Yes I said 500 square feet! The home consisted of a tiny living room, a small bedroom and bath and a surprisingly large kitchen (for such a tiny home).

Now if you’ve ever read any of my other posts on Staging loft style spaces, I’m always saying there are 3 important things that buyers are thinking about when they walk into a small or an open floor plan type space:

1) Where will I eat?

2) Where will I watch TV?

and

3) Where will I work?

If you can’t show a buyer a space for each of these 3 things they are never going to purchase the home.

Well you may have noticed I didn’t mention a dining room in this place, so #1 was something to be tackled.

Though the kitchen was relatively large and did have a bar for a couple of stools, that wasn’t a comfortable or realistic space for eating an actual meal. So we had to utilize some of the already small living room for a dining space. You’ll see in the photo below how we accomplished that by using a small scale drop leaf dining table and 2 chairs in front of a beautiful window.

Dining Area

Now for #2 – the all important TV…

There wasn’t much of a choice as to where to place the TV in this home. There was only 1 wall that was long enough to hold a sofa, which meant that the TV would have to go opposite that wall. Luckily there was enough space on that wall for a console table and a 42″ plasma.

Living Room TV

On a side note, as if this wasn’t a tough enough room to Stage, on the opposite side of the sofa you’ll notice a heater vent which stuck out into the room so the sofa could go no further than this heating unit, effectively cutting off some usable corner space. On the up side, it’s a convenient place to set down your drink.

Living Room Sofa

So this is how the entire room (including living/dining and TV space) looked once it was Staged.

Living/Dining Room

Now for the last crucial element for Staging a small space…a place to work!

Since there is no 2nd bedroom in this bungalow, a full home office space was out. Luckily the previous owners had given us something to work with:

Master Bedroom

Built-In Office

This cabinet was built for a small TV (in fact the top shelf was built on a slant which made it very tricky to get my vase and plate to stand up straight). But on the bottom there was a pull out keyboard tray and a space for a small chair or ottoman. Home office space – check!

Since I know you’re dying to see the rest of the home, here are a few more photos. As I mentioned the kitchen is quite large and the bedroom and bath were a good size as well.

Though this was a challenging space to figure out, I was very pleased with the outcome. What might have scared buyers off when it was empty is now a completely livable, warm and inviting home. It just needed a touch of imagination!

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the unit was that I didn’t see a desk anywhere in the space.

In tiny loft-style units, a buyer has to be able to see 4 important things:

1) Where they will sleep

2) Where they will eat

3) Where they will watch TV

and

4) Where they will work

If any one of these factors is missing or confusing to a buyer, you have just lost the sale. It’s hard enough for most buyers to feel like they can comfortably live in such a small space, but if you don’t solve these 4 basic questions for them they are never going to buy.

So the first thing we did was to create a small home office vignette using furniture the owner already had. Then we added that feminine touch – throw pillows on the sofa, art on the walls and decorative accessories on the surfaces. Now this former bachelor pad is Staged to Sell!

Click here for more information on this property.

We moved the bench from the foot of the bed into the entry and added art and a floor vase to warm up this space and invite buyers in.

We opened up this convertible sofa table/desk the owner already had in the entryway, moved it into the main living area, and added one of his dining chairs, some art, a laptop and accessories. Voila! Now we have a home office.

A few colorful throw pillows, some art and accessories livened up the living/dining room and the kitchen.You can see the new home office area from this view.

You can see the new home office area from this view.

All this space needed was some art. We also removed the bench that used to be at the foot of the bed and placed it in the entryway.

This is a beautiful bathroom that just needed some accessorizing and art.

We drew attention to the beautiful tilework in the bathroom with this small vignette.