Emily Hagerman & Alexandra Fletcher

As we draw near to the end of October I can't help but reflect back on the past year and feel an enormous sense of pride and satisfaction on how far Home Staging has really come. In fact I was called earlier this week by a directory group who was actually adding a section all on it's own for Home Staging companies. No longer were we a sub category of Realtor's, we have finally been defined! The directory won't be printed until 2009 but it got me thinking about the fact we only have two months left in 2008.

Typically November and December are considered the quiet time when it comes to selling a home. There seems to be a fear put out in the world of selling that no one wants to buy during the holiday's. True there may not be the same level of interest or commotion like you find in the spring but buyers are still out there. So if listings are down say 60% during these two months, wouldn't that mean that the homes that are on the market wouldn't have as much competition??

Last December we staged a property where the owner felt completely confident in this theory. The couple were re-locating and wanted to sell the space quickly but were not panicked. They knew that December was a risk to list but they felt confident that if staged properly to show the true potential it would sell. By showcasing their unique property and investing in the Staging process it shouldn't matter what month it was.

So now the story of the Gastown Loft. When I first toured the Loft my heart raced and I immediately fell in love, it was the space I had always imagined I might live in when I was a young girl aspiring to become an interior designer. The potential I saw, beneath the mismatched furniture and disjointed layout, was immense. After planning the space in my mind and discussing with the owner's that the spare bedroom that had been converted into a pantry simply must be converted back to a bedroom we set off to find the perfect furniture. This story has a fantastic ending but first I wanted to share with you the transformation so you can truly see the difference Staging made.

The living room seemed to get better looking into the evening...

This is the bird's eye view from the second level master bedroom..

This is the bedroom/pantry...

This Historic Gastown Loft was listed the last week of November, four weeks later just after Christmas they received their asking price, and had set a record in the building for the highest $ per square foot. The challenge of selling a unique property in the middle of the Christmas season was met successfully due to the power of Staging and the positive energy of both the Realtor and the Seller. The pictures below were a few artistic shots taken by our photographer and used in the marketing materials. The night scene was almost like a Christmas card!!

The above was the view from the roof top deck, unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the magnificent view from inside but this is a space that will always be my favorite!! ~ Emily Hagerman

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WWW.CELEBRATESTAGING.COM ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Due to the grand scale of this job I have had to narrow down quite a few of our Before and After photo's. I didn't think it was fair to pile all the pictures into one blog and have my readers scrolling down for an eternity! So here is part two. If you missed the first part of the story and the reveal please click on this link and read the part one first, How Celebrate Staging Led A Vancouver Thoroughbred Farm to the Winner's Circle

While the second level bedrooms and bathrooms received a huge transformation the main level really was my favorite. The formal living room was Pepto Bismol Pink and the huge marble fireplace stuck out like a big sore thumb. The oak floors and columns were beautiful, they could have used a bit of refinishing as could the floor but not having the budget to do so we made due with it at least being clean. Even with our cleaning team working for 3 days straight I still found myself washing the oak flooring with a hardwood cleaner because it just didn't feel clean enough. The blister on the palm of my hand from pushing that mop around has only now finally healed! This room is enormous and while not wanting to fill it completely with furniture scale was very important. We used an 8x10 rug and probably could have gone even a little bigger. The neutral color was extended to the dining room and family to give a proper flow.

The dining room had charming french doors and lots of natural light. Believe it or not the painter was going to leave the upper wallpaper border and there was no way we were going to let that happen. We also replaced the light fixture and added curtains to soften the window.

The formal Den off the Living room had it's own balcony and built in oak shelving, the large oak doors also had wonderful stain glass panels. It did however have a weird vibe that I just couldn't figure out, let's just say I couldn't be alone in that room and even one of the gals on our cleaning crew couldn't be in that room by herself, spooky!! I must say though once it was staged I didn't mind being in the room! We had the walls painted slightly darker than the living room to give it a bit of drama but not be too dark. We also updated the wall sconces with some very inexpensive ones from Home Depot. I also washed the floor a second time once we realized this was where the kitten liked to do his business!

The kitchen eating area received a new coat of paint and we replaced the light fixture there as well. We painted the end wall the darker tone from the Den to tie the colors all together.

The kitchen was another huge transformation. the island cabinetry was painted white to match the rest of the cabinetry. The large brick pass through was also painted white to expand the feeling of the space. Faucets were replaced and we even had the wall ovens in the island replaced with new ones. This was done very inexpensively because Trail Appliance has a new clearance center and their scratch & dent models are priced incredibly low. Not to mention because the appliances were white making them less expensive than any other finish of appliance. We had our electrician in to make sure the under cabinet lighting was all working and once the faux finish walls were painted out the kitchen looked brand new! I won't even tell you about what our cleaners found in cupboards and the fridge that almost grew legs!

The Family room received new paint and wall sconces, and the curtains on the large wall of french doors made the space feel comfortable and inviting.

We gave the bar area a good cleaning and added simple curtains and a fun bar table complete with an in progress scrabble game. We also darkened the paint slightly for a punch. I certainly had fun spelling out words on the scrabble board!!

The bathrooms on the main floor were scary smelly places and they had to be painted from top to bottom, we also left the windows open to keep fresh air flowing. The wall paper borders were simply painted over as they weren't peeling and we freshened up the blue color. Brighter light fixtures were also installed.

The small powder at the opposite end of the house also received a refreshed paint job and the antique dresser that was converted into a vanity was given a good clean. It turned out quite charming.

And now for my favorite part of all, the incredible pool area. Unfortunately with the horrible summer weather we received this month it never did get hot enough to just jump in!!

Because this is such a unique property it certainly won't sell overnight, although if I had 3 million I just might buy it! The home owner is not being unrealistic and is going to give it at least three months to see what kind of progress will be made. We are now on our fourth week and the feedback has been tremendous, it's just going to take the right equestrian buyer! At least everyone involved knows that it is being shown at it's absolute best and it's now in the hands of the Real Estate Gods! ~ Emily, Celebrate Staging.

When we got the call from a prominent Horse breeder that he was getting his farm ready to sell and that it had to be staged my first thought was, "How are we gonna stage hay bails?"

Okay, so I knew we weren't going to stage the barn but let's just say that the barn was in better shape than the home. On the phone the homeowner warned us that he had hired a contractor to start a small bathroom renovation and that some of the rooms were being painted but we certainly weren't prepared for the horror show that would greet us when we walked through the front door.

The house had been purchased 3 years ago and while all of the expense and maintenance had been on the massive 10 acre grounds and 30 stall horse barn not much had been done to the house. The client had actually never moved into the residence and instead his stable manager had been living there with his girlfriend and two kids. My first emotion as I pulled down the long drive past the paddocks of beautiful horses and their young foals was complete bliss. I was so excited to see what the house was like on the inside because I fell in love with it from the outside!

However once stepping inside the front door bliss quickly turned to nausea. The smell hit us first, then when my eyes stopped watering the brightly colored wall paper blinded me! Okay, I'm exaggerating but only a little bit. The client was running behind so the Stable manager invited us in and told us to feel free to look around and that the huge Doberman that was now sniffing my pant leg was friendly! Snoop turned out to be an awesome friendly dog but they can be a bit disconcerting for anyone not used to big dogs. I am a big dog lover so I quite enjoyed the dog but I didn't think the smell could have come from him alone.

As we began looking around in disbelief a tiny little black & white kitten bolted out from behind a huge pile of clothes and attacked my shoe lace, there was no way we were taking off our shoes in this place! Amused we meandered around this huge house with my new little friend chasing us as we walked along. So did you catch the part where I mentioned the kitten darted out behind a pile of clothes? Each room, and I kid you not, had a huge pile of junk, clothes, toys, dirty dishes, etc. EVERY room! It was incredible, these people were living like absolute slobs. As if the pastel 1980's wall colors weren't bad enough the crap strewn everywhere just made it even worse.

When the home owner finally arrived we took him through each room and laid out a plan of action. Excited about what we had envisioned for the home he gave us carte blanche to have any painting done and a few other major areas that we felt needed to be addressed. All we had to do was communicate these changes with the contractor and the painter. Easier said than done! While it was no trouble at all convincing the home owner of the changes, convincing the contractor and painter was not easy.

The family room and kitchen had been painted many years ago with a fresco-ragging type of faux finish, while it was done very well it was not doing the home any favours. In fact the painter told the home owner that it didn't need to be repainted and that it had been an expensive finish in it's time. Needless to say we told the painter otherwise.

This project was so large it took about 4 weeks to get in order before we could even go in and stage. Once all the paint and renovation had been completed the huge task of cleaning had to begin. The homeowner assured us his stable manager would be moved out by the time we wanted to go in and start. He had moved all the mares and their foals to the new farm and the stables manager and his family would need to go where the horses went. If the stable manager was going to live in the home while it was being sold we would not have agreed to stage this home, it would have been a HUGE liability and all of our inventory would surely be ruined.

The first day our cleaning team went in they were almost ready to run the other way. Many of the closets were still full of junk and clothes. Cigarette butts were littered everywhere and the fireplace in the family room was a giant ashtray. To top it all off there was a HUGE pile of garbage by the back door that the crows or Raccoons had ripped apart. The stench was so bad it would gag a maggot. I actually almost lost my lunch when I was there to help install the new light fixtures. We had to ask the contractor to deliver a large bin so that the garbage could be taken away and all the junk left behind in the house was to be thrown out as well. The interior cleaning bill came to $1500.00.

Because this was such a huge job I've decided to break the bog into two parts. This first part of the story I will show you the top floor before and after's. The main level and pool area will be in Part Two.

Below is one of the biggest transformations, the Master Bedroom. New carpet was put in upstairs and all the walls were painted. When we arrived on site the master bedroom had already been painted however the walk in closet was still forest green. It actually surprised the painter that we suggested the walk in be painted the same color as the bedroom, SHOCKING I know! The transformation of this room knocked the home owner's socks off, he just couldn't believe it was the same room and the nook that we placed the sectional in now made perfect sense to him, he always thought it was such a waste of space before! Have a look.

In the adjoining en-suite the walls had been painted and we took it one step further and had all the dated oak trim and cabinetry painted white. This en-suite was really unique and featured all Kohler fixtures, it featured a bidet and a huge Cast iron Birthday Bath. The tub alone is worth over $4000.00! This en-suite also earned the prestigious "Toilet from Hell" award,(who knew it was actually white), I'll just leave that to your vivid imaginations.

Across the hall were two large bedrooms that received new carpet in one and new paint throughout. In one of the bedrooms we also had the contractor remove the large oak built in, we had to ask him twice because he thought it would be too much work patching everything since it had already been painted, needless to say the built in was removed! This bedroom also received goergeous new carpet that one of the kids managed to stain with a bright blue highlighter pen days before they moved out. I managed to get the stain out with Folex, that stuff is MAGIC!

The main bathroom received the major part of the reno and turned out beautiful. Unfortunatley I don't have the pre-reno pictures as we arrived on the job site while it was being put back together but apparently it had mirror on all the walls and ceiling! the painters would not let his crew go in that room to paint because it was so disgusting so the contractor and home owner decided to rip it all apart.

This is quite easliy one of the biggest transformations we have done to date. It really evolved into a stunning space that the home owner was thrilled with and that the Realtor was so excited to represent. Part two will be posted soon so that you can see the huge difference on the main level. I thought I would attach a few of the critters I got to meet while we were going through the process... Stay tuned. ~ Emily

www.celebratestaging.com