Okay, okay, I was prejudging the show. I watched tonight's episode ($1.8 million home), and from the moment it started I LOVED IT! You're the bomb Matthew. I loved when you looked at your client's living room and WE ALL knew what you wanted to say..BUT YOU DIDN'T. Well, at least not in front of the client. (HUH, just millions of viewers). It was great! This was more realistic to me. STUFF, STUFF, STUFF...ahh a familiar mantra for stagers.

The painting of the faux paneling and the changing of the DR light fixture were definitely things to be addressed. Can you work around it? SURE, but  why do that  if  they can be changed.

I still think TOOO much emphasis was placed on the artwork but in the end IT WAS PERFECT and obviously so because the house sold for over asking.

My daughter walked in on the last 10 minutes so I was trying not to be rude and I missed the final numbers for budget. I took fast glimpses of the after shots as well.

Was the initial budget of $6,000.00 kept or did you exceed that? Did that fee include your fee for the 5 days of work as well as the furniture rental? Please forgive me if this was listed at the end, I missed it! Would love to see a breakdown of these fees in future episodes.

I DO THINK THAT THIS SHOW WILL HELP THE INDUSTRY except for the fact that most of us, probably a large percentage of us, does not  have the luxury of walking into a warehouse like DEKORA to choose our furniture, accessories and art. I'M JEALOUS! BUT IN A KIND WAY

If the following episodes continue in this trend then I would say YOU HAVE A HIT ON YOUR HANDS and STAGING AS AN INDUSTRY will be truly recognized.

Looking forward to more shows! Happy Staging

Phyllis Pafumi

And if you did see it, were you as disappointed as I was?? I found this show to be more about "the Stagers" personalities and lives than actual staging and what goes on behind the scenes as well as the day of staging.

I especially found it unreal to see how CALM everyone was most times. I don't know about you but I am running around like a luny when I stage. Many of you might, but I certainly do not, have an art gallery that I can walk into and take art that is worth $7,000.00. If you have resources like this, I would love to know what you are doing.

Now I ask you this...when was the last time your staging assistant had time to go on 2 auditions during the actual staging of a home?? GOSH, I barely get time to pee. This is nuts and I really don't think the show is going to last.

Plus I found it to be boring. I think that so far GET IT SOLD and SELL THIS HOUSE are 2 of the best shows to exemplify the realities of staging EXCEPT for the fact that the crew's labor is not factored in.

When the show was over the transformations were beautiful and they did make good use of the space, but I wasn't hearing things like this is to show off the fireplace, this is to draw the buyers eye to that fabulous view, etc. At the end of the show they did show the list price, cost for staging, and the final sale price. When all was said and done the seller was down close to $100K. I guess on a $4.5 million house that is just a drop in the bucket. But the total cost for the staging was $40K and they did not do a breakdown of what that included. Was is a 3 mth rental, 6 month rental, etc.? Do you think that this show will help us in the long run?

Once again, I am concerned that this show may make clients with ordinary budgets feel that they cannot afford to hire a home stager for their property. I would love to hear what you all thought about it.

Thanks Phyllis Pafumi

Home is a place where memories are made, and children are born and raised. Home is where the HEART IS! So why would anyone want to change that when it is time to sell that home? Isn't this what makes buyers feel all warm and fuzzy??  NO!!!

As a Professional Home Staging Expert the FIRST THING I always recommend is to remove all the family photos.  It is time to take your HOME and turn it back into A HOUSE. A HOUSE THAT A REALTOR CAN SELL to a NEW FAMILY. These new families need to envision their lives in these homes and begin to imagine all the memories they will create in that house. Oftentimes, a seller's home is filled to the brim with so many family photos and memorabilia accumulated over the years that it can actually hinder a buyer from seeing THEIR HOUSE.

The following pictures are a perfect example of this. This is an older Victorian home I staged this week. It was beautiful, but a buyer's first impression upon entering the living room was what???

Family photos, as well as too much furniture. Did you notice the fireplace right away? What about the beautiful hardwood floors? Does this room seem large to you?

After decluttering, neutralizing and staging you now have a HOUSE that a BUYER CAN SEE! RESTYLED TO SELL HOME STAGING...changing the way buyer's view homes. Call today for your in home consultation at 732-995-3425

When staging a home for sale I always tell my clients to update their bathrooms with paint, new shower curtains and accessories. This can be achieved very easily and for a minimal cost, but the change is HUGE and one that will always appeal to buyers.

Too many times sellers think they need to update their fixtures because the color scheme of their sink or toilet is dated. This is especially true when you see the gray tiles or those lovely blue tiles that we all had at one time or another. 

I always try to impress upon my clients that while we may not be able to change the tiles and fixtures, we can always dress the room up to accentuate the colors and show buyers how they can live in the space until they can afford to replace it.

Here are two baths we just completed and the client GOT what I was trying to say. The first bath is a little difficult to see but it had a gray toilet and sink and gray tile on the floor. It would have cost too much for my client to replace all that, so I removed the wallpaper and painted the walls a warm toffee color, then dressed the room with plum and green accessories.

The second bath was an easier fix. Painting over peach colored faux finish walls and bringing in accessories that have warmer colors to them transformed the bath to a room more suited to adults.

Simple staging and redesign techniques that will prepare your home to sell does not have to cost you a fortune. 

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ will work within your budget to make your HOME THE STAR! Call today for your in home consultation @ 732-995-3425

NOTHING! Yes you heard right Don't Do NOTHING!! ANYTHING IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!

So often when meeting with clients they have had friends and neighbors over telling them things like their house is so lovely I am sure you will have no problem selling it. Your furniture looks great, your wallpaper is nice, the paint colors are warm, so on an so on.

So who do you believe when a home stager comes into the house and starts telling you to remove the wallpaper, paint the red walls, put away that settee sofa that is blocking the entrance into the dining room?

I hope it is your home stager, but often times sellers will listen to their well meaning friends and do nothing.

When selling your home it is important to realize that the way you have lived in your home for the past 10 or so years IS NOT how you should be showcasing your home when selling

So what small changes can you make??

1. Declutter - Help clients see your HOME and not your THINGS

2. Remove heavy draperies - Let the LIGHT IN. You will be surprised how bright and airy your home will fee

3. Hire the professional services of a cleaning company - People want to see clean bathrooms and kitchens

4. Move large pieces of furniture to storage or down the basement - Open space SELLS!

5. Call a professional home stager for an in -home consultation -  It is a small investment and you will receive a wealth of information

6. Plant some nice flowers and have the front entry landscaped and tidied up.

Too many times sellers feel that if they do nothing they can adjust their price accordingly and sell "as is". I think that selling those handiman specials years ago were great but in today's busy world, buyers  want  homes that need  minimal work and are  move in ready.

The other evening we had a consultation with the children of the parents estate. We immediately made small changes that completely opened up the rooms, some of which are listed above. The second sibling came over after the changes were made and could not believe it but when presented with a further "TO DO" list, she commented that she would just lower the price by $50K. When I asked why?, she mentioned she thought that the cost to do these improvements would equal that amount.

NOT TRUE! When we submitted our proposal it was under $3,500.00! Those changes for $3,500.00 would have made the home SO MUCH MORE DESIRABLE and the price range would NOT have to be lowered. Yet they chose to DO NOTHING!

Doing NOTHING in today's market when preparing your home to sell is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. Call ReStyled to Sell home staging NJ for your in home consultation at 732-995-3425. We do the work so you AND THE BUYERS don't have to!

There are many aspects to being a professional home stager. First and foremost you must have a good sense of design and spacial planning. You must be creative and thrifty, as most jobs are limited in budget. BUT FOREMOST...you must be a counselor to many!

Does this shock you?? Well let me give you a scenario to think about! You enter into someone else's space. A home they have created over the past several years filled with their likes and decorating style. It is filled with memories and decorative items that have been collected over the years. Items that have special meaning to them and their children.....Enter the home stager and what do we do?? WE TELL THEM TO GET RID OF IT ALL!!

I joke with my clients that when I begin my job they are going to hate me and by the time I am done they love me. Oh, they would never admit that they hate me but I have seen many tears over the years as I begin to declutter their space and remove their specially loved items.

SO WHY DO WE DO IT?? Because buyers are not coming to buy your STUFF, they need to see YOUR HOUSE! So we remove the distractions like busy wallpaper, dirty carpets and decorative items that hinder the buyer from seeing your HOUSE!

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging just finished a house that has sat on the market for 5 months now with no offers and very little seekers. When we were called in to view this property it was very clear to me the many problems that needed to be addressed. One was the clutter and wallpaper. I warned my client that the process was going to be tough and she kept reassuring me that she would be okay, which she was, but  only after she  was told by me to COMPLETELY LET GO and trust me and let me do my job.

I recall the night she called and begged me to change the paint color in the bathroom. I REFUSED and told her she needed to trust me and wait to see the final project. Once I completed the accessorizing she agreed and FINALLY GOT WHAT I WAS TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH.

So the finished project...HUGE SUCCESS, first Open House is today and we are expecting great results!

BEFORE  Lavendar and pink wallpaper screamed 1980's, while too many small accessories took away from the RELAXED atmosphere that buyers would be looking for in a great soaking tub like this one. The choice of color also washed out the decorative tile border

Now the Rich Taupe paint pulls out the accent tile color which was in GREAT SHAPE and warms the space. This was tough for the clients as they would  have NEVER chosen a color like this, but now they love it.

SO WILL BUYERS. The huge soaking tub seems so much more inviting now

If you are thinking of selling your home and would love to call on the professional services of a home stager, be READY TO LET GO and I MEAN REALLY LET GO and LET US DO OUR JOB...You'll be glad you did!

Call ReStyled to Sell home staging experts today @ 732-995-3425. Our team of professionals will transform your house into a home that buyers will LOVE!

I hear this time and time again....we should have staged sooner!! SO WHY ARE SELLERS WAITING? They are afraid of losing money. Well aren't you losing money when you reduce the price of your home??

Here is an email I just received from a client:

In today's market, so many sellers are concerned about the sale of their home so they are turning to their realtors for answers.  The realtors who are teaming up with a professional home stager are providing a valuable service to their clients and therefore  are doing all they could to help  them sell their home.  So will  home staging HELP SELL THE HOME??

ABSOLUTELY, BUT ONLY IF YOU DO THE FOLLOWING:

1. First you MUST LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS. Who are the experts? The realtor and the home stager that will be helping you prepare your home for sale. When working with a seasoned realtor and home stager, it is important to listen wisely to their suggestions as they have prepared many homes for sale with great success.

2. LET GO! It is time to relinquish over your home to the experts so they can turn it into a product that will appeal to a wider number of buyers. Remember buyers  want to see  THE HOUSE NOT YOUR  ITEMS.  So listen to us when we say, the antique teapot collection must be packed away.

3. REMOVE ALL WALLPAPER.  "Yuck, that could take forever and it is such a messy job". I hear this  from so many clients. Well guess what, if you don't want to do it why do you think a buyer will want to do it. Let us do the work so you don't have to. Laying out some money now can result in a higher offer.

4. Price the home accordingly! This is not 2004, things have changed as well as home prices. You can no longer get what you neighbor got for the same house 4 years ago. Again, trust the realtors numbers as they have done extensive comparatives in the neighborhood. They know what the realistics numbers are.

5. INVEST A LITTLE TO GAIN ALOT! Home Staging is not an expense, it is an investment and an investment that is sure to give a great return. Before you say no to the cost of staging your home, count the cost of what it would be to carry the home for 6 extra months. Most homes that we have staged are selling in under one month, even in this market. All clients have said it was money well spent.

6. When interviewing a realtor and a home stager, don't just choose based on commission and pricing alone. Remember the saying..you get what you pay for!  Ask how long the realtor and home stager have been in business.  What are their success rates? Ask for referrals. Ask to see the home stagers portfolio and client testimonials. Don't judge by their website as many home staging companies today can purchase websites that are professionaly "staged" and these stager have not even staged their first home. Do not be afraid to ask these questions.

7. Once you have made the decision to work with a qualified, professional home stager, let them DO THEIR JOB! At first you may disagree with  their furniture placement but I can assure you that there is a method to our madness. I just staged a home last week and I needed the client to empty his large cabinet so I could  move it to another location. He refused because he said it would not look good anywhere else. I told him it was my job to make sure that it did, but he refused to let me proceed with moving it as well as many other items. My hands were tied and the home did not look as good as I knew it could. LET US DO OUR JOBS! 

8. Don't be an HGTV staging graduate! I love all the design shows and unfortunately because of them EVERYONE THINKS THEY ARE STAGERS. Tomorrow I am re-staging a home that was apparently staged by the clients friends. All simple rules were broken but the worst and most dangerous one was that these "stagers" placed decorative material over a hanging light fixture in the hallway. HMMM! What if a realtor accidentally left that light on all  night, the material could have caught fire. Sure it looked pretty but BIG MISTAKE!

9. STAGE BEFORE YOU LIST! Don't wait until your home has become market worn. I have had too many clients call me after the home has been on the market 6 months or longer. There have already been many price reductions but most importantly is that too many buyers have viewed the property which amounted to many missed opportunities.

Houses are still selling and the ones that are priced right and show beautifully will be the first ones to sell!

Call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging today @ 732-995-3425 for your in home consultation, but before you do, prepare your heart so we can successfully prepare your home to sell!

For the first time in a long time I had the evening off and caught up on some TV. I watched a program called Peter Perfect. Has anyone ever seen it?? It was GREAT! Peter Perfect is a well known Salon Owner and Entrepeneur who is called upon to help struggling business owners achieve their goals.

As I watched I was amazed how closely this resembled what home stagers accomplish for their clients. First this gentleman was called into the business and met with much reservation by the struggling business owner. I laughed because he reminded me of myself.

Upon his arrival he would start to assess how the business storefront appears to the public...Hmmm, curb appeal to the buyer, right? Then he would enter the store and start to ask questions that is so reminiscent of the questions that a home stager would ask their client. He was working with a small business owner who made fabulous cakes and when he entered her taste tasting room he asked..."so what is this room suppose to be??"

She looked at him stunned because to her it was pretty obvious, but to him and quite frankly me and my husband, it was not.  As he went about the shop he started making reference to her wall colors, decor and  flow of the space. While the  shop owner was excited about taking her business to the next level, she was VERY RELUCTANT TO LET GO...hmmm, are you seeing the correlation here  with home staging? Oftentimes as he removed certain items that were sentimental to her, she cried.

He then told them they needed to close shop for 48 hours while he "performed his MAGIC". They were shocked , but reluctantly agreed. Isn't that what a home stager does? We need to take this house off the market, restyle and stage it and then re-list as a new listing, right?

My interest was peaked. The next thing he worked on was their personal appearance and when the shop owner returned to their shop they were COMPLETELY AMAZED at the total transformation of their space and wondered why they had not done this to their business years ago. I hear this from homeowners ALL THE TIME.

FEAR WAS THE ANSWER...FEAR OF CHANGE!! What was the SOLUTION?? LETTING GO AND LETTING HIM DO WHAT HE IS AN EXPERT IN AND WHAT THEY CALLED HIM TO DO IN THE FIRST PLACE.

Sellers, give up the fear and let go! Relinquish your home over to a professional home stager who will take your HOME and transform it into a HOUSE that is the perfect product for the realtor to SELL....and isn't that the only bottom line we want here???

GO FROM FOR SALE TO SOLD! ReStyled to Sell Home Staging, changing the way buyers view homes. Call us today for an in home consultation @ 732-995-3425. We will help you reorganize, restyle and stage your home to sell.

Here is an easy fix for that awful textured wallpaper. First you MUST have an EXCELLENT TEAM OF PAINTERS to pull this off. Upon my initial consultation, the realtor made sure to keep reminding me that SOMETHING had to be done with this bathroom. When I see wallpaper I most ALWAYS recommend removing it, but in some cases I suggest painting over it. The realtor FREAKED when I told her what my team was about to do and reminded me that on HGTV they suggest NEVER TO PAINT OVER TEXTURED WALLPAPER....but I JUST KNEW THIS WOULD LOOK AWESOME!

Here are the rules to follow if you are going to paint over wallpaper:

1. Make sure all seams are sealed and there are no curling edges anywhere

2. Have your painters spackle and sand out ALL SEAMS

3. PRIME WITH AN OIL BASED PRIMER TO SEAL IT

4. LET DRY and then check for any visible seams

5. Add your fresh coat of paint - In this case we used Beach Glass by Benjamin Moore

Here are the befores and afters!

AHHHH, Isn't that MUCH BETTER?? This was one of the Realtor's favorite rooms and  when the brown and blue combination of colors are added it now takes this outdated bathroom right into a place that buyers would love...all for a fraction of the cost of replacing the bathroom. It is the job of a home stager to transform your home into a showplace that buyers can envision themselves living in. IF THEY WANT TO REMODEL down the road, they certainly will not mind living in the newly transformed bathroom until they can afford a new one.

Call on the professional services of a home stager before you list your house to sell. ReStyled to Sell Home Staging, we do the work so you don't have to...call today for initial consultation at 732-995-3425, you'll be glad you did!