Occupied home? Here’s how to stage your home and sell it faster

Hey there home sellers
if you are trying to sell your home
while you’re still living in it
you might be wondering well
how do I stage it without moving everything out
well in today’s video
I’m gonna share with you a client’s home
where I helped them stage it
while they were living in it
now it could be simple things
like moving the furniture around
changing the artwork changing the bedding
but it’s simple things that make a big difference
so let’s jump into this video
so you can see all the before and afters
hey there welcome back home sellers
now I’m really excited to share with you this home
with the before and after
before and after pictures
excuse me
about what we did to make this house more appealing
now before we get into these um
these pictures
I really wanna share that this house when we staged it
did take us a couple of days to do this
it wasn’t an overnight thing
it’s not like you see on TV
where it happens in a couple of hours
this was something
that the client and I worked together on
to get this house look fantastic for pictures
because here’s what happened
the end result is probably what you’re looking for
and that is it got sold
within 8 hours of these pictures getting posted yeah
eight hours I know
some of you just dream
of something like that to happen right
you’re like if I could sell it that quick what can I do
what does it take right
so that’s where I wanna share with you
some of the key takeaways
for a successful staging of an occupied home
because there are gonna be things that
you need to do as a home seller okay
and I am so grateful to this one client
where she basically just rolled up her sleeves
she was like yeah
let’s go what do we need to do
I need to get this house sold
cause I wanna move into the next house
I’m like okay
let’s go so
when you are that ready to be willing to make changes
that’s one of the important things okay
so one of the things that was really successful
in making this happen
while the homeowner was living in the home
these are the key things to take away basically
the client was willing to make changes
if you’re open to suggestions
you’re ready to work
that’s really important to know that
this is helping you and the stager work together okay
that’s how I work with homeowners
some home stagers prefer just the homeowner to leave
and they have a crew that comes in and
and does everything for you
I prefer work
working with the homeowner so that we can
I can explain to them hey
we’re gonna move this here
we’re gonna put this here
and this is why and then we work together that way okay
so that they were willing to make changes
the next thing was that this one she
this client was already painting
so she was painting
actually the cabinets in her kitchen
but was willing to make those changes
and already was like okay
let’s go we need to get this done right
so that enthusiasm is a big deal right
she was ready to rearrange furniture with me
so while I may not be able to do it physically with you
if we’re doing an online consultation
you’re already moving things around like oh
let’s take this chair out
oh let’s take this
you know nightstand out
whatever it is a table
a chair whatever it is
that you’re ready to rearrange the furniture with me
another thing that we definitely keep in mind
is that we had to buy a few key pieces
when it came time to stage this house
and I’ll show you that
and talk about that when I go through the photos
we did rent some items
there were some things that she didn’t have
and we’re like hmm
we really need to get these pieces
it was things like artwork that she didn’t have
or it was throw pillows um
we had some that we could get
so and all again
I’ll show you those in the pictures when we get there
and then finally
she wanted to donate items that she no longer wanted
because we said okay
I went to one room said okay
this really needs to be taken out and removed
and she’s like you know what
I don’t want that anyway
it’s not going to the next house
so she’s already stuck it in the garage
waiting for the donation truck to show up
so all of those things were really
important to make sure that this was a successful
staging of an occupied home okay
so before we get into the um before and after pictures
if this is something that excites you
that you wanna work on
I have this free guide called the
how to Start staging your house now guide
now this is great
for those of you who just want to get started okay
maybe you just don’t know
and you just need some guidance
take a look at this
download this free guide and it’ll get you started
so let’s get into the slides OK
so the we’re gonna start with the living room
because we know that the living room is one of the
important rooms
when it comes time to staging your house
now I’m gonna show you before
and then I’m gonna go and
explain what’s wrong with the picture
and what we did afterwards
so starting with the before
this is the living room that we at I walked into
so as you can see
there’s a couple of things going on here
there’s this bed looking over here
there’s some doggy toys
this is actually the doggy bed basically
um and there’s some other toys
there’s extra furniture in here
there’s extra stuff you know
there’s this extra couch here in front of the TV
a table so
a lot of the things we’ve kind of just moved around
or mostly removed
and then kind of changed a few things
so let me explain um
and you’ll see some of the things that I moved in here
you’ll see from other rooms
when I go into the dining room
that were moved into this room
so let me show you the
after this is what we did as a final picture
so we brought brought
we took out the doggy bed and the doggy toys okay
um we brought in these bookshelves that were in
another room okay
they uh
they were actually in the dining room
yeah bookshelves in the dining room
I know you’ll see it
I promise you I’ll share that with you
um we got this plant that she had over here
we took out this couch that was right here
you see that um
we left this chair and this um
coffee table and kind of arranged it better
just took out some extra things
we changed out the um
the picture on the wall here
but basically we kind of made
want to make it focused more on the focal point
which is the fireplace okay
so let me show you another view of the living room
from a different angle okay
so this is the other end
and these pictures are kind of dark
I know I’m sorry
I apologize
but I didn’t have the greatest camera at the time
when I took these pictures um
but as you can tell
it looks kind of dark and that’s not the
the appearance that you want to show buyers
when they’re looking for your pictures online okay
you’ll want them to be nice and bright and airy
so basically again you can see the doggy bed here
the toys there’s just extra stuff in here
and so
we kind of move things around and change things out
and so like I said so we opened up the curtains right
that’s one of the major things that you can easily do
such a uh
thing that you can easily do in your house to stage it
is to just bring in the light
and again this is now an easily walkable room
you walk right through have a seat
have a conversation or watch the TV okay
so let me show you
the final picture of what the photographer took
for the real estate photos
that just made me go wow
wow yes
what a difference this is now a staged room
we actually got these um pillows
um I think we rented out these pillows
we had those um in a stack and so it brings out the red
orange kind of color in that room
so the door is red the um
the pillows are red
there’s a picture here that’s red so it
it gets your eye moving in those directions
and looking at and going
oh wow this is all great you know
works great all together okay
so that’s the living room alright
let’s move on to the next room
this is the primary bedroom okay
so again master bedroom
primary bedroom whatever you wanna shit call it
but this one needed some staging help as well
so this is what I worked with we had this big bed
we had some clutter which you know
if you’re a home seller you realize oh yeah
we need to clean that up yep yep yep um
the bedding was okay we there was this light here on
they were actually renovating
the bathroom
and changing out the light fixture in that bathroom
cause it was an older one
so that’s what
that part of the renovation was going on in that house
so again
the homeowner was willing to make changes right
um and a light fixture is not that expensive
when it comes down to actually just
updating a few things okay
um so let me share with you
what we ended up doing here
is we ended up getting some artwork
because there’s nothing really here to
you know
grab your attention here when you walk into this room
so there’s some extra photos on here in the clutter
so we got rid of that
and this is what the room ended up looking like
so we did get new bedding um
this is kind of what you would call a bedding in a bag
and what we did here was
while it’s a little busy for my taste
what I would you know thinking back now going yeah
we could have done a more solid color
but actually
because the walls are kind of a beige color there
and the um
everything else is kind of a solid color
giving something with a little bit of pattern
is perfectly fine um
and we did add some artwork
we got these lamps um that we rented again
these are just basics doesn’t have to be fancy okay
lamps as long as they’re the same height
they sometimes they can match
I know some people don’t have matching lamps
and that’s perfectly fine
as long as they’re the same color right
um and so to nightstands
we took the clutter off the nightstands
added a piece of artwork and changed the bedding
and now it looks nice and clean and inviting
and that’s what we’re just trying to do
we know that this furniture is not
staying with the house
but you can show off and say hey
there’s a queen size bed in here
I can fit that in here and you can imagine yourselves
living in here with your furniture because
you know it fits right
yeah alright
so you’re liking what you see so far
okay these are just some of the tips that you can get
from my free guide
and you could do the same thing that I’m talking about
in just the two rooms that you’ve seen right
it’s a 10 page document for my
how to start staging your house now guide
okay we’ve got four sections
we talk about how to influence home buyers
starting a plan on how to schedule things out
best home improvements that you can do
to work on your home and 10 home staging tips
so that way you save time and do things that
that matter the most so
download the staging guide
if you want to get started on staging your house now
alright so let’s move on to the dining room
if you have a dining room
most houses do
maybe you have a smaller one and you don’t
but I do have an eating kitchen
and I’ll show you that as well
so this is what the dining room look like before
Yowza wow
yes so
remember those bookcases that were in that living room
in that previous picture yeah
that’s where these bookcases came from
actually these two we moved these out
uh I believe she just put them in the garage
and basically sold them got rid of them
donated something but all of these pots
um we’re basically from the kitchen
when she was painting the cabinets
so
she had to take everything out of the kitchen cabinets
and put them somewhere so while the paint was drying
this is what was in the dining room
but there were a couple of things that we needed to do
in this dining room to make it look like a dining room
okay so first of all
we definitely took out the bookcases okay
now some people may think
oh well
I don’t use it as dining room
okay fine
but if you have one
you want to show it off as the room as it is now
maybe you use it as something else
that’s a possibility uh
maybe an office maybe um
but if you don’t have an eating area
you need to show off the dining room okay
and it was something simple that we did that
once we moved out these bookcases
let me show you what it looked like afterwards
wow yes
same dining room table same chairs
this credenza still there
I basically just found some accessories to put in here
we got some artwork she had this plant from somewhere
um more artwork
but basically just show off the room okay
we’re basically you know
putting a little runner with some candles
something simple it doesn’t have to be elaborate
it could be just a decorative bowl
you know or fresh flowers
something like that just show off
look there’s a dining room here
a family can sit here and enjoy dinner together
I know that’s an old fashioned thing to think of
I know cause some people just don’t do that
I understand I know some
are you gonna argue with me
I get it I know
I know but if you have a dining room
you need to show it off as the dining room okay
so this is how a simple thing again
simple yes
but it does take time
it took us some time to move these bookcases
into the other room
it took us a few hours to get things shuffled around
and move things out okay
a lot of things the homeowners did when her um
spouse or children came home
adult children um
to help her move things around too
so it’s not like you have to do everything on your own
um but you can definitely see that yes
you had the major parts and pieces that you needed
for the dining room
you just had to make it look more like a dining room
alright so I did have an eating kitchen
I wanna share with you as well um
if you have a small space like this
like she has she had this table with some chairs
this big bookcase obviously just some extra clutter um
just simple things that you can easily
remove from the room when you’re staging your house
okay so what we ended up doing is
because this is just kind of extra
this really didn’t do anything
um it actually kind of made it seem like there wasn’t
enough storage
so she needed this bookcase here and she really didn’t
it was just excess right so what I told her was like
okay we’re just gonna move it out
we’re gonna put it in the garage
we’re gonna take it out
cause physically just needs to get out of the house
and normally the garage is a great staging area
if you are looking to donate things
this is how I work when it comes to staging a house
if I don’t need it in the house
it’s going out in the garage meaning it’s being sold
it’s being donated it’s being thrown out
whatever it is I just want it out of the house
once I put it in the garage
then I know okay
I’m calling a donation truck or I’m getting my own
if I have a pickup truck you know
we’re just calling things out of the house
if you don’t need it
or maybe you do need it for the next house
but you’re just neatly putting it in the garage okay
same thing with boxes if you have boxes
I’ve had clients even myself
if I had boxes that I packed away
of things that I don’t need in the house
I would neatly stack them in the garage
and put them off to the side
no big deal it doesn’t bother the buyers and plus
most of the time
there aren’t pictures taken of a garage
when you’re looking at a house online right
sometimes you will but not always
so let me share with you the eating kitchen afterwards
sorry I kind of went off on Tangent there haha
but anyway so yeah
so basically we just kind of turn this table around
see how the the um is a actually longer table
we just flipped it around
there’s a bench over here
so you can have extra seating
not just these two chairs and then we just put a nice
you know piece of artwork on there and got rid of that
look how big that Eden Kitchen looks
that you can now feed a family of four
if you wanted to add another chair if you wanted to
and it’s a great space to grab a bowl of cereal right
that’s what we’re trying to show
we’re trying to show how you can use that space
alright so this is another bedroom
not the master but like the kids room right
so this is the kids room
and I know you’re probably cringing going
oh my God my kids room yeah
I know I know whether they’re young
older grown
whatever but you have another bedroom to use
please make sure that it looks like a bedroom
this one had 2 beds in it which is fine
you can do that um
because this is a fairly big room
I just left the two beds in there
um but some of the artwork wasn’t quite appropriate
like this one right here
there’s some extra stuff on the bed
um so basically what we did was kind of a simple change
same bedding same white covers
we just kind of made it more look like a boy’s room
that’s it and we just added some blue with a blanket
here’s another um comforter that was there
we added you know some lovies and that’s it
nothing major if I would have had another picture
I would have put another one here
we didn’t it’s no big deal but you can see that oh
these are twin beds I can fit twin beds in here
that’s the
idea that you’re trying to get across to home buyers
when they walk into the room and go
oh well we have twins or you know what
this could be a great guest room
when we have grandma and grandpa come over
or whoever or cousins or something like that right
this is just what we’re just trying to show off
how the room can be used how to arrange the furniture
what it can be used as okay
so let’s move on to the back patio
so in this one
now this can be kinda tricky depending on your home
if you have a patio
maybe you don’t have a very big one
but you have something out there right
and so this one was a covered screened in
partially screened in type of porch
and she had some random pieces
you know some tall tables here
um
a rug and some chairs and the barbecue and I was like
we could arrange this differently
we could make this look a little more appealing
they had this nice great you know
other separate shed garage back here that I’m like
oh wow this is really cute this is useful right
people wanna see oh
there’s another garage back there oh great you know
maybe it’s gonna be a workshop for you know the spouse
you know or maybe it’s just gonna be you know
another a hobby garage type thing whatever it is okay
so what we ended up doing is we just
ended up just moving things around
and see these two tables
all I did was I pushed them together
put them together and cover them up with a tablecloth
to make it look like one big
long table and put the chairs all around it
move the barbecue over so
you can see
and enjoy the space that you have out there
on the back patio simple
nothing major nothing was bought for this
this was already things that the homeowner had
we just simply rearrange things around okay
curb appeal
so now this one when it comes to curb appeal
this is the first thing that home buyers see right
you want it to make sure
and make a great first impression
you don’t want to scare them away
you don’t want to put things
have things out there that are like
oh well
this is kind of a mess this needs a lot of work
you don’t want them thinking that way okay
so here’s the the front porch
they had a really nice covered porch here um
but it was just kind of just a chair thrown here
some pillows thrown there
some extra plants
and extra bowls and things that you’re like
okay
we just need to kind of clean things up a little bit
again didn’t cost any money
it was just simply arranging things around okay
so let me show you what we did here was
we basically found matching chairs
there’s a third one over here which was not here um
got rid of this one um
and just arrange things got rid of extra plants here
you want them to see in um
what’s on this porch
so by blocking this view with this planter here
that that doesn’t help
so you wanna kind of make it separate levels
like this is one level with the flower bed
this is another level here with the chairs
and so you can enjoy the view
as you’re looking out from your porch
out onto your yard okay
so again
curb appeal does make a difference when people walk in
cause
they’re gonna be walking in through this front door
right here and they’re gonna walk into the living room
and the rest of the home so you want them to go
oh well
I could see myself sitting out here
drinking some lemonade or iced tea or whatever it is
or enjoying you know
watching the kids play in the front yard
that’s the idea that we’re trying to get here
so like I said a lot of these changes were
some of the things were more simpler than others
some of you just maybe give you some idea of what to do
because you may have run out of ideas
and you’re just thinking well
I’m not that creative Kasha
like I know
but if you see examples like this and you’re like
oh well yeah
I can do that I can totally move those things around
yes yes
you can you as a home seller
have a vested interest in getting your house sold
but just by changing a few things around
and with my guide
you can totally do that because it is free
you can start working on things now
so you know exactly what you need to do
so I hope this has given you
some things to think about on
how to sage your house while you’re living in it
and if you like this video
I would appreciate it if you could like
comment or subscribe to my channel
so you can get more home staging tips
to help you sell your home faster
I hope you guys have a fantastic week
and we’ll talk to you later bye