As one of multiple Calgary home stagers, I’m so thankful for the success Set Your Stage has enjoyed in 2014, both for our team and for the clients and realtors we have worked with.
 

Reflecting on the past year, this Ziglar quote really rings true for me. I am so grateful to do work that I love, with colleagues and clients who I enjoy, following through on my commitments with a smile on my face every day, and doing it all in the fine city of Calgary.
 

It fills my heart. It is my passion. How many people get to say that and truly mean it?
 

The Calgary real estate market has been very active this year. More people were open to hiring professional home stagers, and there were a number of us to choose from. So I truly appreciated when a potential client chose Set Your Stage.
 

I take their trust in me and my team very seriously. Understanding how significant an investment a person’s home is, I want them to get the most from it.
 

Here are some of our team’s accomplishments this year:

• We helped 172 staging clients this year; 8 of them were amazing repeat Realtors and 3 repeat builder clients
• Largest value property we staged this year (and so far) $1.75 million
• Added Whitney and Karen to the Set Your Stage team
• Grew our furniture and accessory storage from 300 sq ft to 600 sq ft (which also means lots of pretty stuff to choose from)

• Who Do Home Staging Companies Work For?
• Six Common Home Staging Mistakes
• Staging Checklists (includes general, bathroom & living room)
• Add Wow Factor
• Furniture Rentals
• Renovated Investment Properties
• Moving Tips

As you can tell, professional home stagers are more than decorators. They are marketers on your home selling team. And their job is to select and arrange furniture and accessories in a way that speaks to the potential buyer’s ideal lifestyle.
 

It’s about making a positive and lasting first impression that leads the buyer to say, “This feels like home. This is the one I want.” In fact, home staging continues to be recognized as delivering an excellent return on your investment.
 

So when organizing your home selling team, hiring a professional home stager makes perfect sense. In Calgary, Set Your Stage gets proven results for sellers. Read our testimonials, and, if you’ve found value in our top staging tips, contact Jennifer Campbell to arrange a personalized free Home Staging Assessment today.
 

Aside from loving the home staging work I do in Calgary, you might not know that I also love to bake! With winter here, I recently enjoyed a baking weekend. Excited to do sugar free baking, I used local honey instead. I’ll share my healthy recipe.
 

Baking is one of my simple pleasures. I love how my space quickly fills with the smell of yummy goodness. Regular readers will know that I also love where I live in the Sunnyside, Hillhurst and Kensington area of Calgary. My cute condo is located close to everything I need.
 

So when I chose to bake sugar free by using honey instead, all I had to do was head down to The Beehive to buy some of Alberta’s mountain pure liquid gold.
 

My healthy muffins turned out so amazing that I had a hard time putting them in my freezer. So I thought it would be fun to do something different and share my recipe with you.
 

1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup coconut oil (melted)
1 egg
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup honey
1 cup rhubarb

If you live in Calgary and are planning to sell your furnished or vacant property (or you just want to let me know how much you loved your sugar free baking), contact me (Jen at Set Your Stage) to find out the benefits of my home staging services.
 

In the meantime, share this post (and your fresh baked sugar free muffins)!
 

When you’re selling a property, it just makes sense to stage a bathroom. If it’s already in good condition, a thorough clean and a few simple items will make a bathroom feel like a relaxing space. Quick and easy changes can help a property sell.
 

Here’s a staging checklist for bathrooms that you might find helpful. It covers the must-do tasks you don’t want to forget.
 

Even though a bathroom is usually a small space, it can have a big impact. Imagine you walk into a bathroom that’s grimy and unkept and overflowing with other people’s personal hygiene items? Eww. That will definitely turn potential buyers away.
 

On the other hand, imagine walking into a bathroom that’s clean and feels light and bright with plenty of storage where you can imagine your various items going. It’s a big difference.
 

While the photos of a home we staged in Bearspaw don’t reflect that scenario exactly (it was already clean and well kept), you can see what a difference little changes can make in how the space makes you feel.
 

The unstaged room feels stark and dark and is certainly nothing memorable. After staging, bright light and the slightly opened shower door draws your attention to the spa-like shower head. Artwork hung by the toilet makes the room feel more welcoming. New towels placed on the rack and shelf make the room feel cheery. With little effort, the bathroom now feels like a pleasant place to start or end your day.
 

Which version of the room would you be more inclined to feel drawn to and remember? It may be small, but stage a bathroom for big impact.
 

For more examples of the power and impact staging can create in a space, take a look at the Set Your Stage Facebook albums featuring many before and after photos of the various homes and condos that we’ve successfully staged for sale.