Gabrielle Hamill never set out to become a home stager.
Growing up in a small town in Pennsylvania, Hamill had her heart set on being the next famous fashion designer in New York City. As a teenager, she loved playing with colors, fabrics and textures. She left Pennsylvania, moved to New York, and studied fashion design at the Fashion Institute of Technology.
Hamill honed her craft as a designer on Seventh Avenue in Paris and Tangier, Morocco. After living overseas, she returned to New York to start her own design company. But while working as her own boss, Hamill noticed that her day-to-day work was no longer creatively fulfilling.
"It became about 95 percent dealing with problems and all of the sort of business things and about 2 percent design," Hamill said in an interview. "So that really was not a lot of fun."
That's when Hamill began looking for a new job that allowed her to tap more into her artsy side. She began working for Urban Staging in Brooklyn and now leads a small team of designers who stage homes for sale across the Big Apple. Hamill works out of a tiny office inside a warehouse in Brooklyn where the company stashes all of its furniture, plants, carpets, art and other home fixtures for stagings.
You want to create a place where buyers can picture themselves
Home staging is a process in which professionals who have a knack for organizing spaces — typically interior designers — will enter a home and place items in a way that makes a room look neat but still lived in. The goal is to make a home more enticing for a potential buyer to want to purchase. Talented home stagers often rearrange furniture, add art, and declutter living spaces to make a home feel more welcoming.
Real estate agents employ home stagers to make the rooms look cozy and inviting. The Real Estate Staging Association reported in August that professionally staged homes in the US sell for $69,669 more than their list price on average.
Hamill said she knew nothing about home staging before taking the job, but she joined Urban Staging because the company allowed her to reignite her fashion skills.
"When you're designing clothing, you're looking at balances, you're looking at fabric, you're looking at texture, you're looking at the whole picture," Hamill said. "And it's sort of the same thing when you translate that into designing a room. It's still balance."
Stager offers tips and tricks
Hamill shared a few staging secrets, including the best way to use throw pillows on the couch and what colors not to use on bedding.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
What are the three biggest no-no's?
There's no guidebook that says what not to do in staging, but some things are sort of common sense — like you wouldn't necessarily have a biography of Joseph Stalin somewhere. You don't want to be offensive to anybody. You don't want to have images on the wall that are suggestive.
When we started staging, our whole thing was white bedding — everything had to be in white. It had to look like the Hilton — and loads of pillows. Then we saw in the photographs that it started to look a little bland, so we are adding texture and color.
Everybody has a different way they go about showing a space. There are the throw pillows with the deep dent on top. We don't do that.
If I can't afford a stager, what are some cool things I can do?
Add fresh flowers, new towels, bathmats and bedding. Make sure all of your light bulbs are warm, not white, and the same. Make a little scene with a tray, some martini glasses and a couple of lemons.
If you have only your own decor to work with, you want to make sure it looks as if it could be a buyer's own stuff. Things like family photos and kids' art can make it hard for buyers to see the home as their own.
If you're making little vignettes, it's good to think in terms of odd numbers. Two books and a little drop tray on top, or two books with a vase of flowers on top, is an easy way to elevate a side table or bookshelf.
Are there specific steps I should take for staging my kitchen?
Food doesn’t need to be thrown out as long as it is in good shape. Fresh fruit and veggies look great in the fridge. Small appliances should be tucked away so you have lots of counter space.
Not all small appliances are made equally. A small espresso machine is usually a welcome, luxurious and aspirational appliance, while a small toaster oven is a reminder that you need to buy yet another appliance to make something as simple as toast once you move in. Crock-Pots, air fryers and other small appliances should be best tucked away in your cupboards during showings.
What is the traditional educational path for people to become a home stager?
Study interior design and then learn real estate by working with a broker.
When are the busiest months of the year for home stagers?
We're super busy in January, February, March and April, and basically May is the big month. Then things slow down when everybody is gone for the summer. In the fall, when the kids go back to school and there's some holidays (Labor Day and all that), it picks up and goes to just before Thanksgiving. We're prepping months before that, so we'll be busy again in August and September.
How do you know when a property has been staged well?
Your eyes will let you know, when you can envision yourself in this space. We're creating little snapshots and ideas for people so they can envision themselves there. When you're not thinking "Oh, geez, where am I going to put stuff? There's no room in this bathroom." When you're instead just looking at the flowers or looking at the towels.