3-Mar-20 – Staging a home for sale in today’s resale home market involves a shift to linear and modern furniture styles.

“Antiques, traditional art, Oriental rugs, heavy draperies, cherry and mahogany furnishings, four-poster beds, and grand pianos are out of style in today’s market,” said veteran broker Sara Benson (left), president of Chicago-based Benson Stanley Realty. “Homes that are selling fast in Chicago’s spring market are professionally staged and designed in a modern, urban-chic style.”

Benson recently hired Chicago-based Signature Staging to redo the interior of a client’s home.

“Visualization for a buyer is key, so we recommend you stage as many rooms as your budget allows to properly tell the story of the home to someone seeing it for the first time,” said David Cieslak (right), CEO of Signature Staging. The company has completed $65 million in staged-to-sold real estate. In 2018, the average market time was 22 days.

Think urban Ikea furniture – clean, linear styles – with a goal to minimize domestic clutter. The style appeals greatly to the under-30 Millennial home buyer.

For Benson Stanley’s listing of a $720,000 4-bedroom, 3.5-bath, 4,000-square-foot home in the North Park neighborhood on the North Side, the staging goals were to create a “wow factor” for potential buyers.

For starters in the living room, Signature Staging recommended removal of antique Oriental rugs, a grand piano, existing artwork, draperies, and all outdated furniture. (Left) Living room before staging. Photo by Andrew Miller.

In the family room, the designers suggested removing all existing furnishings. The only holdovers were two recently purchased love seats, accent tables, modern lamps, contemporary artwork, and some fuzzy throw pillows that look like poodle fur.

(Above) Family room in North Park after staging. Photo by Andrew Miller.

Staging fees, which vary widely depending on the number of rooms staged and designed, include rental furniture move-in and move-out, 90 days of inventory rental, and design team planning, consulting, and styling.

After the home was professionally staged, Benson called digital photographer and artist Andrew Miller of VHT Studios to shoot more than 40 photos. Along with photography, the company does virtual staging, drone videos and photos, video home tours, and architectural floor plans.

Since the North Park home was originally listed in late 2019, Benson brought back professional painters for final touch-ups. She also asked granite expert Mario Lemoncello of Lemoncello Stone Restoration, a Bensenville-based company that specializes in granite and stone restoration, to repair a couple of kitchen granite chips and beautifully polish the travertine marble in the en-suite master bathroom.