We recently had the opportunity of showcasing our home staging work on a local New York City news channel, Fox 5 NY. The news segment highlighted how you present a home for an open house and a real estate listing can make a huge difference in its sales price. Come along behind-the-scenes to discover why I chose this furniture set-up, see the transformation, shop the look and my technique for working on a video shoot.
Let me start from the beginning, this segment didn’t happen overnight. In fact, there were a lot of moving parts similar to when a property is being staged that needed to be orchestrated by the Good Day New York show’s producer, Donielle Battista-Stanton, and myself. [Side note: I used to work with Donielle at WCBS-NY on the local morning news show years ago.]
Donielle dealt with finding a location, researching interviewees, and scheduling her team to interview and film the segment, while I had to source the material and design the space off this photograph. Yes, I said that correctly, I never stepped foot into this home until staging day — it was completely designed from this:
Needless to say, everything had to go! This was the formal living room of a home in Scarsdale, New York, on the market for $699,000. The way this room was currently being showcased did not reflect the sales price or the neighborhood’s buyer demographic and lifestyle.
The video shoot took 2 days to film. On day 1, Fox 5 News Reporter Alison Morris and her team met with me at the rental furniture company to discuss the furniture style.
Rental furniture was key to updating and implementing a sophisticated look in this room. I turned to CORT Furniture in Midtown Manhattan to help source furniture from their signature line and handle the logistics of the move.
I chose neutral, traditional pieces that offered modern touches. Since this was a formal living room, I wanted to play with a classic style and arrangement, but use new materials with trendy accents like clean lines, a lucite acrylic base, matte black finishes, mixed metals and a hint of blush.
The next day, we met the Fox 5 NY news team at the Scarsdale home to start staging. The empty living room was a great space, with a picture window, fireplace, and built-in wall units. It was important to arrange the furniture to compliment, not compete with, those features. Click here or on the image below to watch the entire transformation.
The set up took about 4 hours to complete because we had to take the time to videotape each piece. The videographer had to shoot the empty room from every angle, then us touring the room empty. Next he shot us bringing the furniture and accessories into the room and of course, setting everything up for the final reveal.
When being the subject of a video shoot have a few short sentences on hand as talking points. Speak up and pay attention to your facial expressions. You also want to make sure to overact, for instance, rather than tell the moving men where a piece of furniture goes, show them by using hand gestures and pointing to the position. It’s also important to have a plan in place, especially when setting up a scenes.
One major issue in this room was that the focal point, the fireplace, had outdated tile around its exterior. So, rather then have the mauve shade around the fireplace stick out, I worked with its lighter hue blush in the artwork over the fireplace and the throw pillows on the couch to create a cohesive look.
I also chose most of the accessories from Pier 1 Imports, from vases to faux plants, we looked for neutral accessories in varying heights, metals and organic materials. You can shop the look below (click on any of the images):
I want to thank the Fox 5 NY news team, including Donielle who understood the value of staging and advocated for the segment and Alison who did an amazing job reporting the piece. If you have a home staging or decorating question, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Want us to help you stage your home? If you’re in the New York City area schedule a consultation today or we can help you online with the world’s first home staging video course for sellers. Click here for more details and to sign up for our FREE 3-part video series.
Happy Selling,
