This is a 3-story split-level house in Westminster, Orange County, California. The home sellers contacted us before they began the home renovations, so we were able to advise them as they were selecting paint colors for the walls, finishes, and fixtures, which is a service we offer at no additional charge for our vacant staging clients after they've signed our contract and remitted full payment for the staging services.
We won an industry award for this Orange County home staging project. Two, in fact: Home Staging Resource's Best of the Best Award for November 2021, and then again for the year.
LIVING ROOM
These home sellers had already selected and purchased the gray wood flooring. Otherwise we would've steered them toward white oak, instead, since gray is no longer trending. They were so impressed with our real estate staging that they were confident enough to list it for about $100,000 more than any of the comps in the same neighborhood that had sold just months and weeks earlier. Not only were buyers willing to pay that much more, these sellers got another $92,000 on top of that, for a total of almost $200,000 more than comps with the exact same floor plan.
The abstract wall art hanging above the sofa on the left was hand-painted by our Principal Designer, TJ McArdle.
When staging a home to sell, it's important to draw the buyers' eyes to architectural features such as fireplaces. You can't really tell, but there is more space on the right side of this fireplace than there is on the left. Therefore, the sofa on the right and the end tables were floated away from the wall. Also, the coffee table needs to be centered with the fireplace, so the sofa on the left was also floated away from the wall and two console tables were placed behind to fill the gap. The gap behind the sofa on the right allows for space to get to the windows so the shutters can be closed and opened without climbing over the sofa.
Below you can see the huge difference that the home improvements and staging did for this formal living room. Again, every client that signs a vacant home staging contract with us gets complimentary interior design recommendations. For this room, the homeowners followed our suggestions for paint color on the walls and the board and batten trim around the fireplace. The tile on the fireplace and the wood flooring was selected without our input.
HOME OFFICE
The photo below shows you one of the first views home buyers saw when they entered the house, so it was important that the office be staged. To the right is where the formal living room shown in the first photos of this article is located.
In the "before" on the left in the image below, you can see what the wood paneling looked like before they painted it white per our recommendation.
DINING ROOM
The two wall paintings in the "after" images of this dining room were also hand-painted by TJ McArdle.
FAMILY ROOM
By staging this room, we were able to show that it fits a lot more furniture than it appeared it would before it was furnished. That's the case with most rooms in a house: they always look smaller when they're empty.
As you can see, painting these old wood cabinets white really brightened up the room and gives the whole house a more updated look and feel.
BEDROOM
As you can see, painting these old wood cabinets white really brightened up the room and gives the whole house a more updated look and feel. The wallpaper was removed, the walls were painted white, the carpet was replaced, shutters were added to the window, and then our company came in and staged it.
PRIMARY EN SUITE BATHROOM
A good makeover in the primary bedroom's en suite bath goes a long way at elevating the perceived value of the home in the eyes of home buyers.
BREAKFAST NOOK
In hindsight, we would not have included the small round rug under the dining table here. But we were able to show the clients that a small dining would fit here. Initially, they didn't think it would. It's important to show buyers that it will.
2ND BATHROOM
What a difference a bathroom makeover can make!