One of the key things to consider when selling a house is the "staging" of the home. Essentially, the goal is present your home in an attractive, spacious way so that the buyers can picture themselves in your space. If your home is full of personal photographs or nick nacks or decor pieces and appears cluttered, it is difficult for the buyer to see past those things to see the "bones" of the house. Conversely, if the home is practically empty, the home does not appear inviting and the buyer has a hard time visualizing how to best use the space. It's a delicate balance sometimes!

After several years of staging mountain homes for sale that my husband built in Leavenworth, I was hired by a Realtor to stage a cabin in the Ponderosa development. This particular cabin had been previously listed by another real estate agency for about a year, and had not sold. When our Realtor friend contacted me, it was pretty easy to see why it was still on the market. Though it was furnished, the furnishings did nothing to enhance the rustic cabin vibe that most buyers of a cabin in the mountains are looking for.

Fortunately, we had some cabin furnishings in storage from the sale of our mountain home the previous year, so my friend, Pam, and I went to work...and I do mean work! We moved some of the existing furniture out, and moved our furnishings in...then did some "staging" with a few decor items. Here's some before shots...

We removed old shower curtains, outdated and worn bedding and towels, an old TV set, the old sectional sofa, a rattan chair...and then replaced most of those items, along with decorative things. Here are the after shots...

This cabin had an offer in 20 days and the sale closed shortly thereafter. What a difference staging can make in bringing in a solid buyer withing a short time! Staging is so rewarding and actually fun because it's such a quick transformation. The staging in this cabin was fairly extensive...often we just remove some furniture...or move furniture...or shift it to another room and do some decluttering...and then add a little decor and give a suggestions list.

If any of you are thinking about selling and need some staging, let me know. We would love to help sell your home! It's amazing what a fresh view of your home can do...you may even decide to stay...like the HGTV show "Love it or List it"! You never know :).