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OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®



Stage this room!
Restful Master Bedroom
Mark Jak, ABR®

REALTOR®, Stager
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, Chicago
www.markjak.com

How long staging: Four years.

Master Bedroom Makeover Video

BEST STAGING TIP:
“Focus on lighting. Move lamps to dark corners and clean all windows so that natural light can flood the room.”

SPENT:
$258, but Jak didn’t use all the items he had bought.

PROBLEMS . . .
Jak immediately saw the main objection that buyers would have with the room: the bright yellow paint. “It’s a personal color.” The paint seemed even stronger because of brightly patterned bedding and curtains. Jak noted that the room’s size (19 feet by 10 feet) wasn’t being emphasized. To boot, visitors couldn’t see the hardwood floor.

SOLUTIONS . . .
Jak neutralized the yellow’s effect and opened up the room by softening the color palette. “I tried to complement rather than fight against the yellow so that buyers would see other things happening in the room besides the paint color.” His techniques:

  • Focus on neutral. Add a $30 neutral-colored carpet to help mute the room, $20 white draperies, inexpensive small white lamps, white bedding from IKEA, white accessories in the tower bookcase, and fresh flowers.
  • Create flow by reorienting the furniture. Divide up the room by putting the bed in one area and the dressing area opposite to create two defined spaces.
  • Move the bookshelf from behind the desk to a closet, where the home owner can continue to access her materials. “Always ask the home owner what you can’t touch,” she says.
OTHER POSSIBILITIES . . .
The professional stagers and Jak agree: With more time and money, they would have repainted the room in a softer color—either a beige or a pale yellow or green—that would appeal to more buyers. Stagers say they would also have patched nail holes and wall cracks. Matzke would have eliminated curtains entirely to maximize the light and show off the view.

◄ Main Article | Home Office ►

Feature Article:
StagE this Room!
Watch videos of each room being staged and hear first-hand what each stager did to make the room more appealing to buyers. Plus, get even more staging tips and resources from the pros.
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