SHARON CHARBONEAU's (upstager) Blog

As a professional real estate stager, I am very troubled by this blog and the low standards it sets for realtors who want to offer staging services to their clients. These tips are like putting icing on a burned cake.  A weak analogy but the only one I can think of at the moment. Any body else co...

My favourite staging instructor, DANA SMITHERS  of  PRES, is doing a training course in Victoria, BC, so I think, she is going to need some houses for the hands on part of the training on re-design and real estate staging.   This is DANA taking a shot in the house we staged in North Vancouver for...

Today is the first year anniversary for UPSTAGING YOUR HOMES. I was thinking about writing a blog re: the accomplishments in my first year of business:  renovating and staging a home which drew lots of compliments and sold in our slow market on the Coast within 2 months renovating and staging a c...

When the staging budget is tight, we really have to put our minds to creative thinking and find inexpensive ways to improve dated & tired looks. This bathroom was a prime example of a room needing a fresher, less dated look.  I was able to find inexpensive replacements for the vanity, sink, mirro...

This is a realtor post well worth re-blogging. A must read for sellers, realtors and even buyers.I have been a buyer's agent in Colorado Springs for awhile now and each time I take a buyer into a home, they usually make a comment within the first 5 seconds of entering the home. I have a theory th...

OK, so here's the skill testing question - which room would you rather sleep in? Oh all right, there is furniture in the second bedroom, but which room is more restful?   Which room do you think potential buyers would find more appealing?   YES, THIS IS THE SAME ROOM - BEFORE & AFTER STAGING BY U...

It is 2 days before deadline and it is going to be tight.  The kitchen was the biggest mess and needed the most work, which is on-going & hopefully completed late today or early tomorrow morning. I am staging a vacant 1 bedroom condo for a gentleman who turned 100 in September.  As his eyesight h...

We don't usually get snow on the Lower Mainland or the Sunshine Coast of BC; we get rain.  However the best part of the rain is that it means snow in our mountains. We definitely want lots of snow for the Winter Olympics being held here in February, so that our athletes can get all the gold medal...

During the summer, we are out of our homes more than in them, enjoying the sun and sand and our gardens. However in the winter, we need a cozy, inviting place to cuddle up and ignore the rain and gloom outside for those of us on the West Coast, or the snow storm outside for the rest of you in the...

This is the question we hear from sellers, realtors, while we are marketing our services & networking the public or at a friend's party.  I think this quote sums it up nicely:   “Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” ―Confucius   Home Stagers see what homeowners, realtors and potentia...