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 Dining Room After Staging
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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