This may seem like a strange job for a home stager, but I sort of “fell into” this line of work when I was asked to “stage” the common spaces in one of these properties for an inspection (read more about that here). That turned into a wonderful partnership with American Communities, with whom I’ve now worked on four separate projects (Witmer Heights, Carondelet Court, The Hobart and The Ardmore).  Since this type of work is so rewarding, I have been working to expand this part of my business and have now completed two projects with another developer, Abode Communities (Casa Dominguez and now Ivy Terrace).

I have been remiss in posting about Casa Dominguez, which garnered a good amount of attention for being the first LEED platinum certified affordable housing project in LA).

So this will be a 2-for-1 post about both Casa Dominguez and my latest project Ivy Terrace.

Casa Dominguez

For Casa Dominguez, located in East Rancho Dominguez, we were asked to bring in furniture, art and accessories for the entry, reception area and common room. We also furnished several offices and small conference rooms with office furniture and art. Since this was a green building, we went with a theme of natural materials in our use of artwork. Several metal and wood pieces were used (in addition to canvas art) to tie the spaces together.

As residents enter the building, they are greeted with beautiful art and plants.

Entry

The reception area offers comfortable seating in a beautiful surrounding while residents and potential residents wait to speak with management.

Reception Area

Reception Area

Reception Area

The community room offers a space for residents to meet and take part in on-site tutoring and classes.

Community Room

Community Room

Ivy Terrace

We have just completed work on Ivy Terrace in Van Nuys, where we were asked to furnish the reception area, a conference room, computer lab and several offices for management. Our theme for Ivy Terrace was to create the feeling of living in a garden.

As residents wait to speak with the on-site manager, bright reds and floral colors provide a welcoming feeling. Large comfortable chairs provide comfort and style.

Reception Area

For small meetings and classes, residents can take advantage of this bright and cheery conference room.

Conference Room

We couldn’t leave out the people who work here, so we brought in contemporary floral art for all the management offices as well.

Manager's Office

Finally the community room provides an open space for classes, meetings and resident gatherings.

Community Room

We are looking forward to working on many more of these affordable housing projects with these wonderful developers. Nothing could be more rewarding than designing spaces for such a deserving but often overlooked segment of the population.

Disclaimer: Please note that Stage to Sell is not involved with the design or architecture of the buildings themselves, or even – in most cases – picking finishes (with the exception of some paint colors). Stage to Sell chooses furniture, art and accessories only.

As things go in the “small world” of Los Angeles real estate, the buyer’s agent for that property loved my work and hired me to stage one of his listings…and another and another. That agent has been a steady client ever since and tells me he won’t take a listing unless the seller agrees to have me stage it! Aren’t those type of clients the BEST?

So last week this agent calls to tell me that his clients (the ones that bought that Santa Monica townhome) are now selling, and it was time for me to “work my magic” again! It’s not often we get a second chance to stage the same home, so I was excited – especially since it was such a great experience the last time! We both agreed not to mess with success (so to speak) and to keep the basics the same in terms of furniture placement, but I just had to mix it up a bit.

Check out these photos of the home how I staged it in 2008 and now how it looks today. Which do you prefer?

View from 2nd floor 2008

View from 2nd floor 2010

Living/Dining Room 2008

Living/Dining Room 2010

Dining Room 2008

Dining Room 2010

Master Bedroom 2008

Master Bedroom 2010

Office 2008

Office 2010

Guest Room 2008

Guest Room 2010

Master Bath 2008

Master Bath 2010

631 N. Martel, Los Angeles. MLS#10-463635

Call today for a showing! 323-697-5157

827 Wilson Place, Santa Monica

Contact Revi Mendelsohn at 310-963-7384 for a showing. Hurry, this one will go fast!

We knew immediately why this home wasn’t selling. Despite its beautiful bones and spacious rooms, the layout confused even the most savvy buyer. With a very long and narrow living room, a small space right off the living room that no one knew what to do with, and 3 connected bedrooms on the top floor, buyers were stumped. All it took was the right furniture to help them figure it out.

In the long living room, we created two distinct seating areas – one to take advantage of the beautiful fireplace, and the other to be the TV watching area. Suddenly the spaciousness of the room didn’t feel so overwhelming.

Oh, and that awkward space off the living room (visible above through the opening)? Now it’s a library/office – a bonus to any home.

Now for the 3 adjoining rooms upstairs. When this home was built, they added doors that led from one room right into the next, and planned for those doors to stay open for light and flow and to give the space a suite feel. But for today’s buyers, that equates to fewer bedrooms (if indeed it’s used as a suite) and less privacy.

Since putting a lock on the middle door wasn’t an option, we used a door stopper to make sure the doors remained closed during showings. The 3rd room that was attached to the middle bedroom was very small, so we decided to stage it as a playroom off of a young child’s room. Now the open nature of that bedroom to the playroom seems more of a feature than a deterrent to buyers.

See the double doors to the left of the bed? Those lead into the adjacent bedroom, so we closed them off with a door stopper.

The master bedroom didn’t really need much help at all. This is a very large and bright room. We simply brought in the furniture, art and accessories to showcase it properly. Mission accomplished!

Now we’re just waiting to hear that this beautiful home is SOLD!

Here is a testimonial from the Realtor. I’ll admit I got a little teary reading this one.

“I can’t say enough about Annie…not only is she a real professional, she goes beyond the call of duty… This home was vacant and the seller was out of state, so all the correspondence was conducted via email, and having a very particular seller, details were a big part of it…She did not disappoint either myself or my seller!  The staging was done on time and our first Broker’s open brought out a huge turnout due to the fabulous photos that I was able to post after the staging was complete in enough time to tantalize the buyers. We had four offers right away and it was in escrow within 5 days of hitting the market, I say that’s a REAL SUCCESS STORY! Thank you Annie once again for making me look good and doing what I promise my clients, have the home in the best condition you can, and they will come! Looking forward to the next opportunity to work with you!”

-Claudia Border, GRI

Due to its proximity to UCLA, it is probable that this two bedroom condo might be purchased by a UCLA student (or his/her parents) for use while the student is in school. For this reason, we made sure it felt as if there was plenty of room for a bed and a desk in both bedrooms, in case the buyer wants to rent out the second bedroom to another student.

As a professional home staging company, it is crucial that we take into account who the target buyer is for any property. Then we must make sure that our furniture choices will appeal directly to the chosen demographic and make the property irresistable to our target audience!

Here are photos of this fabulous condo.

Living Room After

Living Room After

Dining Room After

Master Bedroom After

Master Bedroom After

Master Bath After

Guest Room After

Guest Bedroom After

Guest Bath After

Property Address: 1840 Camden Ave #106, Los Angeles, CA 90025

Price:   $418,900

MLS #: 10-453691

Listed by: Regner Globus, Amazing Grace & Assoc. 310-476-7722

Living Room After

Family Room After

Dining Room After

Master Bedroom After

2nd Bedroom After

Property Address: 12041 Clover Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90066

Price:   $769,000

MLS #:  10-453409

Listed by: Elizabeth Puro, Teles Properties 424-202-3249

Case in point: our latest Staging job at 1533 South Point View.

The Realtor (who is flipping this home) called me after reviewing – by her estimation – 15 different Stager websites! I was very flattered that she chose Stage to Sell.

She is a huge believer in Staging (don’t you LOVE clients who already “get” us and what we do??) and knew that this home would sell quickly and for top dollar only if it was Staged.

Here are the “after” photos of our work.

When I visited the home, I fell in love with it. Sure there was some deferred maintenance that would have to be addressed, but the height, the light and the materials were to die for!

Now the only problem became what type of furnishings to use with this style of architecture. I needed inspiration. Luckily the agent, Mary Young of Prudential in Santa Monica, tracked down these amazing pictures of the home in 1975 when it was photographed for a magazine!

Now the gold shag carpet in the living room probably wouldn’t appeal to today’s buyer, but seeing the home in its former glory really got my creative juices flowing.

Here’s our modern interpretation of this 1970s classic. According to the agent, 200 Realtors came to yesterday’s Broker’s Open House. Looks like this one won’t last long!

Photography by Michael McCreary