Photos provided by In The Details Home Staging and Redesign

One of the things you’ll run into when staging a resale home is that certain rooms will need furniture, even if the house is lived in. Often a dining room is being used as a playroom when there are young kids, or there’s a room that the owners never quite got around to decorating.

Sometimes I’ll rearrange items from different rooms to create the look I need using what they already have in new ways. At other times, all that’s missing is a single love seat or chair and the home sellers will borrow it from a friend or relative to keep their costs down. It just doesn’t make sense to rent a single item or three, because the cost of delivery and pickup would make it impractical.

However, where a whole room needs furniture, I generally select the rental items from a single supplier. Once these are being delivered (so the truck is paid for anyways), it’s economical to add other fill-in items for various rooms.

I discuss how all this works in courses 3 and 5 of the Staging Diva Home Staging Training Program. When you select a 5-course package, you save from $310 to $440 (depending on which package you choose), compared to ordering each item individually. Learn about home staging course package pricing here.

In the living room shown above, Staging Diva Graduate Melissa Goulet of In The Details Home Staging and Redesign (ON) took a hodgepodge of furniture and accessories from different rooms to showcase the room properly for potential buyers. Artwork, pre-made drapery panels, lamps and accessories complete the warm and inviting look. Notice how, contrary to popular belief, more furniture does not make the room look smaller!

These photos represent a good “before and after” pair for a staging portfolio because not only does the room show an obvious transformation, both photos are taken from the same angle. This makes it obvious to the viewer that it’s the same room, even at a glance. You’ll find many tips like this in the Staging Diva Ultimate Portfolio Guide.

Melissa took the bold step of leaving a family business to become a home stager.

She writes, “I had been hemming and hawing for the past 2 years about taking the plunge and leaving my job, all the while following the Staging Diva Program. Then 6 weeks ago, I finally did it and made the commitment to myself that I was going to do something I loved rather than a job I felt I was supposed to within a business run by my family. Boy that was a hard decision! The Staging Diva Program helped me understand the logistics and marketing end of running a staging business. Debra provides priceless information that would have taken me years to understand, thereby pushing me forward faster than I could have done on my own. Investing in the Staging Diva Program was not only an investment in my future but more so in MYSELF!”

It’s amazing how things shift once you make a decision and a commitment to use your gifts.

Melissa has already joined the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers so that potential clients can find her. In addition to a project referral we sent her way, I just finished her FREE company brochure because she joined the directory with an annual profile listing. Here’s what Melissa said when she received her new company brochure last week, “Oh wow, the brochure looks fabulous! I am very pleased with the look and how you arranged the content. Now I can incorporate it within my REALTOR packages. Thank you to the Staging Diva Team for all of the work that went into getting In The Details Home Staging and Redesign ready for the real world.”

> Learn how you can join the Staging Diva Directory of Home Stagers and get your own free company brochure!