Selling Your Home? Don't Just "Show" the Space ~ Buyers Need to "Feel" Emotion Too
When we're selected to stage a vacant home in Portland Oregon, we keep a few important goals in mind:
- Show the spaciousness of each room ... and make sure there's a good flow from room to room
2. Give the buyers a chance to connect with the house on an emotional level ~ this includes having great photos that show the home's best features in an inviting way
The best way to illustrate these ideas is with Before & After photos ... here is a Portland-area home that we staged recently that's been on the market for over 2 years. Although it's beautiful new construction, when it was vacant it just didn't "feel" like home. Here are some examples of staging that helps a buyer "see" the space, but also to "feel" the emotion of what it would be like to live there.
Here's the Great Room as shown in the MLS for the past 2 years: does it evoke any emotion? Does this photo show enough of the room to give a buyer previewing it online a compelling reason to put it on their list? Not really ...
We also took this photo to show buyers more of the space to buyers, to help them "mentally move in" 
The Dining room is for sharing good meals with family & friends ~ but when it's shown as a Vacant room, there's no way for a buyer to "feel" much about it ... but add some simple staging, and they're hosting a dinner party ...
For 2 yrs the online photo of the Den looked boring in the MLS, so we took 2 photos to show buyers more of the space: 
Buyers think of the Master Bedroom as a peaceful retreat, but when vacant, it looked cold in the online listing for 2 yrs; After staging we show more of the space to let buyers "feel" an emotional connection!
Here are a few other photos of this home that can help buyers "See" and "Feel" it better than Before 
Remember when selling your home that buyers want to "see" the possibilities ~ Don't make them guess!
~ Staging and Photos by Room Solutions Staging ~
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Room Solutions Staging offers home staging services to Portland Oregon area homeowners, real estate agents, builders, banks, and investors to prepare homes for the market. Our home staging clients love our service and our home staging statistics! Our home staging services in the Portland OR metro area include consultations, staging for both vacant and lived-in homes, and interior redesign projects. For a free home staging proposal, please contact us @ 503-246-1800.
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2012 Professional Home Stager of the Year - Western U.S.
(Real Estate Staging Association)
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"Staging That Sells Portland Homes"
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So true, Maureen. Your after pictures will absolutely allow the potential buyers to "feel" emotions as it's warm and engaging. Awesome staging.
Congratulations. Your home staging is being featured in the group Staging Before and After Pictures.
Kathy
Great photos, Maureen - they give a sense of actually moving through the spaces!
Kathy ~ Our goal is to make sure buyers feel a connection with the house. Thanks for the feature!
Julie ~ Thanks, one of the benefits of an ultra-wide angle lens is that it can show the room, and what's beyond.
Maureen- another great staging! And I love the story you tell.... it's not enough to just show the space.. we have to help create some emotion.
Maureen - What a great example. Vacant and empty homes just appear cold-hearted. By adding furniture and carefully selected and placed accessories, this home is now all about warmth and love.
Maureen - Great job of turning a cold vacant space into a home. You show off all the best features of this home. Bet they wish they'd had it staged two yrs. ago. The impact is amazing.
Kathy ~ enabling buyers to connect is important -- I wholeheartedly agree!
Sally ~ warmth and love ... good feelings for buyers to have!
Barb ~ Thanks, 2 years is a long time, and it's a tough market. But now the visual impact has changed for the better.
Hi Maureen--small wonder the vacant home hadn't sold in 2 years. I think for most buyers how to use the Great Room would be a bit daunting. Your staging solved that and has made the whole house so homey and inviting. Always love seeing your work.
Great job Maureen I love how you arranged the shelves in the office and the living room area. Nice work as always.
Maureen - The rooms look great...buyer could really get a good feel for how a room/house could look with staging like this.
Janet ~ Vacant homes, no matter how nicely built and finished, just don't have a warm-and-cozy feeling. Thanks for your comment!
Mannie ~ Thanks, I'm glad you like the shelves -- I really enjoy staging shelves since they have just the right mix of challenge to use some creativity, I guess.
Goran ~ Thank you! That is our goal, to give the buyer a "preview" of how it could be to live there.
Great points made and the photos back them up Maureen. Nicely done as all of your projects are. Congrats on the feature too.
Judy ~ Thank you, it's fun to stage a house as pretty as this one, and especially when the client is so nice too it's like icing on the cake :-)
Maureen - Beautiful staging and I love your photography!
Hi Michelle ~ Thanks, I'm learning more about my camera but still have a ways to go!
Maureen-You always do great work! Your Sellers were smart to choose you to help market their homes!!!
Hi Marianne ~ You are too kind, and I know your clients feel the same way about you!!