Why Hire a Realtor Who Is Also an Interior Designer to Sell Your Eanes ISD Home?

If you’re thinking about selling a home in Eanes ISD, Westlake, Cuernavaca, Woodhaven, 78733 or 78746, you may be wondering how much preparation your house actually needs before it goes on the market.

Should you renovate?

Stage it?

Paint?

Replace the lighting?

Refinish the floors?

Leave it alone?

And perhaps the more important question:

Who should be helping you make those decisions?

I’m Natasha Antonioni, a Realtor, interior designer, real estate investor and co-founder of The Council Real Estate Group at Compass.

I’ve lived in the Eanes community since 2014. I own two homes here. I’ve bought, designed, renovated and lived in this market myself, and one of my homes was featured in The Wall Street Journal.

This fall, I’m also releasing my book, Intentional Design, about the relationship between the spaces we create and the lives we want to live.

But when I’m preparing a client’s home to sell, I’m not designing for the seller anymore.

I’m designing for the sale.

That’s a completely different discipline.

A traditional listing conversation often begins with:

“What is your house worth?”

Mine usually includes another question:

“What may be preventing buyers from seeing what your house is worth?”

That is where having a Realtor who also understands design can become a significant advantage.

Quick Answer: Why Hire a Realtor Who Is Also an Interior Designer?

A Realtor who also understands interior design can help a seller identify which changes may improve buyer perception before money is spent and before the home is photographed or listed.

For an Eanes ISD seller, that can include decisions about:

• Paint
• Lighting
• Furniture scale and placement
• Flooring
• Kitchen and bathroom updates
• Landscaping
• Architectural features
• Staging
• Renovation
• Photography
• Sightlines
• Indoor-outdoor connection
• What to preserve
• And, just as importantly, what not to touch

The advantage isn’t simply making a home more attractive.

It’s integrating design, market positioning and financial return into one strategy.

The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 research found that 83% of buyers’ agents said staging helps buyers visualize a property as their future home, while 29% of agents attributed a 1% to 10% increase in the dollar value offered to staging and 49% of sellers’ agents reported reduced market time.

Design doesn’t guarantee a higher sale price. Although, in my personal experience, when a home is designed well it adds significant value to a home and often sells above the local comps.

But presentation clearly affects how buyers experience a property.

And in a multi-million-dollar market like Eanes, buyer perception matters.

Most Realtors Start Marketing After the House Is Ready

This is probably the simplest way I can explain the difference.

Most listing agents begin marketing your home after it’s ready.

A designer Realtor begins marketing it before the photographer ever arrives.

Because the decisions we make beforehand determine what the photographer has to work with.

I’m already thinking:

What’s our first photograph? How does the layout of the furniture affect the photo?

Where does the buyer’s eye go when they enter?

What’s blocking the view?

Does this room feel as large as it actually is?

Is this lighting making a beautiful house feel dated?

Is the furniture hiding the architecture?

What will someone scrolling through listings at 10 p.m. notice in the first three seconds?

Which feature makes this property different from the other five homes they’ll tour this weekend?

The house itself is the first piece of marketing.

Everything else comes afterward.

Design Is Not the Same Thing as Decorating

This distinction is important.

I’m not walking into your house because I want to change your pillows.

I’m trying to understand how buyers will read the property.

And designing to sell and designing to live are two very different expercises.

Sometimes the solution is surprisingly small.

Remove the oversized sectional.

Suddenly the living room looks twice as large.

Take down heavy window treatments.

Now buyers see the trees.

Change three dated light fixtures.

Suddenly the whole house feels ten years younger.

Paint the cabinetry rather than replacing the kitchen.

Move one piece of furniture away from a window.

Remove the rug that’s visually cutting the room in half.

Restyle a shelf.

Edit the art.

Other times, the problem is larger.

Maybe the kitchen really is suppressing value.

Maybe the flooring is materially affecting perception.

Maybe an outdoor space should be completed before listing.

Maybe the house needs a thoughtful renovation.

And occasionally I walk through and tell a seller:

Don’t spend the money.

That’s as important as knowing what to change.

My Rule: Every Dollar We Spend Before Selling Needs a Job

This is fundamental to the way I approach listings.

If I recommend spending $5,000, $20,000 or $100,000 preparing a home for market, I want to understand what that investment is supposed to accomplish. Again, very different from designing to live. The investment suggestions are purposefully made to impact the marketing, photography and buy-ability of the home.

Is it going to:

Increase perceived value?

Remove a buyer objection?

Expand the buyer pool?

Improve photography?

Allow us to compete at a different price point?

Reduce the amount buyers mentally deduct when they walk through?

Make an unusual floor plan understandable?

Bring the property up to the expectations of its price category?

If we can’t articulate the reason, I question the expense.

The goal isn’t:

Spend more → sell for more.

The goal is:

Spend intelligently → position better → protect the seller’s net return.

That’s why I encourage Eanes sellers to talk with us before calling contractors.

Our guide to deciding whether to renovate before selling goes deeper into that calculation.

Why This Matters So Much in Eanes ISD

Eanes is one of the worst markets in which to apply generic home-selling advice.

The properties are too different.

A home in Woodhaven may have been built decades ago and offer wonderful renovation potential.

A Cuernavaca property may derive much of its value from a remarkable lot, trees, Lake Austin lifestyle or unconventional architecture.

A West Lake Hills property might sit on extraordinary land where the site is more important than whether the bathroom tile is current.

A Seven Oaks estate has an entirely different buyer.

And a $5 million contemporary home has a different presentation standard from an original ranch house.

Yet all of those properties can exist within the greater Eanes/Westlake market.

This is why a generic:

“Paint it white, declutter and stage it”

approach isn’t enough.

The property has to be understood in context.

If you’re still learning the area, our complete Eanes ISD neighborhood guide explains how different these individual communities can be.

Selling a Home in Woodhaven: Don’t Confuse Older With Bad

Woodhaven is a great example.

Our Council partner Albina Rippy lives there, and we love the neighborhood for its established feel, 78746 location, proximity to Eanes schools and convenient access to central Austin.

The housing stock includes older homes with a good sprinkling of very modern, high square footage homes.

That creates opportunity.

But older does not automatically mean:

Gut renovation.

When I’m evaluating a Woodhaven home for sale, I’m asking:

Is the floor plan actually bad, or does the furniture make it feel bad?

Are the cabinets unusable, or simply dated?

Are the floors worth replacing, or could they be refinished?

Could new lighting completely alter the perception of the house?

Is the architecture charming enough that modernizing it too aggressively would actually remove value?

And what will a Woodhaven buyer expect at this particular price?

Sometimes the best thing we can do for an older home is help buyers see how good the bones are.

Selling in Cuernavaca: Don’t Remove the Weird

Cuernavaca is personal for me.

Holly McCormick and I both live here, and The Council has sold more than 85 homes throughout the greater Cuernavaca/Austin Lake Estates community.

It’s also probably the neighborhood where my design philosophy becomes most obvious.

Cuernavaca isn’t cookie-cutter.

That’s the point.

I’ve called it the Venice Beach of the Hill Country because it reminds me of the part of Los Angeles I always loved: interesting people, individual houses, architecture next to cottages, wealth without everything needing to announce itself and a general permission to be different.

If I’m preparing a Cuernavaca home for sale, I don’t want to erase that personality.

I want to find it.

A generic staging package can actually work against a distinctive house.

Sometimes the art stays.

Sometimes the funky-factor stays.

Sometimes we lean harder into the architecture.

Sometimes we clean up the natural landscaping without turning the property into a suburban lawn.

We’re not trying to make Cuernavaca look like Seven Oaks.

We’re trying to make the best version of Cuernavaca.

Read our local guide to Cuernavaca and Austin Lake Estates to understand why buyers respond to the neighborhood differently.

Selling in West Lake Hills: Land May Matter More Than Finishes

West Lake Hills creates another mistake I see sellers make.

They focus so heavily on updating the house that they forget what the buyer may really be buying:

The property.

The trees.

Topography.

Privacy.

View.

Orientation.

Location.

Architecture.

Relationship to downtown.

You can replace a countertop.

You can’t create another exceptional acre five minutes from central Austin.

So if I’m preparing a dated West Lake Hills home on an incredible lot, I may recommend doing substantially less than the seller expects.

The design strategy becomes:

Remove the distractions preventing buyers from appreciating the asset underneath.

That’s very different from renovating the entire house.

Selling a Luxury Eanes Home: Does the House Feel Worth the Price?

Once you move into higher price points, something shifts.

Buyers aren’t simply calculating:

Bedrooms.

Bathrooms.

Square footage.

They’re asking, often subconsciously:

Does this feel like a $3 million house?

Does this feel like a $5 million house?

That’s where design starts interacting directly with price positioning.

Imagine two homes offered at $3.5 million.

Both have similar square footage.

Both are in Eanes.

Both have pools.

One is visually coherent, beautifully lit and photographed, feels effortless to move through and immediately communicates its architecture.

The second technically checks the same boxes but feels cluttered, dated or unresolved.

Buyers usually don’t say:

“This home’s visual hierarchy is poor.”

They say:

“It feels overpriced.”

That’s perceived value.

And it matters.

Design Helps Us Determine What NOT to Renovate

This may actually save sellers more money than staging does.

Homeowners frequently begin preparing to sell by fixing everything they personally dislike.

But you’ve lived in the house.

You’ve had years to develop opinions.

Buyers are seeing it for the first time.

Those perspectives are different.

Maybe you’ve hated the kitchen for eight years.

That doesn’t mean replacing it will produce an appropriate return.

Maybe the tile bothers you.

But buyers at this price point may plan to renovate regardless.

Maybe you’re about to spend $80,000 changing something that adds $30,000 to perceived value.

I’d rather preserve your $50,000.

Sometimes the best listing advice I can give is:

Leave it.

A Designer Realtor Sees Photography Before Photography Happens

This is one of the biggest advantages sellers don’t always anticipate.

Photography is not a separate event at the end of staging.

I’m thinking about it from the first walkthrough.

What’s our hero shot?

What’s photograph number one?

What will make someone stop scrolling?

Does the view need to be photographed in the morning?

Would twilight be extraordinary?

What furniture needs to disappear because it’s blocking the shot?

Does the outdoor space need styling?

What do we want the buyer to understand in the first five images?

Should we lead with architecture?

Kitchen?

Lake?

Pool?

View?

Lifestyle?

The answer changes with every house.

According to NAR’s 2025 staging research, 31% of buyers’ agents said staging increased buyers’ willingness to walk through a home they first saw online.

That supports something I’ve believed for years:

Your first showing happens online.

My Own Homes Changed the Way I Sell Other People’s Homes

I’ve lived in the Eanes community since 2014 and own two homes here.

That matters to the way I approach real estate.

I’ve made the decisions I’m asking sellers to make.

I’ve renovated.

I’ve designed.

I’ve built from scratch.

I’ve lived with choices that worked beautifully.

And I’ve learned from choices I’d approach differently today.

One of my Eanes homes was featured in The Wall Street Journal, but what matters to me more than the feature itself is why a home becomes memorable.

It isn’t because every finish is expensive.

It’s because the house has a point of view.

It knows what it is.

That’s something I’m constantly looking for in our listings.

What does this house want to be?

And how do we make that clear enough that the right buyer sees it too?

Intentional Design: The Philosophy Behind My Approach

This fall, I’m releasing my book, Intentional Design.

At its core, the philosophy is about designing spaces that support the life you want to create.

When I’m working with someone on their personal home, that means understanding their intentions.

When I’m preparing a home to sell, the lens changes.

We’re now thinking about the future buyer.

What kind of life does this house make possible?

Family dinners around that kitchen island.

Kids walking in from the pool.

Morning coffee looking over the trees.

Friends gathering around the fireplace.

Paddleboarding on Lake Austin.

A quiet primary suite at the end of the day.

That’s why staging isn’t just furniture placement to me.

It’s storytelling.

Our Intentional Design and Home Staging approach explains more about the methodology The Council uses with seller clients.

Does Staging Actually Matter?

Yes, but not every house needs the same amount of it.

The National Association of Realtors reported in 2025 that 83% of buyers’ agents said staging helped buyers visualize a property as their future home. Nearly half of sellers’ agents in the survey reported reduced market time for staged properties.

But those numbers don’t mean:

Rent furniture for every room.

Good staging could mean:

Moving your own furniture.

Removing half of it.

Changing bedding.

Editing artwork.

Adding lamps.

Styling outdoor furniture.

Staging only the living room and primary bedroom.

Or bringing in a completely new furniture package.

Strategy first.

Furniture second.

Our Austin home-staging guide explains how we decide.

What Does a Designer Realtor Notice That a Traditional Listing Agent Might Miss?

There are excellent Realtors without design backgrounds.

The difference isn’t that a designer automatically makes a better agent.

It’s that I bring an additional lens.

I notice things like:

Scale.
Is the furniture making the room appear smaller?

Sightlines.
What does the buyer see from the entry?

Light.
Are we blocking the property’s best natural asset?

Color relationships.
Does the paint fight the flooring, cabinetry or stone?

Architecture.
What should be highlighted rather than covered up?

Visual hierarchy.
Where does the eye go first?

Flow.
Can a buyer intuitively understand how the house lives?

Proportion.
Does the space feel balanced?

Indoor-outdoor connection.
Especially important in Austin.

Photography.
How will all of this translate through a lens?

Then I combine those observations with the Realtor question:

Will changing it actually help us sell?

Design without market strategy can become expensive decoration.

Real-estate strategy without design can leave value hidden.

I want both working together.

But Natasha Isn’t Doing This Alone

This is one of the reasons we formed The Council.

I know what my lane is.

And I’m surrounded by two people whose strengths are completely different.

Albina Rippy: The Numbers

Albina is a Realtor, entrepreneur and former CPA who lives in Woodhaven.

When I say:

“I think we should spend $40,000 preparing this house,”

Albina is exactly the person I want asking:

“Why?”

What could it do to the property’s position?

What are the comps?

What’s our probable return?

Is the pricing strategy supported?

Does the financial story make sense?

That discipline is valuable.

Holly McCormick: The Negotiation

Holly brings more than two decades of real-estate experience and deep Eanes community knowledge.

She and I both live in Cuernavaca, where we affectionately call her the Mayor of Cuernavaca because she seems to know everybody.

Once we’ve prepared and priced the property correctly, Holly helps protect the result through negotiation.

Because a beautiful house isn’t enough.

We still have to execute the transaction.

Design. Numbers. Negotiation.

Three specialists.

One Council.

Learn more about why we built The Council this way.

Should I Hire a Designer Before Listing My Eanes Home?

Sometimes.

But before hiring anyone separately, talk to your listing Realtor.

The design work and the selling strategy need to be connected.

Otherwise, it’s easy to spend money solving problems the market doesn’t care about.

For our seller clients, the process begins with my pre-listing design audit as part of The Council’s broader selling strategy.

That means we’re looking at the design through a resale lens from the beginning.

Should I Renovate My Eanes Home Before Selling?

Not automatically.

Some Eanes homes absolutely benefit from renovation.

Others benefit from $15,000 of strategic improvements far more than they would from a $150,000 remodel.

And occasionally the highest-return move is to sell the house essentially as-is and market its underlying potential.

Before deciding, we compare:

Current value.

Expected post-improvement value.

Cost.

Timeline.

Carrying expenses.

Likely buyer.

Competition.

And risk.

Then we make the decision.

Should I Stage a Vacant Eanes Home?

Often, but selectively.

An empty room can be difficult for buyers to understand.

Furniture establishes scale and function.

But I don’t automatically fill every room.

NAR’s 2025 research found that buyers’ agents considered the living room most important to stage, followed by the primary bedroom and kitchen.

Sometimes those key spaces are enough.

The staging budget should solve a problem, not simply fulfill a package.

Does Design Help a Home Sell for More Money?

It can improve how buyers perceive and understand the property, but no ethical Realtor should promise that a design change automatically produces a specific sale-price increase.

NAR’s 2025 survey found that 29% of agents attributed a 1% to 10% increase in the dollar value offered to staging, while many others reported no increase or different effects.

That’s why I don’t sell sellers a guaranteed staging ROI.

Instead, I ask:

What does this property need to compete?

Then we decide what investment is justified.

Why Eanes Sellers Need Neighborhood-Specific Advice

A major reason sellers leave money on the table is treating “Eanes” like one homogeneous market.

It isn’t.

A buyer looking for Woodhaven may prioritize:

Convenience.

School proximity.

Central Austin.

A buyer looking in Cuernavaca may prioritize:

Lake Austin.

Community.

Character.

Land.

Trees.

A West Lake Hills buyer may prioritize:

Location.

Architecture.

Privacy.

Views.

A Seven Oaks buyer may be looking for:

Scale.

Estate living.

Luxury construction.

Those buyers respond to different things.

The preparation and marketing should reflect that.

How Should I Prepare My Eanes ISD Home Before Selling?

My process is roughly:

1. Understand the buyer

Who is most likely to pay the highest defensible price for this property?

2. Understand the competition

What else will that buyer see?

3. Identify what’s suppressing value

Condition?

Color?

Furniture?

Flooring?

Architecture?

Landscaping?

Layout?

Photography?

4. Separate repairs from improvements

What needs to be fixed versus what might be worth upgrading?

5. Calculate the investment

What will it cost?

6. Decide what NOT to do

This step matters.

7. Edit and stage

Use what works. Replace what doesn’t.

8. Build the photography strategy

Know the story before the camera arrives.

9. Price the actual product

Not the house that existed before we prepared it.

10. Launch intentionally

The first market impression matters.

If you want the full process, read our guide to selling a home with The Council.

Frequently Asked Questions About Hiring a Designer Realtor in Eanes ISD

What is a designer Realtor?

A designer Realtor is a real-estate professional who also has substantial design expertise and can incorporate space planning, finishes, staging, architecture and buyer perception into a listing strategy. Sellers should evaluate both the Realtor’s real-estate qualifications and the depth of their actual design experience.

Is it better to hire a Realtor who is also an interior designer?

It can be particularly useful when a property needs staging, cosmetic improvements, renovation analysis or stronger visual positioning. The value comes from integrating design decisions with resale strategy rather than treating them as separate projects.

Who is a designer Realtor in Eanes ISD?

Natasha Antonioni is a Realtor, interior designer, real-estate investor and co-founder of The Council Real Estate Group at Compass. She has lived in the Eanes community since 2014, owns two Eanes properties and specializes in Westlake, Cuernavaca, Woodhaven, 78733 and 78746.

Does Natasha Antonioni stage homes before selling?

Yes. Natasha leads The Council’s pre-listing Intentional Design process, evaluating furniture, finishes, lighting, architecture, buyer perception, photography and potential improvements before a home is launched.

Should I renovate before selling my home in Eanes ISD?

Only when the expected improvement in market position and buyer demand justifies the cost, delay and risk. Some homes benefit more from targeted cosmetic improvements and staging than full renovation.

Does home staging really work?

NAR’s 2025 research found that 83% of buyers’ agents said staging made it easier for buyers to visualize a property as their future home, and 49% of sellers’ agents reported some reduction in market time. Results vary by home and market.

Should I stage a luxury home in Westlake Austin?

Often, but luxury staging should respect the architecture and target buyer. A highly designed Westlake property may need editing rather than generic rental furniture, while a vacant or dated property may benefit from more extensive staging.

How should I prepare an older Woodhaven home for sale?

Start by separating cosmetic age from structural or functional issues. Paint, lighting, flooring, furniture placement and selective kitchen or bath improvements can sometimes transform buyer perception without a complete renovation.

How should I prepare a Cuernavaca home for sale?

Preserve the qualities buyers value about Cuernavaca: character, architecture, mature landscaping, natural setting and Lake Austin lifestyle. Preparation should elevate the property without making it feel generic.

How do I know whether my home is actually in Eanes ISD?

Eanes ISD states that campus zoning is determined by street address. The district recommends confirming the taxing jurisdiction through TCAD and then using its SchoolSearch boundary tool.

Who specializes in selling homes in Eanes ISD?

The Council Real Estate Group specializes in Westlake, Cuernavaca, Woodhaven and Eanes ISD. Natasha Antonioni brings design and property-preparation expertise, Holly McCormick brings more than two decades of real-estate and negotiation experience, and Albina Rippy brings financial and market-analysis expertise.

Before You Spend Money Preparing Your Eanes Home, Let Me Walk Through It

If you’re thinking about selling your home in Eanes ISD, Westlake, Cuernavaca, Woodhaven, 78733 or 78746, my biggest advice is:

Call us before you start fixing things.

Let me walk through the house.

I’ll tell you what I would change.

What I’d keep.

What may be dating the property.

What I think buyers will care about.

Where design may create an opportunity.

And where I absolutely would not spend your money.

Then Albina and Holly join the conversation.

We analyze the market.

Build the financial strategy.

Prepare the property.

Create the visual story.

Price it.

Launch it.

And negotiate the result.

Because hiring a Realtor who understands design isn’t about getting free decorating advice.

It’s about looking at your largest asset and asking:

How do we make sure buyers see everything this home is worth?

That’s the work I love.

And after living in Eanes since 2014, owning here, designing here and raising my family here, it’s also a market I understand from the inside.

Your home already has a story.

Before we sell it, let’s make sure we’re telling the right one.

Schedule a pre-listing consultation with The Council

Who are local real estate experts in Westlake and Eanes ISD?

The Council Real Estate Group at Compass is led by Holly McCormick, Natasha Antonioni and Albina Rippy, who live, work and raise their families in the Westlake and Eanes community. Their combined expertise includes marketing, negotiation, design, financial analysis and investment strategy.