Semi-Staged. Is it Effective?
Let me start by sharing an example of what I mean when I say "semi-staged."
As you can see in the photo above, there are a few accessories scattered on the bookshelves. The homeowner had added these to help warm up the space. Don't get me wrong, the accessories were a nice touch. However, if you look closely, you'll see the light fixture in the forefront of the picture. This room actually served as the eat-in and a great place for the family to gather for dinners.
The challenge for the homeowners, with this semi-staged room, is that buyers were not able to envision HOW to use this room.
After months on the market without a single offer, the homeowners called on Home Staging Atlanta's premier staging company, Georgia Interior Solutions to assist with getting it sold quickly.
Here's what we did:
The simple addition of the table and chairs really made a difference. Combine that with the two accent chairs and a few added accessories (art, books, greenery, etc...) and the room came to life.
The results - home was under contract in less than 6 weeks after having been professional home staged.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
A Real Estate Staging Association Finalist for Professional Stager of the Year 2010, Kathy Nielsen understands what it takes to help sell homes quickly. Considered an expert within the home staging industry, and having years of experience, Kathy makes the perfect choice for preparing your home for the market in the Atlanta area.
Website: Home Staging Atlanta
Before and After Pictures: Atlanta Home Staging Portfolio:
Email: Kathy@HomeStagingAtlanta.com
Definitely more appealing and this shows how large the space really is.
The more professional the better. but I take semi staging over no staging anytime.
If I had a choice, I'd skip the effort of "semi-staging". Nothing worth doing if it's done half way. I wasn't sure what you mean by Semi-staging at first and I was thinking more along the lines of staging just the important rooms, kitchen, formal dining, living room and master bedroom. Not staging the secondary bedrooms are okay, but the main ones are essential.
I did a home where we only staged the kitchen, master bath, and foyer with accessories. No furniture was added except for a small table in the foyer. The house had been on the market with no offers for a couple of months and after the semi staging...offer in 3 weeks. It's effective in some situations. I agree with you on your example, though. This room needed the furniture.
Thanks, Karen.
I hear you Anne. However, in this case, the semi-staging wasn't effective enough.
Hi, Loreena. The majority of the vacant homes we stage here in Atlanta are key rooms (meaning all rooms with the exception of the secondary bedrooms). Key room staging has been highly effective for everyone.
Thanks for your comment, Sharon. And congrats on having helped the homeowner.
Kathy
Hi Kathy,
I like your point that prospective buyers could not visualize how to use the room without furniture!
We hear it all the time in large homes, "Now what room is this???"
Thanks for sharing
Kathy- Your photos show the difference it made by showing a buyer how the room could be used. Budgets sometimes don't allow for a full staging, however, they were smart to listen to you and show the purpose of the room. I enourage sellers to consider staging the master bedroom, dine-in area and living area at the very least when their budgets are limited.
Staging helps the buyer with size and definition.
Most people have a room that they do not even know what it is
Good job
Enjoy the day
Congrats Kathy! Excellent success story and photos illustrating the power of staging.
Hi Kathy. When I see semi-staged, it always looks like the sellers left some items they didn't want. It looks semi-staged. I think sellers should go all the way because it does make a huge difference to our buyers.
Hi Kathy, again what a difference and congratulations to adding another quick sale to your success portfolio!
Hi Kathy: You said it all: buyers have to be "able to envision HOW to use this room". The hanging fixture provides a clue, so the table and chairs go there, but you added more character with the two accent chairs. Well done! Julie
A few YEARS ago there was a a small retirement community condo that was "staged" very much in this same manner: 3 small bud vases on the mantle, a small potted plant in the corner.... it sat on the market for over 5 months. We then Staged the exact same floor plan 2 doors down and it sold in 5 weeks.... the semi-staged condo sat on the market for another 6 months and took $15,000 in price reductions. BTW - this was still in a "SELLERS" market! Great Post, Kathy
Kathy: Since I was physically in this home when I visited you, I can attest to the fact that your staging made a huge difference in how the home felt when you walked in the door when it was semi-staged (really just accessorized and lightly at that). After your staging, the home really was much more appealing and looked like a home any family could enjoy. I'm glad it sold so quickly. Yay!
Kathy,
You bring imagination to life! Buyers cannot imagine themselves in a vacant room or how to live in it; now, they can!
I love the hearth area, chairs by the fireplace are always such a cozy touch. I'm not a real fan of smei-staging or "accessory only" staging as we call it here. I have only done one accessory only staging and I don't stress it much. I focus on key roomstaging and staging those rooms to their fullest potential.
I have to agree that semi staging is not productive in 99% of the listings I see it done in. It is not a service that I offer for that reason. Love your staging. Really shows buyers how they could live in that home and entertain family and friends.
Great job on this one! I especially like how the table and chairs matched the fireplace and mantle and then you had the two lighter chairs to break up the two layers.
I don't know if I would call that first photo even semi-staged, looks like the just left a few things when they moved...
That room definitely needed to show how to use it! Great job Kathy!
Very nice job Kathy. Your staging added a lot to the room.
Excellent job Kathy!! You made the room look gorgeous.
Kathy - this "semi staged" looks pretty much vacant to me. Once you placed furniture in the room, it warmed up the whole space.
Kathy - You always know how to pull things together. WOW big difference.
Kathy, it's easy to see how much more inviting the room looks with the table and chairs as well as your other touches. Huge difference.
Kathy your photos are great examples of how adding furnishings can make it happen for the sellers. I'm in agreement with others that commented that those few items on the bookshelves just look like they were forgotten in the move. Love your work!
"Semi staged" ... is that 2 accessories short of vignette staging..lol. We haven't done anything like that in years. Full room focus is our motto. Your staging looks wonderful and surely shows the room now.
Kathy ~ these homeowners needed your professional staging expertise to make the home appealing to buyers....and you came through as usual with flying colors! Their few accessories had no impact to show function of the space, or the ability to evoke an emotional response from potential buyers. That's your specialty, and you proved it once again -- congrats!!
I get the whole budget issue, but I've never seen one in person that looked good. To me it is a distraction, and accessories are not effective. But I understand why people try to do it. Fantastic example to show the difference.
What a difference. The room looks so much bigger and the fireplace looks also much better all in black now that the 2 accent chairs and the dining furniture added. Now buyers can envision the size and purpose of the room. Nicely done!!!
I just visited home with semi-staging. Well it was a dining room set and than two empty rooms next to a dining. Sorry, one of those rooms had some dresser next to the window...
I think buyer getting confused completely. He has an idea of how to use one room so his brain in NO THINKING mode than he suddenly has to switch to THINKING mode to figure out what to do with other two empty rooms. And he is trying switching his thinking when he is going from one room to another. One bedroom was stages, another tow wasn't...
I think "semi-staging" is the compleast waist of client's money.
Your choice of furniture is brilliant! In the first picture, I thought the black fireplace was overpowering and looked a bit odd with the wood built-ins. But cleverly using both of those finishes in the dining room furniture pulls everything together and makes it work beautifully! Thanks for demonstrating this very smart technique!