Creative Compromise and the Wall of Wood

There are so many things I love about being a professional home stager. I get to meet lots of interesting people and work in all sorts of homes throughout Southeast Wisconsin and Lake County Illinois. My most favorite part of being a stager is the opportunity I get to use my creative skills in a variety of different ways. As owner of Perfect Place Home Staging I can say with certainty that no two of my many staging projects have ever been the same. Each home calls for a unique approach and I keep my staging projects on time and on budget with the use of creativity and compromise.

I typically approach my staging projects as a series of prioritized tasks. Tasks like painting, repairs, and possible updates need to be coordinated in a timely fashion and of course not exceed my client’s budget. So what happens when there are more dilemmas to deal with, but limited time and\or budget to handle them? That’s where creativity and compromise come in. Here is where my suggestions guide home sellers into deciding what things they want to do and what things they need me to creatively work with.

Here’s a before and after example: This before picture shows a lower family room in a country home in Kenosha County. As you can see the room is jammed packed and I discovered the back wall is quite unique. It’s covered in round log slices from pine trees that were cut on the property. These wood slices were attached to the wall with super strength glue that would not let go. It would take significant time and effort to get all the wood down and resurface the wall for primer and paint. This is where I had to come up with a practical creative solution to best market this room. I quickly came up with a compromise for my client. I said “I have a plan to work with the existing wood wall, so how about we replace this room’s old carpet instead of just having it steam cleaned?” I explained that new carpet could take some of the focus off the wall and show potential buyers some great added value. My client agreed, so I helped to choose a budget friendly carpet and it was installed within a few days.

After the carpeting was done I staged the room with some of the seller’s furniture, a few country accents, and proper lighting. The after picture below now shows a warm nature inspired family room with lots of space and new carpet throughout. I creatively worked the wall into my staging plan and the end results turned out great!

I’m happy to say the home was only on the market for a week! My client received a full price offer at their first open house! Like I said before, No two staging projects are the same. Sometimes I have to find a compromise and use my creative skills to make it work. After all, that is my favorite part of being a home stager.