Capitol Hill Fabulous

This house is stunning and most likely pending by now but we still wanted to share its beauty

The listing is by Doreen Alhadeff for Compass and the marvelous staging is by us gals at Open House.

Day in the Life of a Stager Girl

Even when we are crazy busy we still find time for fun. A huge luxury is sitting down for 5 minutes to decompress. Here is a snap shot of our staging days.

And today, we are waiting on the forgotten dining room table back at the warehouse…

And if the sun is out no matter the time of year we will find an excuse to be in it!

We are barely ready to take on another big week. Starting to feel the market letting loose…homes are selling! Good things are happening out there.

Pretty Little House

We love staging for Team Diva Real Estate. Complete creative freedom! We get to figure out how to show case all the sweet things about this home.

Listing by Team Diva Real Estate, photographs by John Wilbanks at JW Photo and that great staging you see is by us at Open House. 

Stop by our SHOP to see where we get our fab pieces.

Capitol Hill Fabulous

I want these photos on my blog forever. This is a lovingly restored old home in one of Seattle's coveted neighborhoods. The home owner wanted to take it with her to her new city and I get it. I would as well. The sun porches are to die for, the views are spectacular and the finishes are enviable. 

The listing is by Cathy Millan for Windermere Real Estate and that fabulous staging that you see is all us! 

Will this help convince you?

Here in Seattle we often hear "In this market our house will sell itself". Sure it will but we are confident you will be selling it for less without proper marketing. Part of your marketing should include staging. Will these stats convince you to stage?

Yes! The Market is Hot but you still need to go the distance

We hear it all the time. "The market is so hot that my house will sell itself". My sister and I are in hundreds of homes consulting and staging. We are blown away when we get resistance to painting out the red dining room that was hot in the 90's, the sponge painting of the bedrooms, the wallpaper border that trails around the room. Yes, it was great back in the day but it will not do the job of appealing to a larger group of potential buyers. I know you only need 1 buyer but appeal to many so that you can help drive up the price of your home.

If you want to make the most money selling possibly the largest asset you have then follow the exercise below:

 1. Grab you're smart phone or camera and head to the front of of house. 

2. Take photos of the front yard, side yard and back yard.

3. Head inside your home and do the same for each room.

4. Review each photo and make a list of what your potential buyers will see and where you need to make changes. Voila! the beginning of your "to-do" list.

Your goal is to make it look like your home has been well maintained and loved.

The next steps are equally important:

1. LET GO OF YOUR HOME. IT NOW NEEDS TO TURN INTO A PRODUCT TO BE MERCHANDISED AND MARKETED. (that is if you want top dollar)

2. LISTEN TO THE ADVICE AND EXPERIENCE OF YOUR AGENT. (they are well trained, well connected and have their finger on the market)

3. MAKE A LIST OF RECOMMENDED REPAIRS IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE AND START THE WORK. (refer to that well connected agent of yours for help with professionals) 

This sells:

This does not:

Where am I?

Ballard!! Had to take a moment to photograph this fun building. It is a pleasure to see such playfulness-a reminder to not take oneself too seriously.

A favorite topic of mine

Real Estate photos can often give you a laugh. Hooked on Houses blog has a few here for you.

Cape Cod

Cape Cod Style via Wikipedia

A Cape Cod cottage is a style of house originating in New England in the 17th century. It is traditionally characterized by a low, broad frame building, generally a story and a half high, with a steep, perfectly pitched roof with end gables, a large central chimney and very little ornamentation. Traditional Cape Cod houses were very simple: symmetrically designed with a central front door surrounded by two multi-paned windows on each side. Homes were designed to withstand the stormy, stark weather of the Massachusetts coast. Modern Cape Cod architecture still draws from colonial designs.

Sister Ex recently travelled to Cape Cod and sent me some pics. She knows I would rather see photos of the homes than a photo of her... and I think she's okay with that!

In Washington State the Cape Cod style home would be more commonly found in the San Juan Islands.

Staging Capitol Hill

 

This was a cute kids area on the 4th level. It had a hang-out area with bedrooms on either side.

A wonderful listing by Windermere's Cathy Millan.

My Inspiration

{countryliving}

So fun to run into this photo online. This is the inspiration for painting my dining room table a high gloss light blue, the chairs a high gloss white and the upholstery different on the end chairs. When I went in search of the discontinued Martha Stewart paint color I found out that it is actually a GREEN! So I went in search of my own blue.

Would love to dazzle you even more with professional photographs. But you get the idea. Love that I took a risk-believe me it was scary. If the blue clashes with one of my sets of china then I add a cool heavy upholstery-grade white vinyl table cloth. It creates a modern twist with the ornate-ness of it all.

My dining set was found at auction by Lisa Gleason. It was a 70's stained wood with red crushed velvet upholstery.