Synergy Staging - Portland Home Staging Blog

Synergy Staging received a call the other day for a staging proposal at a home in West Linn, Oregon.  You can imagine our surprise when we pulled up to the home and it was one that we had looked at over 1 1/2 years ago when we happened to be touring some local Open Houses.  At that time it wasn't staged and we recommended it, but never heard from the owner. 

It apparently sold at a reduced price (we warned them!) and now the new owner does believe in the power of staging!  After renting it for one year they are ready to sell.  And we were of course more than delighted to stage the home - especially since we had wanted to do it last year.

Here are some of the Before & After photos of the Living Room and Kitchen with vibrant orange walls

It seems like we have been doing a lot of painting lately.  This house was no exception.  Due to the previous renters there were quite of bit of wall markings which the owner was going to touch up.  Unfortunately the touch up didn't quite match the color and two days before we were set to stage there were dark paint streaks throughout the Master Bedroom and Family Room.  Not stage ready!!!  And we don't allow any painting once we have staged.

Why does it seem owners always go out of town right before their houses are due to go on the market?  So we either had to delay the staging, and thus the listing date, or offer to help get it ready.  We provided a proposal to paint both rooms and stage as planned so the property would be ready per the original schedule.

We warmed up the white tones in the two rooms with a fresh coat of paint and then got the property staged.  We pride ourselves on going the extra mile for our clients, but hope the next few projects don't have paint involved! =)

We also moved the curtains from the Family Room to the Office/Den for a better look in this room.

For more information on this property contact Michelle Koury of Oregon Realty - 503-970-5092

 
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This vacant property was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us help you make your property irresistible.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

UPDATE - After sitting on the market for 7 months, the home sold 6 weeks after staging and closed on Christmas Eve.  Had to de-stage in a snow storm - new blog coming soon!

Here is our most recent staging ---

We were contacted directly by a homeowner whose house had been sitting vacant on the market for months.  They had been getting a surprising amount of traffic, but no offers.  Not only was the house vacant and off a busy road, but some of the wall colors were not working for potential buyers.  How about a mint green kitchen, partially painted living room, and a bright purple bedroom?  Their Realtor had already proposed painting the entire house, but the owners could not afford it.  We also knew that just staging the property as is was not going to be as successful if at least some of the rooms weren't painted.

After consulting with the sellers, who are out of state, they agreed to have the kitchen painted as well as the living room and guest bath.  We knew this was far superior to how it showed before and potential buyers could forgive one purple child's bedroom.

Here are some of the before and after photos:

You can see the mint walls in the dining room and unpainted living room wall in the before photo.

The purple window treatments had to go!

 Note the light blue walls in the before picture.  They definitely had to be warmed up!

The owners only want to keep the staging for one month, so we are obviously hoping for a quick sale.  I'll update this post once we get some news.

For more information on this property contact Chuck or Avery Cero of Windermere - 503-860-3128

 
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This vacant property was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us help you make your property irresistible.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

Our websites are probably the most valuable marketing tools that we as stagers have in our arsenal.  The place to showcase our portfolio, design style, service information, testimonials, etc.  Most important are those Before and After photos!!!

Creating your website, it's look, and content can also be one of the biggest challenges, especially for a new stager trying to start their business.  How do you present something when you haven't had many clients - and how do you get clients if you don't have anything to present?

This is a photo of a room in our home right after we moved in that went on the first version of our website

I've seen many blogs about whether or not to use stock photos.  I am always opposed to using someone else's work or photos on your site - even for accent images.  There are some great blogs about taking close up pictures of your own staging to use for those images - don't only focus on your wide room shots.  When we first started our business we used pictures of our home, our friends and families homes, until we finally had a collection of before and after pictures of homes we staged for clients.

This is a photo of a family members bedroom that was also on the first version of our website

The presentation of your text is also pivotal as it speaks on your behalf.  It can take weeks to craft just the right phrasing and you'll find that it continues to evolve as the market changes and your company grows.

Needless to say, we were shocked when we discovered that someone from across the country had not only used our copyrighted photos, but lifted the text directly from our website and replaced our company name with theirs! 

Fortunately I crafted a cease and desist letter that was worded strongly enough that their website was pulled off-line immediately.  I actually just checked again, now one year later, and the site is still 'under construction'!  I'd hate to see that invoice!

How did we discover this?  I am a sucker for numbers and stats, so I check our website statistics quite often.  I noticed that we had numerous referrals and hits from a particular 'design' website that I hadn't heard of.  Upon clicking on it - everything from our site was there.  I think we were quite fortunate to have found it, and I've kept my eyes peeled since then.

Before & After photo from our very first staging job - an actual paying client!!!

While creating your first site may seem like a daunting task, it is definitely within your reach.  If you can't build one on your own, find someone who can help you, it's really not too hard.  You probably have a family member or friend who is very familiar with designing websites and you just don't know it.

Be original - Be creative - Be personal

Use your own Photos - Use your own Words - Use your own Personality

Ultimately that is what will sell you and give you the credibility and success you desire and deserve!

I thought it would be fun for all of us to share some of our worst before situations and the transformations that follow.  Everyone has experienced one of 'those' homes and sometimes the results are remarkable.  Let's see them!

We always like to approach each project with the best design solution in mind.  Sometimes it is necessary to encourage our clients to take certain steps to prepare their home prior to staging.  As we all know, staging can't cover up or hide property flaws or existing furnishings in disrepair. The staging in a home is a reflection of our company and we all want successful results.  Using nice furnishings and decor in a room with a terrible color or wallpaper isn't going to do anyone any favors.

While some may not agree with our approach, we only accept projects where we know success is possible.  We've all been into houses that are in terrible shape and the owners think staging is the magic solution.  If they are not willing to do their part and work with us to prep their home so everything works together, it becomes a poor investment for them.  Luckily we have had very few owners or Realtors not willing to go with our suggestions. 

One of the most important aspects of being a professional stager is letting our clients know how their property can be prepared in every way possible to create the impact we are trying to achieve.  We are not just decorators who plop furniture and decor into rooms.  We must educate the home owners and Realtors to understand the impression each aspect of the home makes on potential buyers.  Knowing what the buyers are looking for right now and what is going to sell the home is key.  In almost every market throughout the country, potential buyers are looking for homes that are move-in ready.  The more we can encourage our clients to take the steps we recommend to make their homes show ready, the more likely it will result in a successful sale.

Here is a bedroom with sponged purple and pink walls and a fairy wallpaper border!  This was obviously a young girl's room, but would not appeal to every buyer that came through the door.  Buyers can be very overwhelmed by the idea of having to paint and take down wallpaper.  Had the owners left the room as is, the potential buyers would be seeing a room that is both shocking and another thing on a 'to do' list.  In this project we did a color consultation throughout the house in order to achieve a nice flow and look.  Fortunately the owners were willing to paint most of the rooms in the home.  We were then able to work with their furniture and add our decor to make it work.

Not only is important to tone down wall colors and/or replace dated wallpaper, but sometimes a room must be completely redefined because the current homeowner has a layout that makes no sense for a potential buyer.  Here was a home where the dining room was being used for two pianos and the beautiful family room was being used as their dining room.  It definitely had to be redefined in order for buyers to see the potential of living in the home.  You'll note that in this case they were not willing to paint the walls, so we worked with the lilac and maroon walls in these two rooms, and successfully redefined the spaces.

So now it's your turn!  Please share your most extreme transformations and inspire us with your work!

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These properties were staged by Synergy Staging. Let us help you make your property irresistible. Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

We recently received a call from one of our favorite Realtors who had a new listing that needed help. I say she is one of our favorite Realtors because every house we have staged for her has sold in one to two weeks!

The house, built in 1908, was a charming Portland home.  It was occupied, so we provided a Consultation Report to start, and after the homeowner did (most of) what was suggested - you know how that goes! - we followed up with staging the property using much of her furniture in addition to our art and decor.

There were a few issues including pet smells and worse yet, the master bedroom was being rented out.  The tenant was very messy and we were not permitted to stage this room.  We as stagers always like a good challenge, right?

The Realtor and homeowner were thrilled with the results, but as an older home it still needed the right buyer.  We were ecstatic when we were called only two weeks later to de-stage the property as it had sold at full price!  We know staging works, but it's always encouraging to have our clients reminded and see the pay off.

Here are some of the before and after photos:

The flow of the bottom level was being disrupted by the placement of the dining room table

Note the black ceiling in the before picture.  It definitely had to go!

One of my favorite features in this home were the custom window treatments throughout.  We typically only provide window treatments if there is already hardware in place.  We are fortunate that Nik has a background in costume design as well, so anytime we need a custom window treatment he can always make it.  You can see a picture of some curtains in the bedroom photo above.  And here's an interesting fact - every window treatment that he has made has been sold to the new homeowners!  A win win for everyone.

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This occupied property was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us help you make your property irresistible.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote. 

NEXT TIME:  When is the last time you updated the photos on your website?

It's about time I start blogging - so I'm jumping in with both feet!

We attended the RESA Staging Expo here in Portland a few weeks and were inspired with many ideas for our business, website, marketing, warehouse, etc.  That was on Saturday, September 13.  We had been a bit slow, though we had written proposals for a few houses the week before.

Well - then the floodgates opened!  I had to go to Los Angeles the next week and was ready to start implementing our new ideas upon my return.  Then we suddenly got 5 new stagings and one de-staging in the course of 1 1/2 weeks.  Not that we were complaining - but we could barely catch our breath.  We had done two stagings in a week before, but never four!  Luckily all of our staging assistants were available and ready to help!

So -- in the calm after the storm I decided this would be a good time to finally start my blog and share some thoughts about our latest stagings and experiences - and hopefully begin to meet some of you in the process.

The most recent house we staged this week was a townhome in Lake Oswego.  This was a great space with one challenge - the yellow walls throughout the unit. We were told one staging company had recommended to the owner to paint all the walls, and she was not willing to do it.  The house had already been on the market for 3 months and she wanted it staged and sold!  As a staging company we are often faced with design challenges, and knew that we could make it work with the artwork and furnishings we planned to stage with.  We agreed to embrace the color palette and design it with a beautiful modern look.  There were also red walls in the master bathroom and an accent wall in the living room.  We painted the red wall in the living room to eliminate the contrast that was not necessary.  We also painted the bathroom to a more neutral and soothing color.  What do you think?  Here are a few of the before and after photos.  

For more information on this property contact Lori Hamilton at Coldwell Banker - 503-423-7453

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This vacant property was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us help you make your property irresistible.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote. 

NEXT UP:  The occupied 1908 home we staged that sold in less than 2 weeks!