Designed to Sell

Some flowers to brighten your day to begin!

In real estate, target marketing is essential. Every house needs to appeal to the highest number of potential buyers but you also have to be aware of what demographic will be looking at your home. Will your buyer be an executive looking to upgrade or relocate to a new area? Will the potential buyer most likely be a family with children? Does your home and area appeal more to a retirement age group, single adults, or first time buyers? When I stage a home I take all of this into consideration before doing my design plan.

This week we did a home in a great location. It is, however, a small condo with a savvy homeowner that wanted to target market to the young upwardly mobile, single person or couple and first time buyer.

I love it when my client does my work for me...I have never had one that knew much about target marketing until this homeowner! This woman was my dream client. She was receptive to all my ideas and direction and did everything I suggested. This was so refreshing and I guarantee it will sell her home much more quickly and for a higher price. A hard working, cooperative client makes all the difference. (Note to self when it is time to sell your home!)


My client wanted me to do a Pottery Barn look as she had actually asked some twenty somethings what they would like to see if they were looking for a home. Brilliant, don't you think?

One thing that made this project so delightful was that it is vacant and empty. Before it was staged the kitchen was remodeled along with both bathrooms. New wood laminate flooring was installed downstairs. Upstairs it has new carpeting and each bathroom has updated flooring, cabinetry, and fixtures as well. This made a tremendous improvement to the property. I assisted my client in selecting some of it including the paint colors, etc. and so when I arrived to stage it ~everything was like new and coordinated and ready to be designed.

This home owner understood one very important element to selling her home. You must invest money in making the best presentation possible, IF you want a short market time and the highest possible selling price. Also she paid attention to the details. The competition out there is fierce.

This client was also willing to rent furniture to make sure everything was good quality and the proper scale and the right style for the look she wanted. I use Cort Furniture for all my clients and I love going down to the showroom and picking out an entire household of furnishings to make it work. The person at Cort that is the most knowledgeable and helpful to me is Iuliana.

The only thing that the client already had and wanted to use was the master bedroom set and since she sells Ralph Lauren bedding online, she wanted me to use the bedding ensemble she had chosen. The bedding is an aqua and cream set so aqua was the color I wanted to feature. When you have a small home keeping the colors consistent makes it flow better and look bigger. So with aqua in mind and PB, I set out to find what could help create a Pottery Barnesque look, in a great neighborhood, for a first time buyer.

I know you like before and after photos but
this house was nearly empty so most of the rooms
looked something like this a few days ago.

Anything would be better than empty, right?
Only 5% of the population can visualize how their furniture
would fit and look when looking at an empty room.
Here is what it looks like now...
Double click the photos to see more details.

The living room has light, neutral, contemporary upholstered furniture. Most of the art work in the house features geometrics. The zany area rug has several colors in it and includes the predominate colors through out of aqua and pumpkin, black and brown. The geometric figure that is most dominate in this room is the circle.

Taken from the stairway landing.

The wall in the living room opposite the front door.
An entry is a great place to put a mirror.
It is said that most people just love
seeing themselves when they walk into a place!
Funny, huh?

I wish you could see this piece better. It has nine drawers and they are painted black and brown and aqua and goes great with the area rug. The silver-toned, round mirror compliments the other round features of the room.

The dining area is connected to the

end of the living room and also the kitchen forming an 'L'.

In the kitchen and dining area I stuck primarily to the aqua and black. I selected this round table for its modern design and it was the smallest table they had at Cort.

This is a small area and is also the walk way to the patio so I had to allow for getting to the slider. Round is better in a situation like this as it prevents possible injuries if you were to accidentally run into the table walking through. Note that the chairs are not placed at 12-3-6-and 9 positions in relationship to the slider, but at 10-2-4 and 8. This gives you a lot more walking room. It also adds interest to the table setting. Try this even with a square table if you have limited space. Angle the table as a diamond instead of a square to your slider or wall. You will be amazed!

I used a mirror to visually enlarge the space and to connect the kitchen and dining area. When staging sometimes it is fun to 'over stage' an area and use a little whimsy. I used the large, wooden, black flower with the bling as the centerpiece on the table~ just to be an eye catcher and to tie into a black charger on the counter that actually has rhinestones around the edge. It adds a little youthfulness and fun.

I kept the kitchen really simple as it is small
and I wanted it to give it an open, airy look.

Upstairs the condo has a master bedroom, one bathroom
and a secondary bedroom which I did as an office.
The home office with faux computer.

In the office the same type of geometric, modern art has
been used along with the black, brown and pumpkin colors.

It is nearly impossible to photograph a small bathroom but I wanted to show you what I came up with for the towels. I found and purchased this art piece and remembered I had some black and white towels in the warehouse with a design very similar to the design at the top of the picture. I thought it might be fun to combine the black and white and orange and this is the result.

Double click to see the pattern on the picture.

Here is the Master Bedroom and the aqua we started with.

The area rug in the living room allowed
me to add in some other colors to the entire condo
and still keep it flowing.

These two photos not the greatest but gives
you an idea of the rest of the master.

I enjoyed this project. Although I have staged lots of condos, I have primarily worked with executive and family home buyers in the past. Having someone request modern design was a new experience. I discovered I had to buy a lot of new things for this home. I haven't had to do that in a long time as I do have tons of inventory...it just was not suited to this house. And on top of that, the last house I did also had a lot of aqua so the accessories I might have been able to use were out.

This project proved to me once again that it doesn't matter so much what you are working with, but rather where you put it, when you are designing a room. It may not be your taste but, with the proper design principles implemented, you can get great results. All I can hope for is my next client to be just like this one!

And now it is Friday and I am beat! I am planning to do some relaxing things today to rest my brain before the weekend. Have a great one!

The Kitchen is Finished~At last!

I count you as true friends for hanging in there with us through this remodeling project. I know I have been blog perserverating on it. The kitchen being the heart of the home, it seems to command our attention always but, when it is in upheaval it affects us on many levels. I feel so blessed and fortunate to have it done finally. The big miracle is that I managed to lose 30 pounds during all this stress of five months of remodeling. Talk about the ultimate test of one's endurance...yikes. I think we only ate out about two times during all of it which is a major miracle as well.

The biggest miracle of all is that I have a husband who is phenomenal, persistent, and perfectly professional in his work. I think I love him more right this second than I ever have! (Labor and Delivery Rooms would be a strong contender also.) Anyway, here are the last of the photos of some of the places not previously shared.

Jim's very good friend, Dave came to help him hang the doors last night.

Two hours later they were done!

I love to listen to them chatter while they work together. (Worse than a couple of women, I tell ya!) They are the best of friends and Dave is always there for us to lend a hand..he is a tremendous friend. Years ago they bought and flipped a house together...they did an amazing job. They bought their wives a little gift after that. Lee got a brand new beautiful car and I got a gorgeous new diamond ring to replace my stolen engagement ring! Woohoo, hubbies!

The Reward!
Double click for the details.

Above the stove I have this great Sunflower I bought in Salt Lake last year during Hazie's long hospital stay. It reminds me that there is sunshine and hope if we look to the Son.

The carved, old peasant woman was rescued from a client's Goodwill pile and it reminds me that every age and station in life has its rewards.

The unique oil and vinegar bottle is from our favorite restaurant in Carmel~Napoli. I bought it on a special couples' bike trip we took with some great friends. The women shopped and did lunch and the men biked~pure heaven.

And you know what Napoli reminds me of~the place our kids live right now! Both of those things remind me to take time for fun and recreation and relationships.

I love this olive tree and the birdbath was gotten in Utah
on one of the trips Jen and I have taken to The Porch.
The faux olives are...
just plainly awesome and make me smile!

The Olive Branch Window Treatment
(Sorry Nester, No Fabric!)

~The Inside of my Antique Cabinet~
It contains a great Fettucchine art piece
The yellow pot and accessories
And a really neat set of pasta bowls...
~A gift from Italy from Jim's mom~

Our new refrigerator is hard to photograph
but here is the top of it. We LOVE having a big, black frig!

I have no idea how we survived
without this fab sink and faucet!
And we are IN LOVE with our countertops

It was cold this morning so here's the fire!

Everything in this room is special to me because it all reminds me of special places, past memories, fabulous people and principles that guide our lives. And that is why I am so passionate about decorating and creating the spaces where we live. They make me happy, they make my family happy and isn't that what it is all about? Living your life and making the best of it? To me, it is all about creating a great home and family-centered life. And then as you do that, sharing it with others too. La Dolce Vita! Ciao Bella!

Hooked On Fridays

I really enjoy reading some of the posts on Julia's Hook On Houses blog each Friday. People go there and just link posts about anything that makes them happy. Check it out here. This post is also being shared on theinspiredroom.net on Melissa's Happy Life blog event today. And don't forget to check out Kelli's House for her Show and Tell blog party today.

Today I am hooked on the remodeling we have been doing lately. Not only do I love the new look we are creating but I love the unity it brings to my husband and to me as we work together to create a home we enjoy. Day by day things are getting done. Jim has been working tirelessly on all the aspects of making this a great place to be. The process has been slow and laborious and so worth it. Here are a few sneak peeks as we are still working on the cabinetry. Double clicking will enlarge any picture.


I have used a lot of copper in the room so decided on the burnished copper hardware. I really love it. It compliments the Silestone, brick tone counter top and white cabinets nicely.

I got this copper tray with the black leather liner from a client that was moving. If you love garage sales and thrifting you would love my job. People are so generous when they are moving and delight in getting rid of a lot of their things to lighten the load. This happened to belong to my friends, Helen and Larry, so it has added meaning to me, plus it has the colors and textures I was working with to create an old world Italian look in the kitchen. I actually used three things they gave me, I'll point them out to you.

I have a rather extensive pear collection and they go great with the colors I used in the room. The jar I have showed once before and it was my thrift store find for $4.99. I went online and researched pears in Italy to see if it could work in with my Italian theme. Much to my delight I learned that pears were grown extensively throughout Italy until about 100 years ago. So Voila, the authenticity was there, so I brought them into the kitchen.

The fruit on the copper plates in these art pieces were my inspiration for the room. The cat on the shelf is for all the cats that inhabit the Vatican area. I heard there are more cats than residents there. The sculpted bust is representative of all of Italy's beautiful art.

Last year we made our first trip to Italy and loved every place we went. Venice was a real favorite and I happened to find this wall art with the perfect colors. When I see it I remember that enchanting time and can just see our grandsons, Spencer and Ross making a silly face, standing on the bridge getting their pictures taken. I love to accessorize with things that bring wonderful things to my remembrance.

I love this little wire covered tray and decided to make a little bird cage out it to give these little wooden birds a place to live. These little birds were purchased on a very special shopping day with our daughter, Laura, when they were living in CA near us.

"I also love this because it says to my brothers..
"Yes, we do like pets..here are ours!"

I was able to take a lot of the accessories out of my home decor inventory from our design business. That was helpful. I think these flowers are perfect in the room.

We a had our first company for dinner last night~a couple of great young missionaries and Barbara and Alex came. It was fun and has been quite awhile since we have had people over.

Loved these dishes that came from our inventory as well.

The large wooden mortar and pestle was a gift from my last client and is actually from Italy. She is a professional chef and I will treasure this gift. I had actually been looking for one online at the time she gave it to me. The large terracotta urn was a purchase made on a great shopping trip with my dear friend Michelle. I think of her when I see it. Now she is living in Canada and we all miss them! The black metal garden element on the hearth was captured from the front porch and painted black by Jim.

More pears!

I like these bottles and again, they came from the warehouse.

This is one thing I did buy new. When I saw this table it just seemed like it was made for our room. The colors on it could not be more perfect and the old world look is fabulous. The copper rooster...warehouse find. I'll show you the cabinet side of the room when it is done~soon hopefully!

It is so much fun to accessorize your room in a theme and yet still make it eclectic and make it you. If you don't love something, don't use it. Find a way to re-purpose things that are fun and unique or combine things for a little whimsy~like the bird cage and pets. Every room should have a little fun in it someplace. Pick something fabulous as your inspiration and then let it happen!

The old broom and the copper plate that holds the crock on the table with the vines are both from Larry and Helen's home. The grandkids call that broom the Harry Potter broom! I just love its gnarly old broom handle.

The large copper clock is from our library. I use to have a regulator clock in here so I just switched them out to bring in more copper. Jim painted our ceiling fan blades black to go with the black appliances and black fireplace. Shopping the house makes sense as we all tend to have a thread of similar things that we collect because we like them.

I had a coppery, metal wall art piece of an olive branch so I put that over the window. I bought it to put over a couch in a home we staged once, and remember thinking I'd probably never use it again. Now we enjoy it everyday. We have complete privacy so we are not putting window coverings in the room. Until next time~enjoy the home you are creating each day! I think I said "love" way too many times in this post! Each was heartfelt, however!

Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down.....

Have you ever thought of laundry in this light before?

Years ago an Alabama grandmother gave a new bride the following recipe.
This is an exact copy as written and found in an old scrapbook -with spelling errors and all.

"WARSHING CLOTHES"

'Build fire in backyard to heat kettle of rain water. Set tubs so smoke wont blow in eyes if wind is pert. Shave one hole cake of lie soap in boilin water.


Sort things, make 3 piles
1 pile white,
1 pile colored,
1 pile work britches and rags.
To make starch, stir flour in cool water to smooth, then thin down with boiling water.
Take white things, rub dirty spots on board, scrub hard, and boil, then rub colored don't boil just wrench and starch.
(For you non-southerners - wrench means, rinse)



Take things out of kettle with broom stick handle, then wrench, and starch.
Hang old rags on fence.
Spread tea towels on grass.
Pore wrench water in flower bed. Scrub porch with hot soapy water.
Turn tubs upside down.
Go put on clean dress, smooth hair with hair combs.. Brew cup of tea, sit and rock a spell and count your blessings.

Paste this over your washer and dryer, next time you think things are bleak, read it again, kiss that washing machine and dryer, and give thanks. First thing each morning you should run and hug your washer and dryer.'

AND WE THOUGHT WE HAVE IT ROUGH?

Our New Laundry Room

Glimpse of Pantry Doors


Decor Only~Thank Goodness!

I finally found the lamp from our warehouse I wanted to use in here. I tried several but I liked this one best. I love lamp light in all the rooms, it just adds a great atmosphere at night and eliminates having to have all the over head lights on.


I used to have a lot of navy blue in our house but slowly it is all gone now except for a few things that I truly love. So I have used some blue accessories in this room so I can keep them close by. These pansies are a beautiful ceramic piece I bought years ago on a shopping trip in Los Gatos with my sweet mom. My dad had passed away and it reminded us both of him and his love for growing pansies in our backyard when I was growing up. I just love this little thing! It makes me feel a closness to each of my parents.

I adore this blue bottle it looks so pretty with the sunlight on the window sill.

I love the fun shape of this purple bottle.

A glittery bird vase and tiny pansy
Make me happy and look great against all the green outside.
A laundry room should be fun.
It makes the work a lot more palatable day in and day out.

I really do want this laundry recipe in our laundry room someplace. None of us have anything to complain about in the laundry department except maybe having too many clothes, too many choices, too much of everything. I think I will go hug my washer and dryer after I hug my hubby for all his hard work to make this a very nice place to do laundry!!