Home staging isn't just for homes. We stage businesses, offices and commercial spaces too!
Last Thursday morning I received an email from an advertising agency owner who found my Los Angeles home staging company on Google.
Here's part of the email:
Hello. We are a small creative advertising agency in Hollywood – you can visit our website link below to see what we do. We have a very important client meeting on Monday and need to stage our offices to create a hipper, cooler vibe and really accentuate the old school Hollywood nature of the building. We have a pretty cool space, but we need to go the extra mile for this meeting.
I responded with an email explaining how I work and what the minimum charges would be. I didn't want to waste his time or my time if they didn't have realistic expectations regarding the budget. I received a response that we were in the same ballpark, so I was off to meet my new clients.
The location was fantastic. The architecture was beautiful (as the email said) old school Hollywood. The interior was underwhelming. Like many offices (and homes for that matter), "stuff" had accumulated - extra office furniture, defunct computer and old electronic equipment and the like.
I gave the owner a list of repairs, purchases and changes that needed to be made before we returned to stage on Saturday. I was off on 1 1/2 very long days of a power shopping adventure.
My staging assitant, Carlos, and I arrived Saturday morning with a full cargo van and SUV. I augmented all the purchases with staging art work and accessories from my home staging warehouse in order to keep the budget under control.
Here's the conference room before:
Its pretty typical of many office conference rooms - a catchall room (when not in use) for papers and projects - but not really the type of place you want to bring your clients.
Now here's the conference room after staging by Moving Mountains Design. We got rid of all the clutter, repurposed some massive mirrors from other areas in the office and I brought in high end mesh office chairs to give the conference room a polished and professional look. A large succulent arrangement and some Mid-Century modern colored pottery completes the look. A client who walked into this conference room would feel like they were working with knowedgeable professionals with good taste.
Here's some before and after photos of the office kitchen. Due to time constraints, we could only declutter and decorate - nothing too extensive.
Again, typical office kitchen with lots of stuff that really doesn't need to be on display.
Here's the kitchen after staging by Moving Mountains Design:
Here's another view of the kitchen after staging:
In addition to the conference room and the kitchen, we also staged a client lounge/game room, some restrooms, a large common area workspace with multiple computer stations and the hallways. To see more photos of this project, including a client lounge/game room and the reception area see Staging A Business - A Hollywood Advertising Agency Office Makeover.
Moving Mountains Design is also a full service interior design company, but for this business staging job, I had to put my home stager hat on. Due to budget and time constraints, I couldn't order high end uber-hip office chairs, shop at the Pacific Design Center or even have the walls painted. What my clients got was a very cost effective and FAST makeover of their offices to present a more professional face to their clients.
Does your office or business need a makeover or Stagervention? Call Moving Mountains Design (626)-441-8975 or email Michelle for your office or business makeover!
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2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year
Michelle has staged hundreds of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.
She works with home sellers, listing agents and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles.
Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, occupied home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations, move organization, redesign, and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs,foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers.
For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.
Click here to see our Los Angeles home staging portfolio
Click here to go to our Los Angeles home staging blog
Click here for more information about home staging in Los Angeles and how we can help sell your home faster and for the best price
WOW!!! That looks amazing. What a great job.
Norma Jo
WOW!!! That looks amazing. What a great job.
Norma Jo
WOW!!! That looks amazing. What a great job.
Norma Jo
Thanks 3 times Norma Jo!
Nice job. The office staff will respect the office more with it looking so nice
Nice work Michelle! Love the conference room. I recently did a consult on a very small office. The owner has a blind company and also sells window drapery. She needed a storage solution for all her samples and also sprucing up the client meeting area. Was a different consult for me, but fun!
Fantastic work Michelle! You already said it: "A client who walked into this conference room would feel like they were working with knowedgeable professionals with good taste." Well done :)
What a fun project Michelle! You handled the time constraint and challenge beautifully. The conference room has a much more professional look - just what your client's asked for. Great work!
You did, as always, a wonderful job. Clearly, the prospective clients will be far more impressed seeing the environment you created.
Congratulations. Your office staging is being featured in the group Staging Before & After Pictures.
Kathy
It looks FABULOUS Michelle!! Your clients got what they asked for, and more!
Thank you Heather!
Thanks, Kathy. I hope you are right and they win the big contract.
Wendy: Thank you. Nice to see you!
Virginia: I felt like it was a much nicer work environment when we were finished. I hope it put a little spring in everyones' steps.
Donna: Most home stagers have many tricks up our sleeves that can be applied to different situations. I'm sure you came up with some very creative solutions.
Nice job. I know of several doctor and dentist waiting areas I would love to get my hands on!
Fantastic work, the conference room and waiting area looks amazing. What a difference switching out some chairs and adding mirrors did for the conference room!
So nice-love doing office staging too! Great work and they will be more successful and productive now that you have the office in this condition.
Michelle, What an incredibly beautiful staging job. Where did you get those great chairs for the conference room? They really pulled it together. I love the game room and the reception area is beautiful. This really gets me thinking of all the offices I could work over.
Thanks for sharing this excellent example of staging.
Mel
I hear you on the Doctors and Dentists waiting rooms, Kim.
Kate: Thank you, I agree. The mirrors worked out really well.
Cathy: When I spoke to them this morning, they were very excited about all the changes.
Mel: The conference chairs are a rental from Brook, although they are now talking about purchasing similar once the staging contract is up. I think this is a really good niche for stagers to consider. It expands the client base.
Hi Michelle,
It just goes to show that creative folks need the help of Stagers too. Beautiful job and it doesn't look like it was done on a budget.
Thanks Susan! People are creative in different ways, not everyone knows how to make their home or office look fabulous, whether it is a big or small budget.
It has a much warmer feel, almost like their working from home, maybe they wont' mind going to work so much. I'm sure work environment spaces plays a huge role on how people perceive their jobs. Great transformation!
Thanks Cindy. I hope it brings everyone who works there renewed energy.
What a cool project! What I love about staging is every job is different. As always, beautiful work. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Kate.I love that every job and location is different too. It prevents boredome and keeps the fresh ideas flowing.
Thank you Kate.I love that every job and location is different too. It prevents boredome and keeps the fresh ideas flowing.
Wow Michelle! Your organization, eye for detail and overall redesign work made a huge difference. I love the use of the horizontal mirror, which makes the narrow room seem more spacious. What a FUN project!
Thanks, Debra. It was a lot of fun. Happy Thanksgiving!