Occupied Home Staging
Using what you already own to sell your home.
Before buyers can picture themselves living there, they need to be able to see the house.
An occupied home does not need to be emptied—or filled with rented furniture—to make a strong impression.
It needs to be intentionally edited, arranged, and styled so buyers notice the home’s features, understand how the rooms function, and imagine their own lives unfolding there.
Stage It to Sell It is a full-house occupied staging service that uses what you already own to prepare your home for listing photographs, showings, and potential buyers.
Whether you are preparing to list or refreshing a home already on the market, the goal is the same: create a clear, compelling presentation that helps your home stand out and sell faster.
The goal is not to empty your home or erase your life.
The goal is to sell your house.
Start with what you already own.
Most occupied homes already contain more than enough furniture, art, lighting, and décor to create a beautiful stage.
The problem usually is not that the home needs more.
It needs an experienced eye to recognize what should remain, what should be packed, what could work better somewhere else, and how the entire house can tell a more compelling story.
With more than 25 years of interior-design experience and an extensive history of staging homes that sold in markets both fast and difficult, I know how to work with what is already there.
I use the furnishings and accessories remaining in the home wherever they work best—not necessarily where they have always been used. Furniture may move between rooms. Art and décor may be redistributed. Rooms may be redefined. Layouts may change completely.
The finished home should feel neutral enough for buyers to imagine themselves living there—but intentional and memorable enough to help sell the house.
Here’s What’s Included…
One-Hour In-Home Assessment
We begin with a one-hour walkthrough of the home.
I evaluate each room, identify what may be distracting buyers from the space, determine what should remain accessible for daily life, and consider how the furnishings already in the home could be used more effectively.
The $150 assessment fee is paid at booking and is nonrefundable. If you book the full staging service, the assessment fee is applied toward your total.
Written Staging Game Plan
Within 24 hours of the assessment, you receive a written, room-by-room staging plan identifying presentation priorities, what may need to be packed, and areas that could be simplified or improved.
You can use the plan to prepare the home yourself or hire me to complete Stage It to Sell It for you. The plan provides general guidance and does not include floor plans, exact furniture layouts, space-planning drawings, or renderings.
When you hire me, the $150 assessment fee is applied to your full service price.
The Pre-Stage Edit
We determine what the home needs for daily life, what supports the stage, and what can be packed away while the house is listed.
You decide what stays, what goes with you, and what—if anything—you are ready to let go of. I will never pressure you to discard something you want to keep.
Anything you are keeping is intentionally packed and clearly labeled with your next home in mind. Staging your current house also gives you a meaningful head start on whatever comes next—with or without my help in the future.
If you identify belongings you want to donate or remove, I can provide pickup and donation resources and assist with coordination. I do not haul, transport, list, or sell belongings.
Items identified for donation, pickup, or removal must be moved to the agreed holding location before packing and staging begin. Final pickup does not need to be completed, but those items cannot remain in the active work areas or obstruct access to the home.
The holding location may be a garage, POD, storage unit, designated room, or another location agreed upon during the assessment.
Intentional Packing
Packing away what is not being used in the stage is included in the service.
Daily essentials remain accessible, but they are pared down enough to keep the home functional, make the staged look easier to maintain, and prevent closets and storage areas from appearing completely consumed.
Items you are unsure about can be packed in clear bins so they remain visible and easy to find when you move instead of disappearing into mystery boxes.
Clear bins are optional and priced separately. If recommended, we will discuss them during the assessment. You may purchase them yourself or ask me to take that task off your plate.
Full-House Staging + Styling
Once the edit and packing are complete, I REMIX the entire house for the purpose of selling it.
I use the furniture, art, lighting, accessories, and décor remaining in the home wherever they create the strongest, most functional presentation.
The goal is to:
- Highlight the home’s strongest features
- Clarify the purpose and function of each room
- Improve furniture placement and visual flow
- Reduce personal and visual distractions
- Help rooms feel spacious, useful, and intentional
- Create a home buyers can remember and imagine living in
- Establish a staged look that is manageable while you still live there
This is not a quick pillow-fluffing appointment. It is a thoughtful, full-house transformation using what you already own.
Listing Photography Support
I do not simply arrange the furniture and leave. I stay through the moment the listing is visually captured.
Professional listing photography is arranged and paid for by the homeowner or listing agent. Photography scheduling must be coordinated with Wilde About Interiors as early as possible.
Onsite styling support during the scheduled photography session is included. I make final adjustments as needed so the home is presented as strongly as possible through the camera.
Photographer delays, cancellations, or rescheduling may affect my availability.
I may also request permission to take my own photographs of the completed stage. You will receive a separate photo-release choice allowing approved images to be used in my portfolio, website, social media, and marketing. Images belonging to the listing photographer will only be used with the photographer’s separate permission.
Staging Maintenance Plan
After the home is staged, you receive straightforward guidance for maintaining its presentation while you continue living there.
The goal is to make preparing for showings and open houses easier without having to recreate the stage every time someone wants to see the home.
Pricing
Denver-Area Homes up to 1,500 Square Feet
$1,000
Includes the assessment, written game plan, Pre-Stage Edit, intentional packing, full-house staging and styling, onsite styling support during listing photography, and a staging maintenance plan.
The $150 assessment fee is applied to the total.
Most projects are completed within approximately one week from assessment through final staging.
Denver-Area Homes Larger than 1,500 Square Feet
$2,000
Includes the assessment, written game plan, Pre-Stage Edit, intentional packing, and full-house staging and styling.
The $150 assessment fee is applied to the total.
I aim to complete most larger homes within approximately one week. Depending on the size of the home and the amount of editing and packing required, the process may take up to two weeks.
Additional Service Areas
Stage It to Sell It is available from Denver to Carbondale and in select communities throughout the Front Range and mountain corridor.
- Colorado Springs | Georgetown | Winter Park | Fraser | Silverthorne | Dillon | Keystone | Frisco | Breckenridge | Copper Mountain: Add $500
- Pueblo | Granby | Kremmling | Leadville | Vail | Minturn | Avon | Beaver Creek | Edwards: Add $750
- Eagle | Gypsum | Glenwood Springs | Carbondale: Add $1,000
Additional Colorado locations may be available and are quoted based on travel distance and project requirements.
Project Timing
Every occupied home is different.
Project timing is determined after the in-home assessment based on the size and condition of the home, the amount of editing and packing required, the agreed scope of work, and photography coordination.
Smaller homes are typically done in about a week. Larger homes can extend up to two weeks.
Your proposed project dates will be included with your written staging plan and service agreement.
Packing Materials
Standard boxes, tape, labels, and packing supplies for an average home up to 1,500 square feet start at $175.
Materials for larger homes are determined after the assessment.
If you prefer to purchase your own materials, I will provide the requirements. Everything must be onsite before work begins.
Clear storage bins and any additional approved purchases are separate.
Optional Pre-Listing Paint
Sometimes the home needs more than rearranging.
If paint would materially improve the listing presentation, I can discuss an optional painting add-on during the assessment. Smaller painting projects may be completed by me and are quoted separately based on the scope, labor, materials, and additional time required.
Larger painting projects may require a professional painting company and may affect the overall project timeline.
Painting is never automatically included in the staging service price.
Booking + Payment
The one-hour assessment is $150 -$350, paid when booked, and is nonrefundable. With it, you receive both the assessment and your written room-by-room game plan.
If you hire me, the assessment fee is applied to the service price.
Within 24 hours of your assessment, you will receive:
- Your written staging game plan
- Your service agreement
- Confirmation of your service tier
- Any applicable location fee
- Any required materials estimate
- Any optional add-on recommendations
- Proposed staging dates
- A link to complete booking and payment
Proposed dates are held for 72 hours.
Your signed agreement and full payment secure your project on the schedule. If booking is not completed within 72 hours, those dates will be released and future scheduling will be based on current availability.
All approved materials, location fees, and add-ons are also due before work begins.
My Pinky Promise
I will tell you honestly what may be preventing buyers from seeing the house—but I will never tell you that you have to throw away your life to sell your home.
You remain in control of what you keep, what you pack, and what you are ready to release.
My job is to listen, see the possibilities inside what you already own, personally complete the work you hired me to do, and help your home make the strongest possible impression without leaving you unable to live there.
Ready to show buyers what makes your home worth remembering?
You do not need to wait until your home is listed—or until it has been sitting on the market—to ask for help.
Stage It to Sell It prepares your occupied home for listing photographs, showings, and buyers by giving it a clear, intentional, and compelling presentation from the beginning.
Whether you are the homeowner or the listing agent, let’s help buyers see the house, imagine themselves living there, remember it after they leave…and inspire the right buyer to make an offer.
