Staging to Sell!

My business tag line has always been "Room for Change...where a little change, goes a long way". Never was this more true than these past few weeks as my friend Leann and I were getting her Zeeland home ready to sell.

She asked me for help with colors and any other suggestions that I might have to make the rooms in her house feel fresh, up-to-date and appealing to a young buyer. 

I didn't snap any before pics of the wall colors, which bums me out, and

nothing was terribly outdated to begin with- Just really warm colors (think golds and burnt reds/oranges). 

In fact, we could've left the wall colors and worked around it, but Leann was more than ready to change things up and wanted to feel good about leaving the new owners with freshly painted walls and a brand new start.

After the painter had done his job, it was then my turn to once again do mine.

Let the staging begin:

I asked Leann to haul out all the wonderful gems she had hiding in her crawl space and boy, did she ever. Score! Here's what I had to work with which was so fun and impressive.

Here are a few of the rooms I took pics of to remind me of what we needed to complete some of these spaces.

A shower curtain here:

Some art work and pillows there:

A few baskets to fill these bottom cubbies:

Another basket up here:

 Some new curtains, pillow and rug here:

 And away we went. We met a few days later at Target and loaded up two carts heaping full of accessories, window treatments, pillows and rugs. Cha-Ching! It added up quickly, but we knew the quick "K" we spent would pay off in dividends with a shorter listing time on the market. A couple hours and a couple cups of coffee later, the house felt complete and we were ready for business.

 New rug, lamp, drapes and pillows from Target and Walmart.

Below, we used what she had, but purchased two  baskets for the bottom shelf.

New basket and vase from Target.

 I had so much fun using the accessories Leann already had. We only purchased the two bottom baskets.

I had picked new wall colors throughout. This room used to be rust. We chose a more neutral palate, yet one that still coordinated with the rustic, inviting feel of this sunroom.

 We chose this new lamp, a few pillows for this room and new cubed ottomans.

 Here's the new shower curtain we found at Target. Just a few greens to warm it up and a few accessories to give it character.

 Found these prints-they were the perfect size.  (Waiting to be hung of course).

They had just completed a master bath remodel this past summer, so I can take no credit for this room but no doubt, this would be a high selling point for this home. It's beautiful!

 Spent about 3 minutes using the wonderful knick knacks she already had on this ladder style shelf.  This is her master bedroom.

Here's a shot of the dining/kitchen/sitting area from the top of the master bedroom suite steps.

I'm happy to report that she and Michael listed their house last week Wednesday and I received a text this afternoon (Monday) that it is SOLD!!!

Hip Hip Hooray! 
Now this weekend onto her new house to pick some custom colors there!

Let me know if you need help staging for selling or just for living. I do both. :)
Remember, there's always room for change!

Comments...

T & T-Kitchen Remodel!

Had a chance this week to snap pics of a recent kitchen remodel that I got to be a part of this past year.This project has been so much fun. (of course, it's always fun when you don't have to live in it, and pay for it), but nevertheless, it was fun for me!

I got to work with Tom and Tracy and their amazing vision which even took me out my comfort zone at times. 

They are meticulous, thorough, easy to work with homeowners who were looking for direction in updating their kitchen which I believe hadn't been tweaked for 14 plus years?

This is where we began.

We took it from "just a little bit country".,,,,

 "to a little bit rock and roll"!

Initially they were asking for my input in maybe keeping their original white thermafoil cabinets and tweaking the rest of the surrounding selections.  During our original meet and greet, we tossed around some "good, better, best" scenarios, and eventually, consented to the 'best'. :)

We had Gary Binder from Kitchen Tune-up replace their cabinet doors, and had the original cabinet bases refinished. We left the existing layout, but replaced appliances, countertops, backsplash, flooring, hardware, fixtures and plumbing and paint. 

Phew!! 

Pretty much every surface received some attention. 

I loved working with T & T because of their motivation to research their options.  I gave them my bossy opinions along with suggestions and direction for how to stay true to the overall feel they were going for...we called it urban rustic. They were the ones we once I pointed them down a certain path, ran with it. 

They were eager to keep the project moving and we would meet every few weeks to narrow down selections, move forward with the next set of decisions and get things ordered.  

I'm sure they spent countless hours researching and did a great job printing out pics of things they were drawn to. I don't think I veto'd anything they showed me but I will admit, the backsplash tile had me worried. I was afraid it wouldn't be timeless enough, but I told them last week, it's now one of my favorite elements of the room and I love it!

Good reminder to me that in life, it's ok to take a few risks!

Here's another before:

BEFORE:

Lights were from The Lighting Corner.

Barstools, wall art, dining table, and sideboard are from UBU in Grandville.

Floor tile, (yes, that's tile, not wood), counters and tile for backsplash all came from Duca in Holland. (Love that place. Shout out to Donna, Tim and Jacob)!

 BEFORE:

AFTER:

They sold their oak table on Craigslist. And they're so happy with the clean aesthetic of the new dining area.

BEFORE

Oh, I almost forgot to mention, me and my bossy ways somehow convinced Tom that he should paint the oak trim in the kitchen. This was originally not up for grabs but I persisted, negotiated, pleaded and begged and he did an amazing job!!! Painted all the trimwork himself!!! (Did I mention he's meticulous and thorough)?! Yeah, Tom!

He might've been cursing my name in the thick of it, but I think he could admit now that he does love the finished look. 

He had so much fun in the kitchen, that he proceeded right on into the main floor half bath!

And another shameless Room for Change plug, they added one of my handpainted signs in their back entry welcoming them HOME.

Stayed tuned for more posts regarding this dynamic duo. They must not be sick of me yet 'cause we've got an amazing master bed and bath makeover in the works right now too!

Comments...