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Home Stager with Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA

DOM= less than one. Yep, its true. My crew and I staged a cute, vacant California Cottage in Silverlake, CA (a suburb of Los Angeles) on the Thursday before Christmas. We finished staging at about 5 PM. The homeowner (our client) was thrilled with the result. I wanted to come back the next day to bring a couple more throw pillows that I thought would be the perfect finishing touch on the window seat. I was informed by the Listing Agent that she had 3 showings scheduled the next morning so we would have to come after 12 noon. The first man who saw the house liked it so much, that he wanted to bring his wife back right away. She immediately fell in love with it and they made a full price offer.

Dining room before staging by Moving Mountains DesignDining room after staging by Moving Mountains Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dining Room Before Staging                                           Dining Room After Staging

  living room before staging by Moving Mountains Designliving room after staging by Moving Mountains Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Living room before and after staging

 

We fondly refer to it as the Hollywood Hills Hipster House. A previous owner had been a fashion designer and an artist had been the last tenant. The current owner was also an artist (sculptor and installation artist). The house definitely had a certain playful artistic flair. There were stained glass & bronze Moroccan lanterns in the living room and master bedroom. The kitchen was painted black & white with a black and white checkerboard tile floor.

Kitchen after staging by Moving Mountains Design

Keeping in mind that the potential buyer of this very nice and very quirky home would be someone who embraced the "Hollywood Hills/Silverlake lifestyle", we toned down some of the more "out there" elements while embracing the more interesting ones.

kitchen detail after staging by Moving Mountains Design

We used the accent color of orange throughout the kitchen which played very nicely off of the black & white

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 In the master bedroom, the two hanging Moroccan lanterns dictated the placement of the bed and precluded the use of table lamps on either side of the bed.Master bedroom before staging by Moving Mountains DesignMaster bedroom after staging by Moving Mountains Design

 

 

 

 

 

The pillows on the bed & the wall hanging over the bed were purchased specifically for this job to keep the eclectic/ethnic flow throughout the house. The Persian rug really tied it all together.

 

One of the biggest challenges this project presented was a small bedroom that had almost wall to wall shelves, the interiors of which were painted Robin's Egg Blue.Small bedroom after staging by Moving Mountains DesignBookcase detail after staging by Moving Mountains Design

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I decided to play up the blue interior of the bookshelf instead of trying to mask it. We covered all the books with white wrapping paper so that they would look more like art objects.

Michelle Minch Professional Stager of the Year Nominee

 

I am honored to have been nominated as RESA Professional Stager of the Year 2007. Voting is open to the public. You may vote for me here. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and click "vote now". Then just click on the circle next to my name (Michelle Minch;-)) and click "vote".

Wishing you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

Michelle Minch, President of Moving Mountains Design, located in Pasadena, CA, is the RESA Regional VP for California, Nevada and Hawaii. We specialize in staging homes in Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia, and Los Angeles. Contact Michelle to learn how our staging & marketing expertise can help you sell your listing or home faster and for more money (626)441-8975.

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Los Angeles Real Estate Staging

2019 RESA Top 10 Professional Home Stager Vacant

2015 RESA Professional Stager of the Year

2014 RESA Top 10 Professional Home Stager

2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year

Michelle has staged thousands of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.

She works with home sellers, listing agent, builders, flippers and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles and North Orange County.

Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations,  and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs, foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers. Builders hire us to stage their models or to help move inventory when sales slow down.

For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.

Click here to see our Los Angeles home staging portfolio

Click here to go to our Los Angeles home staging blog

Click here for more information about home staging in Los Angeles and how we can help sell your home faster and for the best price

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Comments (58)

Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

Michelle,  I always love to see your work.  All your rooms looks fabulous! Looks like it was a fun project. I wrap books in bookcases all the time... I either turn the covers inside out or use scrap booking paper. Its always makes a good picture.

Congratulations on your nomination, you deserve it.

Margaret Gehr, Re-Arrange It Interiors, IL 

Jan 03, 2008 01:47 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Thanks Margaret. Good idea about turning the covers inside out. I never thought of that.
Jan 03, 2008 02:01 PM
Bradley Kress
Restaged2sell.com -Re Stage to Sell - Saint Clair Shores, MI
CSP, Interior/Exterior Redesigner

Michelle,

Great pictures, nice work.  Have you had formal home staging training?

 

Brad 

 

Jan 03, 2008 02:02 PM
Hayley Harris
Essential Key Home Staging & Property Styling - Las Vegas, NV

Superb Job!  Wonderful before and after photo's!  I truely do love your style, you just seem to get the less is more element bang on every time!  This work is a real credit to you, big pat on the back!

 

 

Jan 03, 2008 02:09 PM
Lori Kim Polk
Premiere Home Staging : Home Staging Services - Roseville, CA
Home Stager - Roseville, Sacramento
Whooohooo! Another fabulous Staging my friend!  Just wait until the house sells "during" the staging. Yes, it will happen.  Thank goodness we have minimums.  These are excellent stats for you and our industry.  I am so happy for you :)
Jan 03, 2008 02:14 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Thank you Brad. I am a graduate of the Home Staging Resource program. It has served me very well & I highly recommend it. I am getting my PhD at the best post-graduate school around: Active Rain.

Haley: Thank you, that is very kind of you. We'll have to talk about Austrailia some time. It is one of my favorite places. Good on you, Mate.

Thanks, LKP. I was speechless when I found out (and you know for me, that is pretty rare). I thought the homeowner was joking.

Jan 03, 2008 02:53 PM
Lori Gilmore
One Savvy Move - Joliet, IL
One Savvy Move Home Staging
Michelle -- BEAUTIFUL WORK!  The staging highlights the fantasic features of the home. . . some of your best work!  Do they have a spare room?!?!?  I want to move in too!
Jan 04, 2008 05:28 AM
Mark Hicken
Advantage Home Solutions LLC - Long Beach, CA

These pictures look great!  How much did this staging cost?  I am an investor thinking about staging a house I have up for sale and I'm trying to get an idea how much home staging services run. 

Jan 04, 2008 08:25 AM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA

Lori: Thank you. There was actually a guest studio/office over the garage in a separate building. It was really a sweet place. As Professional Stagers, we don't always get to stage in a way that we would necessarily like to live. This project was different. This is definitely right up my alley.

Mark: The cost of staging varies from state to state, city to city, even neighborhood to neighborhood. It would be difficult to say how much staging would be in your area without knowing where you are. I never discuss the cost of a project I staged for someone else, as I feel that is information that belongs to my client. If they want to discuss it, I have no problem. Otherwise, I believe in protecting their privacy.

Jan 04, 2008 11:35 AM
Michael Greenslade
Better Homes & Gardens | Mason-McDuffie Real Estate - San Leandro, CA
Congrats on being nominated RESA 2007 Stager of the Year.  Good Luck.
Jan 04, 2008 12:37 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Thank you, Michael. Please be sure to vote. Voting is open to all. I see you are an architecutral history buff. Are you familiar with the designer/builder Hugh Comstock in Carmel? He is my favorite Storybook Style house builder. Although I would probably never live in a Storybook house (Spanish Revival is my thing) I love to look at them.
Jan 04, 2008 12:54 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Thank you so much, Diane.
Jan 04, 2008 01:24 PM
No Longer Available
White Rock, BC

Michelle,  Wow, this is outstanding.  Your work is so impressive! 

Congrats on your nomination as well, you deserve it for sure.  You are professional in every sense of the word.

Jan 05, 2008 05:02 AM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Thank you, Joelle. I'm glad you like it.
Jan 05, 2008 05:13 AM
Jo Potvin
Design To Market LLC - Cincinnati, OH
Home Staging Cincinnati - Design To Market
The creativity and flair you bring to the job is yet again evident in this project.  This really grabbed me.  It was a job incredibly well done and the pay off of such an amazing success story is the icing on the cake!
Jan 06, 2008 11:04 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Thanks, Jo. I'm blushing.
Jan 07, 2008 01:18 AM
Marla Hofstee
Design by Marla - Burbank, CA
Design by Marla- Home Staging, Burbank & Los Angeles, CA

Michelle,

 

I admire you and your work.  I can only hope to be as successful as you.  : )

Jan 07, 2008 12:17 PM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Marla: That is such a nice thing to say. Thank you. We are so close, we should get together for lunch.
Jan 07, 2008 01:15 PM
Marla Hofstee
Design by Marla - Burbank, CA
Design by Marla- Home Staging, Burbank & Los Angeles, CA
Yes, we are.  I would like that.  Will I see you tomorrow at the SIF roundtable?
Jan 08, 2008 03:44 AM
Michelle Minch
Moving Mountains Design Home Staging, Pasadena, CA - Los Angeles, CA
Home Staging Los Angeles and Orange County, CA
Marla: Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to attend. I am having a gas line and furnace installed in my new warehouse on Wednesday. They are supposed to come in the morning. If they are finished early enough, I will shoot down to the OC. Otherwise, I will have to make the next one.
Jan 08, 2008 04:22 AM