The previous installment of this series proved the benefits of vacant staging and how it can turn a blah space into a livable place. But what do you do when you’re living in your home while it’s on the market and can’t move everything out? Don’t worry – you can still stage it! It’s called redesign staging, and it’s absolutely necessary to move your home quickly off the market.

Redesign staging is more than just trendy “decluttering.” Often, the way we live in our homes is not the way we should sell them. For instance, how many of us have converted dining rooms into offices, or dens into a guest room? When you’re selling, you have to consider what the intended purpose of each room was – something that’s hard to do when you’ve lived that way for years. That’s where a stager comes in. He or she will evaluate each room, and decide what’s the best way to market it. Most likely, if it’s meant to be a dining room, you’re going to have to live with it as a dining room while it’s on the market! Of course, your stager will do more than just redesign each room. Much of what your stager will do is pick out items for packing up and moving out. While it might seem like a pain to pack it up, you’re going to have to do it anyway when your house sells, so why not do it now?

So how does it work? After you find your stager, one of the first things you’ll want to discuss is whether there are items in the home which absolutely cannot be moved or removed. Even though it might seem like a huge inconvenience to move out the 40” TV or your transistor radio collection, I highly recommend giving your stager free range to move anything. Of course, if you have health needs or business equipment which must remain in place, let your stager know, and they’ll make it work. After you’ve had this discussion, your stager will come in and rearrange furniture, replace accessories, and probably completely transform your home. The rearrangement may be a little inconvenient, but hopefully you won’t be living there much longer! Also, while your house is on the market, you’re going to have to keep it in that “just-staged” condition – it’s a lot of work, but it will be worth it! If you just don’t have time to make sure everything’s perfect all the time, many stagers will come back and refresh the staging for an additional fee. Finally, if you’re short on decorative items, many stagers will bring in their own inventory and charge a monthly rental fee. By the time your stager is finished, you might just be having second thoughts about moving out!

Here are some examples of Solstice Staging’s redesign staging.

Kids’ room before:

Kids’ room after, using staging accessories and owners’ furniture/toys:

Living room before - an example of the dining area being in the wrong place:

Living room after - dining area relocated to be closer to kitchen:

Office area before - functional for living, but no fun for showing:

Office area after - neatness, along with accessories, will pay off:

Living room before - too much stuff, all in the wrong places:

Living room after - look how big it is!

Tags: Real estate
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