The difference between decorating or designing a home or room and staging it is that in staging you primarily work with what is already there (unless the home is vacant and you bring in furniture) and make it as pleasing to the eye as you possibly can.

This often means eliminating some of their things (clutter, mismatched furniture, too large furniture, outdated decor) and bringing in new things to freshen things up a bit and add new life to an old space.

Most of the time, you have the opportunity to preview a home before bringing things in so that you know what to bring from your inventory that will best work with the current furniture/paint colors/decorative pieces.

For most of the jobs that I’ve done in the past three weeks, I have had to go in blind, with no idea of what the house looks like, what colors are prevalent and the style/taste of that particular client.

A little terrifying, yes.

But there is something magical that happens when the things I happen to unwittingly bring or purchase blend with the homeowners own belongings.  This is when I do my happy dance, and my creative self breaks into an operatic  ‘Aaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!”

Today was such a day.

This woman’s wall colors could not have been more spot on with everything I brought/bought to stage her home.

I won’t bore you will all the before and after pictures, but here a just a few that show that a few simple changes can transform a room right before your eyes.

These are the bedroom before and afters:

The living areas were just as dramatic and just as fun to watch come to life.

And now, little house, go to market and sell, sell, sell!