It is difficult to sell a vacant home. Clients walk in and they are looking for a place to hang hats. If the home is empty, and it echoes, it gives a negative vibe. Showing a room to its best potential is done with well placed

and appointed furnishings.

Hartwell Design works with builders, homeowners and Real Estate professionals to move property more quickly, and at a higher profit.

Staging can be helpful in minimizing faults and maximizing desirable elements. Highlighting focal points can make a room feel more welcoming.

Hartwell Design maintains a large inventory of furnishings and accessories and have access to special resources.

Although they employ most of the elements of an interior designer,

stagers aren't typical designers. Traditional Interior Design is customized to the needs of the persons living in the home. A stager furnishes as neutrally as possible, while complimenting existing decor, to appeal to the widest audience, giving ideas for placement and we creating focal points.

Staging presents the buyer with real value.

Knowing what size and types of furniture complement a room

can be helpful in visualizing living in the home.

Buyers often don't have the vision of what a home could look like and they may pay more for the property when they see what they like.

Have you ever walked into a beautifully decorated model home and been captivated by the visual feast before you?

Did you find yourself dreaming of bathing in that spa-like bathroom, cooking meals in the gourmet kitchen or curling up with a book in that luxurious reading nook?

If so, you've been the successful target of the secret weapon called staging.

Staging can be anything from de-cluttering to rearranging the existing furnishings to completely refurnishing the entire home. Whatever degree of staging you do can make a significant difference in how quickly

and for how much a home sells.

This year's REALTOR® Rally Keynote Speaker, Bill Barrett,

suggests spending one-half to three-quarters of a percent of the asking price for staging. Depending on the stager, it can cost even less than that

and instead of cutting into profits, staging dollars can actually

multiply themselves.

Conservative estimates show a $2 to $3 return for every dollar

invested in staging.

The psychology of homebuying:

Buying a house is largely an emotional decision because people are not just purchasing a home; they are buying a dream...a lifestyle.

If you can help them with their vision so they don't have to rely completely on their imagination, you positively impact how they feel in the home, which will be reflected in the sales price and number of offers you receive. All human beings want comfort, excitement, prestige and love, and all these are at work in the psychology of the home purchase.

Effective staging maximizes those feelings, creating an atmosphere that makes people want to linger and imagine themselves living in the space. Ultimately, staging creates a home the prospective buyer

will not be able to live without.

Do not mistake staging as some underhanded way to unload property.

It's simply taking advantage of the same principles of marketing used to sell any other commodity. People want to be inspired; they want to walk in and envision themselves entertaining in the dining room or enjoying a family night in the great room. Staging also benefits potential buyers because it gives them a good idea of how the home could look if they lived there and the scale and style of furniture necessary to achieve the look.