Home stager and designer Jovana Brenner turns listings into homes buyers can picture themselves in, backed by 12+ years inside the Chicago real estate market she's staging for.
Few stagers have also closed $100M+ in real estate deals. That's the eye she brings to every walkthrough.
•Showings have slowed down, or never really started.
•You've walked through your own house and can't quite see it the way a buyer would.
•Your agent, a friend, and Pinterest all have an opinion, and none of them agree.
•Or nothing's really wrong, a room just doesn't work, and you're not sure what's actually worth fixing.
Left alone, that usually turns into a price cut, a listing that quietly goes stale, or a room you just end up avoiding. A walkthrough before any of that happens is free, and it tells you exactly what you're actually dealing with, before you spend a dollar fixing the wrong thing.
People's homes are her passion. Staging, design, and closing real deals all come from the same place: knowing exactly what makes a house work, and what's actually worth fixing before it goes on the market.
About Jovana
Staging and design, sharpened by years in real estate.
Jovana Brenner stages, designs, and sells homes across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, including Burr Ridge and Willow Springs. A background in journalism trained her eye early: what a room says, and what it needs to say to sell. Formal design coursework and a home staging certification turned that eye into a craft.
What makes her different is what she notices that most stagers or designers can't. She's also a licensed Chicago broker, with over 12 years of experience and more than $100 million in closed real estate transactions, so every staging and design recommendation is informed by real experience helping buyers and sellers navigate the market. Clients come to her for the numbers. They stay for how easy she is to work with.
Raised in the southwest suburb of La Grange and at home in nearly every corner of Chicago since, Jovana grew up around real estate. Her family spent years investing in and developing property, and that's where her love of houses started. Whether you're preparing a home to sell, updating the space you're already in, relocating, downsizing, settling an estate, or working through a major life transition, she helps clients create rooms that work, protect the value of the property, and move forward with confidence.
Certified Home Stager12+ Years Experience$100M+ ClosedResidential · Commercial · RentalLicensed IL Broker
What Jovana offers
Staging first. Design close behind.
Home staging, interior design, and residential real estate, three disciplines most people hire out separately, all handled by one person who actually knows the property.
Staging
Home staging
Hands-on staging that creates a strong first impression, sharper listing photos, and a home buyers can actually picture themselves in, the single biggest lever for standing out in a competitive market and getting a listing sold faster.
1 to 10% higher sale price on average, per NAR (2025)
Design
Interior design
Moved in a while ago and it still doesn't feel finished? Room layouts, furniture sourcing, and styling, drawing on a European, cottage-inspired sensibility, so every room feels intentional and actually works, not just decorated. Available on its own, independent of any listing, scoped and quoted per project, for clients who want to love where they live.
Brokerage
Buying & selling
12+ years as a licensed Chicago broker is what makes her staging advice worth listening to. She represents buyers and sellers directly, with local market expertise, real negotiating experience, and guidance through every step of the transaction, on top of knowing exactly what buyers, inspectors, and agents actually notice.
Why JovanaHome
Most stagers focus on presentation. Most brokers focus on the transaction.
Jovana does both. As a licensed Chicago broker with over 12 years of experience and more than $100 million in closed sales, she knows exactly what buyers notice, what creates hesitation, and what actually helps a home stand out.
Recent work
Staged, styled, sold.
Follow along
Design and real estate, in your feed.
New listings, staging transformations, and design inspiration, posted regularly on Instagram.
Most homeowners end up managing three separate relationships: a stager, a designer, and an agent. Jovana is all three, and staging and design are where she starts. She's the one walking through your home telling you what to fix and how to style it, backed by real estate experience that knows exactly what buyers and inspectors notice. One person who actually knows the property, start to finish.
My house has been sitting on the market with barely any showings. Can staging actually fix that?
It depends on why showings stopped. Sometimes it's presentation, sometimes it's price, sometimes both. What staging can fix is making sure presentation isn't the reason a buyer scrolls past your listing or walks through without connecting. The walkthrough is where we figure out which one you're actually dealing with, before you spend anything.
What's actually included in Jovana's staging and design work?
They're different services. Staging is for a home about to hit the market: a full walkthrough, a room-by-room plan, and hands-on styling before photos and showings go live, using pieces sourced or rented specifically for the sale. Design is for a home you're staying in, no listing required: room layouts, furniture sourcing, and styling built around pieces you'll actually keep. Jovana is a certified home stager, so the staging side carries a real credential behind it, not a side hobby.
Is the initial consultation free?
Yes. The first walkthrough and conversation about your goals, whether you're buying, selling, staging a home to sell, or looking for design help, doesn't cost anything. Once you're past that, staging and design work is scoped and quoted based on the property, separate from brokerage. Nothing gets added without you seeing the number first.
Is staging or design included for free when I list with Jovana?
The consultation is free. The work isn't, and that's by design: a stager with no budget on the line has nothing keeping them accountable to the results.
How much does home staging typically cost, and how much value does it add?
Industry data (NAR, 2025) shows professionally staged homes average a 1-10% increase in sale price and often sell faster, with a typical national staging investment around $1,500. Jovana quotes every project individually once she's seen the space. Try the below for an estimate based on your own home.
How experienced is Jovana?
12+ years in Chicago real estate, with more than $100 million in closed residential and commercial transactions. She's been part of the top-producing team at the @properties Goose Island office for five years running, and hit 150% of her sales goal in 2025. It's the experience behind every staging and design call she makes.
Does Jovana only handle residential deals, or commercial and rentals too?
All three. Jovana is licensed in Illinois for residential, commercial, and rental transactions, so whether it's a first home, an investment property, or an office or retail space, it's one call.
How do I get started?
Book a Free Staging Consultation, call or text the office, or send a message through the contact form below.
Get in touch
Let's talk about your space.
Whether you're preparing to sell, redesigning a space, planning a move, or working through a major life transition, Jovana would be happy to help. Tell her a bit about the property or the room, and she'll reply personally, usually within a day.
BrokerJovana Brenner, The Gold Group
Brokerage@properties Christie's International Real Estate
OfficeGoose Island, 806 N. Peoria St, Suite 100, Chicago, IL 60642
Answer three questions to see the projected payoff, price lift minus staging cost, before deciding whether to stage.
$
Your projected payoff
Here's the estimate
Based on national staging outcomes and typical staging costs for a home this size.
Typical net gain after staging cost
$0
based on a 5% typical price lift
Scenario
Price lift
Staging cost
Net gain
On time to sell: nationally, nearly half of sellers' agents report staged homes spend less time on market than comparable unstaged ones. That benefit isn't in the dollar figures above, but it's real.
Sources: National Association of Realtors, 2025 Profile of Home Staging (price lift and time on market), and HomeGuide's Home Staging Cost guide (typical staging cost ranges), 2026. Figures are national averages for illustration, not an appraisal or a guarantee.
