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

As any professional Home Stager will tell you, we spend probably a quarter of our work week in the car, driving all over town from one listing to another, and back and forth to our storage facilities. So I was incredibly psyched to be able to Stage a  home right down the block. I even gave this client a really good deal on the price for the convenience factor. Budget was an issue for her, but for my own sake as well as hers, I wanted to make sure I did everything in my power to keep both our property values high!

This home is a gorgeous mid-century design, with beautiful built-ins and a stunning fireplace. The layout would be confusing to buyers if the property were shown empty because of the very long living room that’s divided by the fireplace wall. By placing appropriately scaled furniture in just the right arrangement, it will now appeal to even the most particular buyer!

Oh, and when we were almost finished Staging, but didn’t have quite the right vases for the coffee table, we just walked down the street and picked them up. How great is that?!

Living Room Before

Today it’s a whole different story. Now no buyer could say this space doesn’t exude warmth.

Living Room After

If you are selling a vacant home in Los Angeles, and buyers aren’t biting, call Stage to Sell, your Los Angeles Home Staging Professionals, to add warmth and bring in those offers!

The townhome had been painted and remodeled, so we had a great canvas to work with! Unfortunately the awkward layout of the living room, a not-so-neutral paint color, and a seemingly unusable loft space above the second bedroom were making it difficult for buyers to fall in love with the home.

Living Room Before

Without furniture, the living room felt tiny. The awkwardly placed fireplace didn’t help. Our first order of business was to make this space feel large enough for a regular living room set so buyers could see themselves entertaining in the space.

Living Room After

Properly scaled furniture made the space feel open and inviting and didn’t shut off views to the dining room. Relocating some installed surround sound speakers in the niche above the fireplace allowed us to put in a 46″ faux plasma TV so buyers could imagine themselves snuggling up in front of the TV for a relaxing evening at home. And with furniture in the space, the built-in wine cabinet didn’t feel like an afterthought.

Master Bedroom Before

This bedroom was fairly large and had beautiful built-in cabinets (not shown), but the purple color on the walls felt a bit too taste-specific for most buyers.

Master Bedroom After

Since there was no budget to paint, we brought in a black, white and silver color scheme to neutralize the space.

Guest Room Before

The guest room was small, mainly because of the spiral staircase that took up a good chunk of the usable space.

Guest Room After

By using a daybed with a smaller footprint, this guest room now feels spacious and functional.

Loft Before

What buyer wouldn’t love to have a bonus room in a 2-bedroom townhome? Unfortunately the sloping ceiling made this room feel like its only possible function could be storage.

Loft After

Luckily Stage to Sell came to the rescue with some properly scaled office furniture that gave this space a whole new lease on life!

Well our hard work has paid off. This townhome is now in escrow with a backup offer!

Congratulations to the owner and Realtors on a quick sale.

Yes I said 500 square feet! The home consisted of a tiny living room, a small bedroom and bath and a surprisingly large kitchen (for such a tiny home).

Now if you’ve ever read any of my other posts on Staging loft style spaces, I’m always saying there are 3 important things that buyers are thinking about when they walk into a small or an open floor plan type space:

1) Where will I eat?

2) Where will I watch TV?

and

3) Where will I work?

If you can’t show a buyer a space for each of these 3 things they are never going to purchase the home.

Well you may have noticed I didn’t mention a dining room in this place, so #1 was something to be tackled.

Though the kitchen was relatively large and did have a bar for a couple of stools, that wasn’t a comfortable or realistic space for eating an actual meal. So we had to utilize some of the already small living room for a dining space. You’ll see in the photo below how we accomplished that by using a small scale drop leaf dining table and 2 chairs in front of a beautiful window.

Dining Area

Now for #2 – the all important TV…

There wasn’t much of a choice as to where to place the TV in this home. There was only 1 wall that was long enough to hold a sofa, which meant that the TV would have to go opposite that wall. Luckily there was enough space on that wall for a console table and a 42″ plasma.

Living Room TV

On a side note, as if this wasn’t a tough enough room to Stage, on the opposite side of the sofa you’ll notice a heater vent which stuck out into the room so the sofa could go no further than this heating unit, effectively cutting off some usable corner space. On the up side, it’s a convenient place to set down your drink.

Living Room Sofa

So this is how the entire room (including living/dining and TV space) looked once it was Staged.

Living/Dining Room

Now for the last crucial element for Staging a small space…a place to work!

Since there is no 2nd bedroom in this bungalow, a full home office space was out. Luckily the previous owners had given us something to work with:

Master Bedroom

Built-In Office

This cabinet was built for a small TV (in fact the top shelf was built on a slant which made it very tricky to get my vase and plate to stand up straight). But on the bottom there was a pull out keyboard tray and a space for a small chair or ottoman. Home office space – check!

Since I know you’re dying to see the rest of the home, here are a few more photos. As I mentioned the kitchen is quite large and the bedroom and bath were a good size as well.

Though this was a challenging space to figure out, I was very pleased with the outcome. What might have scared buyers off when it was empty is now a completely livable, warm and inviting home. It just needed a touch of imagination!

“I am happy to tell you that I got an accepted offer on the Pelham condo in the first week. It’s in escrow & inspection and I’m looking for a backup offer.”

It must have been fate that I hadn’t yet blogged about this project, because what better news to share than this Staging Success Story! It’s one for the record books. Though this was considered a vacant Staging (everything had been moved out before we came to Stage), my before pictures only show how this condo looked when I first previewed it.

BEFORE

First we chose new paint to lighten the walls, sheer curtains to let in exterior light and lamps to brighten the room. Next we completely reversed the furniture arrangement so that the fireplace was the focal point, while at the same time solving the problem of where to put the TV (which is of utmost importance to home buyers). Then we added art and simple accessories to appeal to all types of buyers. Lastly and most importantly, we showed this room as a living room – and ONLY a living room – with plenty of room for conversation and entertaining.

BEFORE

The dining room had both an adult table AND a kids’ table, both of which were covered with stuff. The chandelier was too small for the room, and the china hutch overpowered the space.

STAGED

By adding a console table in place of a kids’ table, we show that the space (although open to the living room) can be a large and functional dining room with extra room for a buffet or china hutch. Replacing the chandelier with an inexpensive larger one, and placing a mirror on the wall behind the table, makes the space feel bigger.

BEFORE

The master bedroom was pink and crowded and felt anything but restful.

STAGED

Painting the walls a neutral color allows buyers to bring in whatever bedding or art they already own, knowing it will work in the space. Replacing the tall and bulky armoire with a regular dresser and mirror brings the room down to scale and makes the bed the focal point. And lastly, replacing the huge chair that used to sit to the right of the bed with a smaller scale chair in the far corner of the room makes this room feel much more open and spacious.

BEFORE

The seller’s friends had told her to leave the expensive wallpaper in this tiny powder room rather than paint.

STAGED

I disagreed. Enough said.

BEFORE

This tiny room in the entry to the condo was confusing – was it a library, a home gym or a storage space?

STAGED

Now the agent can list this as a 2 Bedroom PLUS an office! Voilà – added value!

For more information and photos of this gorgeous condo, check out the property website.