Los Angeles Home Staging Info

A few weeks ago I was fortunate to be interviewed by Kathy Price-Robinson for her LA Times Blog Pardon Our Dust . Kathy writes regularly for the LA Times online and in print about remodeling and home improvement. Here is the link to Kathy's blog:

Staging Your Home Long Before You Sell It

Kathy emailed me several questions regarding how to make your home look like it had been staged, even if you were not planning on selling in the near future. I thought it was a great way to introduce the concept of staging, staging to live and redesign to a new audience. She asked me to gear my responses to her audience, which tends to be more DIYers and people working with modest budgets. Please feel free to comment on the LA Times Blog as well as here. Both Kathy and I would appreciate it. Kathy's blog is a moderated blog, so it may take a little while for your comments to show up.

 Kathy featured me in another story earlier this year when I won two 2007 Chrysalis Awards for Excellence in Home Remodeling. For more information about that you can read my blog aptly titled I Won Two Chrysalis Remodeling Awards . This was a home that a partner and I purchased and stripped down to the studs. It was a very small house so we opened up the walls to give it a better flow. I was really please with the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kitchen before the remodel (it was disgusting!)                             Kitchen from the livingroom after remodeling

Michelle Minch is the owner of Moving Mountains Design, located in Pasadena, CA. We are a full service home staging and interior design corporation. We specialize in staging homes in Pasadena, San Marino, Arcadia and parts of Los Angeles. "From Condos to Cottages to Castles, we know what makes homes sell!" (TM)

©2008 Moving Mountains Design

One of my favorite rooms to stage is the bedroom. I think it does a lot to make a home feel more comfortable and inviting if the bed in the master bedroom makes feel like you are in a luxury hotel.

 I always use high thread count sheets (since I stage mostly vacants, they never get used) and always, always, always use sateen (not to be confused with satin sheets which I would never use). The slight sheen gives a really rich look.

I also like to use a lot of throw pillows (usually silk) to add an accent color.

I have started using a lot of quilts vs. duvets. They are easier to keep wrinkle free and look very elegant.

Believe it or not, everything on this bed came from Target. It is a very silky sateen from Fieldcrest. I love the richness of the red. It really makes a statement.

As you can see, I am a big believer in using two side tables next to the bed. It is a throw back to my feng shui training at the Western School of Feng Shui. I think every master bedroom should feel as if it is inviting 2 people to share it. By using two side tables, it looks like the room will be a luxurious retreat for two.

 

I am honored to be nominated for Professional Stager of the Year. You can vote for me here.

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.