Staging New Hampshire

If you are preparing your home for sale and are having trouble with furniture placement, the answer may be in switching the furniture from one room to another.  After many years of living with a certain furniture arrangement, many sellers can't visualize it any other way.  Most furniture is placed for comfort and convenience, based on the owners' needs.  When selling, furniture placement should be used to appeal to potential buyers... showing space and function.

This is where professional home staging becomes very important. 

I admit, when I first entered this home, it didn't come to me right away, and at first I attempted to make the furniture work where I found it.  Once I stood back and really looked at the space, it became quite clear that the living room and dining room should be reversed. 

The living room had two love seats and two chairs crowded into a small area.  The area being used as a dining room was more spacious and not being used to its full potential.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Originally the two red sofas were crowded into a small family room.  Once again, too much furniture and too little space.  The sofas became more impressive and inviting when moved into the larger space.

LIVING/DINING AREA BEFORE:

LIVING/DINING AREA AFTER:

The homeowners were not willing to tackle the task of removing the flowered wallpaper around the windows, but they were willing to remove it from around the door and post and it made a huge difference:

This was not an expensive transformation.  All furniture and accessories used were found within the home. 

Another benefit of this home staging is the improved MLS photos.  This house was originally listed in February using the "before" photos and is now listed using the "after" photos. 

When it comes to agricultural fairs, the community of Stratham, New Hampshire, takes theirs very seriously. 

This year July 24 - 27 at Stratham Hill Park the 41st annual Stratham Fair will be held and attendance is expected to be over 25,000 people.

The fair started out as a small lobster bake to thank the volunteer fire department and has become a huge charity event that benefits many local organizations. 

Entertainment, in addition to the usual games and rides of the midway, include performances on two stages, baking competition, pie eating contest, Miss Stratham Fair pagent, a Fine Arts and Crafts exhibit, a road race, and a Fireworks display on Sunday night as a finale to the fair.

In traditional fashion, you will find 4H Shows and agricultural exhibits.

In addition to the food delights of the Midway and the traditional lobster bake, a barbeque and a lasagna supper are also scheduled.

The very reasonable price of admission is $7 daily.  Children 6-12 and Seniors 65+ are just $4 daily. 

 Children under 6 are Free.

         Grandparents get in Free on Thursdays.

Military personnel and dependents get in free on Fridays.  Group rates and discounted tickets for Stratham residents are available. 

Parking is Free.

For info including Event Schedule, Admission Specials, directions and more visit the Stratham Fair website.

A recent National Geographic special, Stress: Portrait Of A Killer, discusses how chronic stress is threatening our lives.  Stress has been linked to many diseases, including heart disease.

We all have our share of stress, but with the state of today's real estate market, home sellers and their Realtors are getting hit especially hard.  Selling a house is one of today's top stress triggers. 

Financial burden, years of accumulation to sort through, and a list of projects to complete to prepare the house for sale can be extremely stressful.

 Stress builds when sellers don't have a clue where to begin, which rooms should be a priority, or what improvements would yield the best return on their investment. 

 Many homeowners, finding the process totally overwhelming, transfer responsibility to their Realtor whose job description shouldn't include cleaning out and organizing the closets, finding a new home for the doll collection, or shopping for new bedding. 

Transforming the "overwhelming" into manageable is what professional home staging is all about.

Just as a coach or trainer instructs and guides on strategy and game plan, the home stager creates a complete plan of attack with clear step-by-step instruction to systematically prepare the home for sale.

Having a home stager's guidance and direction will:

•             Increase a seller's inspiration and motivation to do what needs to be done
•              Decrease stress for the seller
•              Decrease stress for the  realtor, who can then concentrate on more important things
•              Insure better photographs for MLS

Whether you think of a home stager as a real estate consultant, property stylist, space organizing guru, home preparation coach, or even your own personal fairy godmother... consider them the authority on the packaging of the house.  A stagers involvement, in addition to easing the pressure on the seller, enables the Realtor to put all their attention on the marketing of the house.

Having the right professionals packaging and marketing your house for sale is a guaranteed way to eliminate stress.  Eliminating stress could save your life. 

Well, not physically harmed anyways.  Mentally, there could be some long term damage. 

Last January, when my website was completed, I wrote a post about the experience and how designing a website for a home stager can be hazardous.   Steve not only survived building my website, he continues to host and maintain it and subjects himself to my updates on a regular basis.

Recently I decided I needed a new logo and this time it was a graphic artist named Greg whose sanity was tested.

Greg, of Black Dot Design, was very patient and created a logo that I am very happy with.  A cleaner, more contemporary look that is easier to read is the result of his efforts.  I gave him a run for his money, and he was able to withstand the pressure.  

The logo has been sent to Steve to incorporate onto my website. 

Next step...creating new business cards.  I guess the printer will be my next victim!