Tricks of the Trade: Setting Up a Home For Sale

The Wall Street Journal
February 1, 2006; Page D1
Tricks of the Trade “Setting Up a Home For Sale” by Hannah Kate Kinnersley

Debra Gould started her home staging business, Six Elements Inc. based on the phenomenal success she had buying, decorating and selling 6 of her own properties. She was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal for this story on tricks professional home stagers use on their own homes when it’s time to sell.

Excerpt from The Wall Street Journal:

“To sell a house she owns more quickly, Debra Gould, president of Six Elements Inc., a company in Toronto that specializes in making for-sale properties more attractive, first upgrades the light fixtures and uses higher-wattage bulbs. Brightly lit rooms appear bigger and more inviting, she says, but she also installs dimmers to be able to create mood lighting.

She also reconfigures entire rooms. If a second bedroom is cramped, for example, she suggests turning it into a home office or study.

She paints walls according to neighborhood and buyer type: bold colors for an artistic feel or neutral tones for more-conservative buyers. She also paints laminate cabinets with melamine (plastic-based) paint and changes hardware to spruce up kitchens and bathrooms.

Ms. Gould stores clutter off-site, because house-hunters often inspect basements and closets. As a finishing touch, she often puts planters out front to create curb appeal.”