Staging a House

2008 - 2012 Recommendations

House Stager

• Nov 2010

  Can someone recommend a experienced stager for a $1,000,000+ home in the East Bay? Thanks

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  We used Gary Faber at Nurture Source Design. He is amazing. He has a great sense of what needs to be done in order to appeal to as many people as possible. He can recommend color, design (interior & exterior), provide staging furniture and manage the entire project. He is super easy to work with. We used him in Jan '10 and our house sold in under two weeks. His number is 510 868 1021. We actually just used him again to recommend color & design ideas on our new house. Would use Gary again!

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  Decorator/Stager recommendations wanted

  Sept 2010

  We are thinking about giving our kitchen and furnishings an upgrade, but we're not sure how long we'll be living in this house. I'd like to find a decorator who also does staging for home sale who can help us on several counts - 1) I'd like to find furniture that will work in our living room but which is neutral enough to work if we move again, and 2) I'd like to do some cosmetic upgrades in the kitchen, including changing the the flooring and counters, and possibly building another cabinet which won't clash with the existing cabinetry. Can anyone recommend an interior decorator who can help us to upgrade without breaking the budget or scaring off potential future buyers with our own questionable taste? We definitely need someone who has contacts among the cabinet-makers and handymen of the east bay and who can recommend people to actually do some fix-it work as well. BerkeleyMom

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  Real estate stager Kim Pierce 912-4686 is also available to help with home decorating decisions, paint colors, furniture placement, etc. She is very easy to work with. I've used her and highly recommend her. Heidi

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  If you are looking for a wonderful stager and home decorator, then contact Jacqueline Brown at 510-541-8764. I'm a Realtor at Highland Partners, Prudential California Realty and she has staged some amazing homes for us and understands the difference between staging for prospective buyers and decorating for your own personal tastes. Mary

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  I would like to recommend Natalie Lynch, Realtor and professional stager. She staged and sold my friends' house and it looked amazing! She is also our real state agent and we are very happy with her. She is very knowledgeable and has excellent contacts. here is her info: Natalie Lynch, Realtor @ all East Bay Properties 510 393-4488 (cell) Sole proprietor of Casa di Vita Staging www.casadivita.com Liliana

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  East Bay Stager

  June 2008

  I am looking for the name of a good stager who works in the East Bay? So many of the staged houses look so typically staged we want someone with a classy approach to making our home look really great when we sell it.

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  I recently used Christine Mattsson from Nest Egg Staging for a home we sold in Berkeley. I could not have been more pleased. Christine is extremely professional and responsive. However, what I found most appealing about the work Christine did for us was her ability to survey the home and to quickly understand how best to present the space leveraging our home's most valuable assets. Christine has high quality inventory and she possesses a wonderful sense of color and space! I'd like to have her come and stage my new home!! Most importantly, we sold our home quickly and had lots of interest! One of our neighbors commented that not a detail was missed. The best place to reach Christine is on her mobile number: (510) 368- 5873. Brandi

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  Carrie Yoshida (her company is ''Visual Harmony'') an excellent stager and also a Feng Shui specialist. She is just awesome! Her forte is that she really FEELS your place. And then, she has a LOT of knowledge and experience. She is very easy to work with, has reasonable prices and is a joy to be around. You can contact her at (510) 212-7775 carrie.yoshida [at] comcast.net Sylvia

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  Tania Beaudet of Tania B Studio does beautiful work - she's creative and has a great eye. Check out www.taniabstudio.com and phone is 415-425-9958

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  We have used CORDELIA DEVERE, of New Moon Designs, at 510-207-1169 for several remodels of both our home and offices. All I can say is she is a total pleasure to deal with! She will use what you have in house, as well as bring in her own items. She is very fair in her prices. I couldn't have been more pleased with her work and am happy to recommend her! Carol L.

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  2004 - 2007 Recommendations

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  Stager for a home in Alameda

  Feb 2007

  We will be selling our Alameda home sometime this year and would like recommendations for professional stagers. Ideally we would like someone who won't mind answering some questions in advance, since we are completely clueless about the process, cost, etc. Anon

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  We used Lindsay Kunis last year for a staging job and were very pleased. She and her husband own Form, a vintage (modern) store on College. Her work is definitely on the modern side, but everything she provided had clean, classy lines. Everyone who went through our apartment said ''wow''. Laurel

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  Carole Johnson of Purple Door Designs is absolutely someone you should talk to. Her office number is 233-4467, and her cell phone is 508-5659. Carol has an incredible sense of design, and she can make the home you want to sell into the home that others will want to buy! Her website is www.purpledoordesigns.net. David

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  You should really try Bonnie Ross. I have used her for two home sales and she is amazing. She has an excellent eye and many good quality pieces, which is not always the case with some stagers. She uses a lot of antiques but in a way that works with various styles of homes. My first home was a craftsman, and the second a mid century and both times, her things worked with mine very successfully. She can work with pieces you have or bring everything in, which ever you prefer. She is a Real Estate agent her self, but will stage for homes listed with other agents. However, I think it is cheaper of you use her as the listing agent, and she happens to specialize in Alameda. Give her a try - she is a lovely, talented person and very easy to work with. A true professional, and you will earn back your investment many times over. (510) 339-4788 http://bonnierosshomes.com/
  katie

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  Hi there, Just wanted to recommed Grace McHugh 510-521-1741 for Staging. She did a wonderful job for us last year and at a very reasonable price. She is very creative and has lovely pieces. As an example of her gift; we were struggling for days to find the right color to paint the kitchen, she looked at the swatches for about 30 seconds, said ''use half strength of this'' and it was exactly right. I'm always amazed by people who can do that! We have also worked with several real estate agents on the island with mixed results so if you are looking for more prospective realtors to interview, I would highly recommend Kane & Assoc., specifically Liz Kane, Marie Kane and Hanna Fry - all excellent. Good luck!

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  In response to the person in Alameda looking for a professional home stager, I am writing to recommend Star Lightner and Erin McDevitt, and their company Bungalow. I saw a house they staged on 62nd Street in North Oakland and it was very tastefully and beautifully done. I am sure they would be happy to talk to you about cost and other issues. You can reach them at 510-332.5559. http://www.bungalowhomestaging.com/
  Anna

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  Affordable stager

  August 2006

  I am looking for a home stager and the listings on the site are 4+ years old. Can anyone recommend someone they have used more recently, especially one who is affordable? Thanks Vivian

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  A friend of mine had fabulous results with Nest Egg, phone number is 510-464-4566. The business is run by Christine and Katy, both have a great eye for design and are professional and friendly. Their website is www.nesteggstaging.com. You can view some of their work, hear recommendations, etc. They have been in business for 4 years and focus in Berkeley, Oakland, Albany, Kensington, El Cerrito and Richmond. Kim

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  I would like to recommend a designer whom I have been working with. Her name is Kari Grosz, and her number is 925-899-7201. I have had two projects with Kari, and my current one involves a major remodeling for more than half of my house. Both experiences with Kari have been wonderful. Kari is very talented, very resourceful, and she can work with any budget the homeowners want to spend. Also, despite her busy schedule, she is always very responsive and nice to work with. My recommendation of working with Kari is without reservation

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  Staging for a sale- who pays?

  Feb 2006

  We are getting ready to sell our home and the realtor of course recommends staging which costs btwn.$3-4000. What has been other peoples experience with this and is it always the seller who pays for it or do the realtors sometimes pay for it? Thank you.
  anon seller

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  I interviewed 3 seller's agents to sell our place in SF at end of last year. One offered to split staging costs 50/50; one offered to just give us tips on how to rearrange furniture/what to put in storage, etc (in lieu of professional staging); the third wanted us to pay for all the staging costs but had lots of contacts so we could do everything quickly & at reasonable cost. Kat

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  I guess the question about staging should really be who pays if you don't stage your home?? Congratulations on having an agent who suggest that you do stage your home. It is a wonderful marketing tool that helps potential buyers invision your home at its best potential and usually commands a much higher price than a non staged property. But let's say that the staging does indeed bring you in a best case result of an extra $50,000 on your sale. Then the $ 3500-$4000 investment did indeed bring you in more money. Most agents estimate the additional revenues at approx $20,000 for staging (Still a good return on a $3500-$4000 investment). But Even at the large sum of $50,000 more the agent would only make a little over $1000 which would not make sense to pay for the staging at all. So if you are thinking about not staging because you don't want to pay the staging fee you may want to figure out what it will really cost you not to stage your home. Paula

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  Paying the stagers is usually done by the sellers. However, if the real estate agent really wants your business, she may pitch in. When we recently sold a house in the $1 million range in Montclair, our agent recommended we spend about $20K fixing up and staging the house. She kicked in $6K of her own money to pay for the upgrades. She also lowered the real estate agent commission from 6% to 5% which she said is pretty standard when you get over $800K. Luckily, all the work and staging paid off, and the house sold very quickly. Recent Home Seller

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  2003 & Earlier

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  Stager for a small bungalow

  Feb 2002

  We are getting ready to sell our small 2 bedroom/1 bath home. Does anyone have a recommendation for a stager?? We have an older bungalow type home in upper rockridge with lots of wood around the doors & would like someone that could accent this. I would prefer someone that could do more of an arts & crafts approach vs. the more modern styles seen in newer homes. Thanks.

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  Barbara Davison is an excellent stager with good experience in real estate and an intuitive sense of what works for her clients. She lives in Oakland. Office phone/fax: 510-336-1007. ~Colleen

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  I would recommend The Design Shop. Their phone number is (510) 655-7800. Their e-mail is theshop3 [at] earthlink.net. I have seen their staging in a Victorian and it was very tasteful and appropriate for that particular house. They will be staging my own home soon. olga

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  I recommend Stageright for home staging. Terry Gillen has lived and worked in the Berkeley area for years and is very pleasant to work with. One of her business partners has extensive experience as a professional interior designer. They have successfully staged a range of homes and are very familiar with Arts & Crafts-style and older homes. Terry can be reached at 528-3356. Denise

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  My friend, Jackie Thompson, is a professional stager. You can ger her website at Hearthstonedesign.com. She said for the person asking about staging a craftsman style home that she could steer her to a friend that specializes in that style of home staging, but I know if you went with Jackie, she would do a good job for you. She has been doing this for a number of years and is very talented. She knows about Feng Shui and has put that to good use in her staging. Good luck. Trisha

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  I'm writing in response to the people looking for a good stager for their Rockridge bungalow. Gregory Odle at Berkeley Bungalow (on San Pablo) has done some successful staging for people with bungalows. In fact, he staged his own home a couple of years ago and ended up getting an outrageously high. He can be reached at berkeleybungalow [at] mciworldcom.net or at his store (510) 981-9520. Good luck! -Cybele

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  I would like to respond to the Anonymous person looking for a stager for their home. Her name is Karen Brown, and her phone # is (510) 527-6219. She has a beatiful, simple sense of style. Good luck! Renee