Welcome back to FAQs, the series where quick and specific answers to your most-asked questions about Interior Decorating and Home Staging are the house specialty.

Selling your Westchester County house, coop or condo? Questions about renting things to make your property look its best have probably come up. Previously we looked at the IF and WHY of rental furniture, today HOW renting furniture works. .

Thanks to HGTV, many homeowners believe Home Staging must include renting furniture. This Westchester County Home Stager always seeks to work  what is already owned, but with the caveat that it is the right choice, and puts the property in it’s best light.

Rental companies pretty much work in the same way: contracts are a minimum number of months,  and a minimum monthly dollar amount. Additional costs are delivery and pick-up, damage waivers,  sales tax and a refundable security deposit.  Like loans, the longer the term, the lower the monthly rate…but the more you will end up paying net, it’s just in smaller, managable increments.

Most offer pre-chosen room ‘packages’, but also let you choose individual pieces, too, and in my experience there is no big price differential.

After 25+ years in the furniture industry, TRH knows this is a highly specialized service-inventorying, maintaining, storing and delivering-best left to other professionals, and insteads facillitates the process on behalf of the homeowner:  First setting a strategy: editing, and choosing  what stays and goes where, then what is needed to complete the look, and will yield the best net ROI for the homeowner.

While consumers can typically rent furniture themselves, directly from most rental companies, here are a few ways this Westchester County Home Stager will make the process painless and the results stellar:

Strategy: What stays, what goes (or goes into storage)? What can be borrowed, re-worked; would buying something-that you’ll take with you-be a better choice?  Prioritizing rooms to be prepared that align with comps, and desired time/price benchmarks.

The Right Stuff:  Considering not just what looks pretty online, but what will work with existing walls/floors/items-or coordinating new choices; what is the correct look and scale, and OHYES besides fitting in the space, will it get in the door, up the stairs, and around the corner?

Better Rates: Dealing with a known, professional Home Stager streamlines the process for the rental companies, they will pass these savings on the client.

Vetted Vendors: While the process is the same, the type and quality of furniture, the level of customer service has been road-tested.

NEXT: RE-personalize (instead of de-personalize)