Home-stager's work to be featured on House and Garden Network show

The talents of Genoa Township home-stager Kathi Presutti will soon be seen on national television when Home & Garden Television features houses from the area on the program "National Open House.''

"A spot on National Open House can be a great selling tool,'' says Jean Watts, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Schweitzer in Ann Arbor.

Presutti staged several houses that will appear on the HGTV program including the $3.4 million home Watts is selling in the Ann Arbor Township community of Barton Hills. Presutti prepped that home last week.

"You get your main impression of a house during the first 15 seconds,'' says Presutti. "Realtors say it's location, location, location, and I say it's emotion that sells a house. My job as a stager is to make people fall in love with the house.''

At the Barton Hills home, which is a Tudor-style home built in 1928, Presutti worked to draw attention to a huge window that overlooks the Huron River.

"Staging leads the eyes to features and minimizes flaws,'' says Presutti. "You don't need much furniture. There's something wrong if a buyer is looking at the furniture and not the house.''

Presutti works on what she calls the most lived-in rooms of the house - the living room, den, dining room, kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom. Light is extremely important, and washing windows, opening all the blinds, and turning on all the lights is essential, she says. She likes to create symmetry around features like the fireplace. In this case Presutti used plants to help frame it and carries pieces with her such as vases and bowls that she placed on the mantle. Watts offered Presutti a budget for flowers, which she placed in nearly every room.

"Little things can make a big difference,'' says Presutti, who carries a car filed with items with which she accessorizes a home, and says she is a very good bargain shopper. "When you go to sell a house you have to neutralize it. If a buyer doesn't like a specialized collection, you don't want it to prejudice them.''

Realtor Debbie Goodman, who works for Coldwell Banker Schweitzer, is selling her own home with the help of Presutti's staging.

"The house is showing very well, based on the positive comments I'm getting,'' says Goodman. "The first thing Kathi did was to have me take down everything I own. She rearranged furniture, brought in throw rugs, throw pillows, lamps, and small tables to make the home generic. The goal of staging is to take out the personal touches that, as a homeowner, you love to live with, but that make the home buyer less confident in imagining their own things in the home.''

Presutti used books that she purchased at a resale shop to fill a number of empty shelves in the Barton Hills home. She put a newspaper and glasses on a desk, and a book on a chair to make the house feel warm and lived in.

"They say that kitchens and bathrooms sell a house, but people don't want to see evidence that a bathroom is actually in use,'' says Presutti. "I try to make them hotel-like, and turn them from sterile to spa.''

She rolls towels up and places them in bowls, and adds candles and other decorations in the bathrooms to give them some color. A subtle touch of cookware or a cooking product adds life to the kitchen.

Presutti, who worked in advertising for more than 30 years, has a degree in design from the University of Michigan. She took a course in staging last year and received accreditation. She has lived in Genoa Township since 1980.

"I think Livingston County is the place to be,'' she says. "There are a lot of homes for sale, and this is the perfect time for staging. It can give a home a competitive edge.''

Presutti says about 25 percent of homes for sale in the United States are staged, and about 5 percent of the homes in Michigan are staged.

"I love the creativity when you're staging,'' says Presutti. "I plan out everything, but leave room for serendipity to happen.''