a home quickly. Her homes have graced the pages of several publications, appeared in TV commercials as well as on HGTV's hit program Sleep On it.

With years of experience and a massive inventory - Kathy makes the perfect choice.

 

Atlanta Home Stager Logo

 

 

 

Home Staging Website:  Home Staging Atlanta

Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:

Email:  Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com  

Blog: Atlanta Home Staging

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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