Phyllis's Blog

I always tell my clients that we are STAGING their home to sell, not DECORATING their home to live. So what is my purpose as a home stager? It is my job to present that home in it's best light. We want to show a buyer how they can live with that dated kitchen or bath for a year until they can afford to replace it with the kitchen or bath of their dreams. That's the buyers job, not the stager's or sellers job. WHY?? Because everyone's taste are different.

So for a dated kitchen, try painting the cabinets. Be sure you have the proper tools and correct paint. I use an oil based sealing primer by Benjamin Moore and then topcoat with a latex paint. In this kitchen we used Almond and put on new brushed nickel knobs. We did not change the countertops. The transformation is pretty amazing...

BEFORE the kitchen appears dated, dark and tired. 

Now it appears to be a brand new  space filled with light. The cost for this room was approximately $500.00.

RESTYLED TO SELL HOME STAGING is changing the way buyer's  view homes. Call today for your in home consultation at 732-995-3425.

When sellers listen to their stager and their real estate agent their house will SELL and sometimes for over asking, even in today's market. Here is a blog that was written by the manager of Gloria Nilson in Middletown, NJ. I am that Stager and here are the pics of the house that sold for over asking.

SELLING A HOME.  They say that every Realtor should sell their home to be more empathetic to what their clients go through. 

I thought my home showed OK.  That was until I had a few so called friends come over and tear my home apart. Truthfully, I prefer these friends to the ones that tell you that your house looks fine when they don't mean it, just so they do not hurt their friends feelings. The 2008 Real Estate market is no time for wimps. 

Recently, one of our listings was Staged to Sell by Phyllis Pafumi of ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ.   The seller hired the stager through the advice of their listing agent, Jayne Camlin.  The stager moved existing furniture around the house to make it more appealing. I might add the price of the staging was most reasonable.

Result? Multiple bids over asking price. Pinch me is it really 2008? Feels more like the mid 80's when we could put a home on the market decorated in early  "Adams Family" and it would sell before we got back to the office from the listing appointment.  There was little inventory then.  Conversely, today we have builders begging us to visit, seller concessions everywhere and an abundance of unsold inventory in mls.  

MULTIPLE BIDS! WOW!

Since I am thinking of selling, I figured this sounded great to me.I hired the same stager and off to work I went. I think my china pattern might have been "in" in the late 70's? (Mauve Mikassa- I think)  Pack the old china,  it looks old and ugly to the buyers today. My furniture got moved all around. Crazy things like placing the furniture at weird angles, taking just about everything out of the bathrooms, removing two chairs from each table.  I cannot believe the difference!  

My "Staging Professional" just E-Mailed me with some new tips. It is almost 1 AM and apparently she is as passionate (and nuts) about her business as I am about Real Estate. I am surprised she is still up because this afternoon, she completely organized my basement in addition to finishing the staging.

I would highly recommend this type of service to anyone thinking of selling a home.  My house looks awesome I know it will sell if I see something I'd like to buy.

 .... I just can't find my toothbrush.  

Karen Blackbourn
Broker/Sales Representative
Gloria Nilson GMAC Real Estate
Middletown Branch
350 Highway 35 P.O. Box 214Middletown, NJ 07748
Office:  732-747-5600

The furniture placement in this room was difficult because of the placement of baby grand piano. There was also no formal dining room. We painted, removed carpeting, added draperies and the floors were refinished......

What a great space to entertain!

The dining room  before A new chandelier, curtains and a server and a nicely set table now set the stage for a formal dining space.

Family Room Before

New Carpeting and furniture rearrangement made the room more welcoming.

This home was located in Morganville, NJ and the agent on this listing was Jayne Camlin of Gloria Nilson in Middletown, NJ. Jayne is also a member of Active Rain. We have been working together for about a year and in the past month every listing she has had that I staged has SOLD within the first week. Jayne is an excellent agent and a pleasure to work with. This week we stage two more and we are hoping for the same excellent results.

If you are thinking of selling your home call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging @ 732-995-3425 for an in home consultation.   

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ specializes in "RESTYLING" your furniture and accessories to bring your rooms to life. We believe that clients are there to purchase your HOME not your THINGS, so making your home the star is what we do best.  

As a professional Home Stager it is my job to create that environment in the home that will make a buyer feel welcomed and relaxed when they view your home. One  such room is the  master bedroom. Does your master bedroom feel relaxed? Do you have an environment that is clutter free and calming?

If not then why would a buyer feel like retreating to this room at the end of their hard day? Sometimes simple furniture rearrangement is the key to creating a whole new space. With the addition of some well placed accessories and window treatments your bedroom can go from chaotic to CALMING....

In this master bedroom the bed was NOT the focal point of the room. It was tucked into an alcove on the opposite side of the room. WHY? Because the clients did not know what to do with the oddly placed window. A simple solution was this....

Adding white curtains to all the windows, including the one behind the bed, now creates a calm atmosphere that will make anyone want to retreat to this room at night. White bedding and some colorful shams accentuate the calming blue on the walls as well. BUT NOW the master bedroom sets the stage for the master bathroom...These two rooms  now make sense and any buyer would be happy to call this place HOME...ReStyled to Sell Home Staging....changing the way buyers view homes.

Call today for an in home consultation at 732-995-3425, you'll be glad you did.

To all my clients I cannot stress this point enough...keep the main thing, the main thing. What do I mean by that?  Take a look at the next picture and you will see.....

A buyer's first impression of your house can make or break a deal. So what is this room? Well, it is SUPPOSE to be the living room, but the homeowner had it set up as his office. When I was called in for my consultation the realtor thought we would need to rent a living room set to replace the office furniture. Upon careful review of the other rooms, here is what I found in his sunroom..

The homeowner had these white leather couches and tables in his sunroom, which were way too heavy for the space. We simply swamped the two rooms and now when you enter the house you see the living room as it was meant to be. We then put the antique desk in the sunroom, added some nice plants and a large bench for seating. His sunroom now became his office, an office that anyone would love to work in.

Sellers, when selling your home, each room must be defined. Please don't set up your office in the main living room or dining room. Always keep the main thing, the main thing, it will help sell your home....

Call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ today for an in home consultation @ 732-995-3425.

Sellers today are finding it difficult to deal with the real estate market. They already are dealing with price reductions and many days on the market. Yet, the buzz is out....in order to sell you need to have your home STAGED. So what options are open to the sellers?

As a professional home stager I will outline a detailed report of all the items that I see that must be addressed. Will the seller agree to do everything? NOT ALWAYS! So how do we work within a budget that will help them? Here is a small window seat and bookcase in a client's family room/kitchen area.

My first recommendation was to paint the green walls a neutral color. The countertops were granite but as you can see they are a pretty odd shade of green, so downplaying all the green needed to be done. Then I wanted to draw your attention to the window seat and bookcase. So what can a stager do on a budget?

Anything we need to in order to help you make the most of your home. If you have not considered the services of a professional home stager, I would highly recommend that  you make that call.

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging NJ will work within your budget. Call today for an in home consultation @ 732-995-3425 

I have seen a common thread in the real estate market today.....STAGING! That seems odd that as a home stager I would say that but it does seem that sellers and their agents are realizing they CANNOT LIST THEIR PROPERTY today without having it STAGED!

So are you considering listing without following the advice of a Home Stager? Please do not do that! Competition is fierce and price reductions seem to be a common theme in today's competitive market, but I can honestly tell you that in the last month, ReStyled to Sell Home Staging has been staging every day and the clients that are doing what they need to do ARE SELLING!

I had one house in Morganville, NJ. We painted, installed new light fixtures, had hardwood flooring redone, and then new carpeting installed in other rooms. THE RESULTS....Eight contracts the first 4 days and the property sold for $36K over asking. Unheard of in today's market? Not really! ReStyled to Sell staged another listing in Fanwood, NJ and at the Open House they received 3 offers and SOLD for $6K over asking. As a professional Home Stager it is my job to get the property not only in top condition but to make sense of your rooms. Furniture placement and color is huge when selling your home. A buyer needs to have each room defined. Don't attempt this without the professional services of a home stager. We are specifically trained in this and every time I stage a home the clients tell me that they would have NEVER come up with that furniture arrangement and now their house looks so much bigger.

Do you need to Stage in order to sell this Spring? Absolutely! Please take the advice of your agent and work with a reputable Home Staging Professional to help you sort out the problem areas in your home. As in many other circumstances, you need to spend money in order to make money. Gone are the days when you could put your house on the market and label it "handyman special" and sell within a week.

People today are busy and they don't have the time to spend fixing up a home. They want to move right in. Take the time to work with a Professional Home Staging company that has their own team of contractors. ReStyled to Sell has at team of professional contractors that can accomplish all the tasks at hand within a 2 week time frame. This helps you list your home in record time.

So I ask you again....HAVE YOU STAGED? If not, please call ReStyled to Sell Home Staging of NJ @ 732-995-3425 to set up your initial consultation, you will be glad you did!

ReStyled to Sell Home Staging....we're in the business of helping sellers MOVE ON!   

Every home and every room can be improved with the professional services of a home stager. But as you can see in these 3 rooms, they each presented some unique challenges. My first bedroom came with built ins along the whole back wall. While the possibility of removing them was not a practical solution I decided to play them up and show them off. We took a bland room and by adding color to enhance the color in the built ins this room went from confusing to a room that any boy would love to call his own.

BEFORE the room lacked warmth and the built in end tables were not being utilized.

AFTER we now display the owner's antique car collection and place lamps in the built in area to show buyers how they can utilize this space. A flat sheet was used as the dust ruffle which matched the paint and pilow case

My next room had wallpaper that could not be removed or painted over. Again by rearranging the space and adding accessories that matched the color scheme we created a welcoming room.

 BEFORE not only is the wallpaper distracting but the bedding certainly does not match. An easy fix for this bedding...

Flip it upside down...now isn't that better? Again a flat sheet was used as the dust ruffle, keeping the pallet soft and inviting.

This next room was a challenge and while the change many not be so dramatic, you will see that removing the movie marquee was an absolute necessity. What was with that anyway? Okay I had to keep the molding and the curtains because they were permanently affixed to the wall. So here is what we did. 

BEFORE What is the room suppose to be used for?

We removed the marquee, spackled the wall and painted a soft shade of Antique Lace by Benjamin Moore. Then we painted out the green stripe that went all around the room. I matched the bedding to the valance as best as I could and at least a buyer could see this as a bedroom.

So with a few simple changes every room can be transformed from challenging to welcoming. ReStyled to Sell Home Staging changing the way buyers view homes.