Synergy Staging - Portland Home Staging Blog

Yesterday Synergy Staging staged a beautiful home in Laurelhurst.  This charming property is on a gorgeous street in a highly desirable Portland, Oregon neighborhood.

 

When staging most houses, certain rooms tend to present unique challenges due to either layout, color, architecture, or style.  As a result, and to ensure our clients end up with the best results, we often bring several furnishing options to each staging project.  As much prep work as you do off site, there is nothing quite like working with the furnishings in the actual space.

In this house we had several different staging plans for the spacious 2nd level master suite.  This room had an area for the bed, a small nook, a row of built in seating under the windows and a large walk in closet.  There was quite a bit of space in the middle of the room so we had several options to consider.  We ended up staging a sitting area instead of the typical dresser and mirror scenario.  This arrangement uses the space between the bed area and the window seating, making the room feel interesting and cozy, at the same time showing a potential buyer how they might utilize the space.

      

      

We staged the nook opposite the sitting area with a desk and chair.  Although we had measured the space, it was possible that the furniture would look too cramped.  In that case we would have moved the sitting area to this nook.  The desk ended up working well in the nook and the sitting area now draws potential buyers focus to the lovely window views.

     

It turned out that our original plan worked, but we had several different chair options as well as a dresser in case the desk didn't feel right.  This also impacted the amount of decor and art we brought based on the ultimate staging solution.

So do you bring one plan - hoping all goes well - or options that allow you design the space just right?  While it takes more time, additional loading and unloading, the end results make it worth it for our clients.

For more information about this property please contact
Denise Spanke of Prudential Northwest Property at 503-212-2713

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This vacant home was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us make your property picture perfect both in photos and in person.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

Here is a new video that shows some of our best occupied home transformations.

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Let Synergy Staging make your property picture perfect both in photos and in person. Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

We've started creating videos of some of our projects. Here is the most recent video that shows some of our best vacant home transformations. Click on "Facebook" in the upper left hand corner to visit our new Facebook page and become a fan! Hope you enjoy!



========================================================================================= Let Synergy Staging make your property picture perfect both in photos and in person. Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

This is a follow up to last weeks posting on July 9 Staging a Five Bedroom Foreclosure - Before and After Photos.

The home was staged on Saturday, June 27, then listed and open on Sunday, June 28.  Shortly thereafter an offer was made and accepted.  The home not only sold, but closes tonight - 20 days later.  We de-staged the home today and look forward to working with the investor on their next property.

There is a magic combination of staging and price, prior to the first showing, that results in quick sales and happy clients.  Yes - Staging Works!

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This vacant home was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us make your property picture perfect both in photos and in person.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

Today we de-staged one of our favorite homes.  It was built by a home builder who has been a great client of ours.  He does absolutely beautiful work and we are pleased that this home sold after many months on the market.  

While we were de-staging he asked if we had any homes on the Portland Street of Dreams tour this year.  I was flattered that he thought our work could be presented on that level of design.  I let him know that typically interior designers do those homes and often times work with high end furniture companies that are selling their furnishings.  We're looking forward to going to the show this year, but no, we did not stage/design any of the homes.  Maybe next year =)

Here's a few of the after pics:

       

       

 

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Let Synergy Staging help turn your property into one buyers will want to call their new home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

While homes can certainly take longer to sell in the current market, home staging gives a property the edge it needs to succeed.   Bringing in a professional home stager allows a home owner to understand how a potential buyer will see their home.  Someone with a perspective and experience specifically geared to what the current buyer is looking for to ensure a home shows the best it possibly can.

We all know about de-cluttering, and de-personalizing, but more and more, the move-in condition of a home is additionally critical for a successful sale.  If an owner is showing a home that needs work (from as simple as painting, to a cosmetic fix, to a major eyesore) they will be at a disadvantage from the first impression.

      

Bathroom re-painted and neutralized by Synergy Staging

      

Showing a bathroom without a mirror and backsplash won't increase the offers

Home stagers can point these areas out to a homeowner and help them make the changes necessary to create the most buyer appeal, hopefully before the home is on the market.   Remember, if your home isn't move-in ready, chances are there is another one in the neighborhood that is.  And competition has never been stronger.

 

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Let Synergy Staging help turn your property into one buyers will want to call their new home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

Here is the another foreclosure property that Synergy Staging recently staged.  This is a rare five bedroom home with a view in the Gresham area near Portland under $270k.  With a modest budget only the impact rooms were staged, but the empty house was brought to life.

Here are a few pictures of the before and after results.

      

Living Room

      

Living Room - Another View

      

Dining Room

      

Master Bedroom

      

Master Bathroom

 

For more pics and details about this home please visit the Staged Listings page on our website.

For more information about this property please contact
Kristin Riggs of Mal & Seitz Real Estate at 503-823-1409

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This vacant home was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us turn your property into one buyers will want to call their new home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

We felt it was time to freshen up the look of our website, so we did an overhaul this weekend.  It was quite time consuming, but it's very important to keep the face of your company fresh and current. 

Although staging is a word of mouth business, more and more people will find you on the internet.  We must keep in mind two audiences when we think about our websites.  Those who are coming for the first time as well as our returning clients and referrals.  If your site looks stagnant and never changes, that gives just as much of an impression as the look and content itself.

Invest some time and update your photos and text.  The Real Estate market is quite different from one year ago.  If your site is offering information about staging not related to the current market it may be turning potential clients away.

Have fun updating!!!

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Let Synergy Staging turn your property into one buyers will want to call their new home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

In this challenging Real Estate market, there are still many opportunities to be found for investors.  Synergy Staging was recently brought in to stage a foreclosed property that was being turned around very quickly for sale.  Although the budget was tight for the quick turn over, we were glad the investor knew the value of home staging.  The home had some definite issues to be addressed, but the asking price is very reasonable considering the location, layout, and the incredible views of Portland.

One of our challenges was staging two properties in different cities for the same owner in the span of two days.  I'll post the pictures of the other property later this week.  We started on Friday morning and the Open House was Sunday morning.  For this property we went with a more modern feel that seemed to suit the home even though it was built in the 70's.

Here are some pictures of the before and after results.

      

Living Room

The drapes had a very 80's pattern and we couldn't remove them without a major replacement which wasn't going to happen.  Since we had to work with them we tied them in with our art and carefully selected colors.  You also probably can't see the over 50 picture hooks (some of which were screwed into the wall with anchors) that we had to remove.  Here's another view.

      

      

Kitchen

      

Dining Area

The Dining Area had a terribly dated chandelier that the owners were going to replace, but low and behold, it was still there when we arrived to stage!  All we could really do to tone it down was to lift it as high as possible so it didn't obstruct the lovely view out the bay windows.

      

The tranquil Master Bedroom

                          

Master Bathroom

The Master Bathroom had the highest towel bar that we'd ever seen.  The top bar was over 6 1/2 feet high.  We debated whether or not to place towels on it.  Ultimately it looked more awkward empty and without towels, so we hung them.   What do you thinK?

 

For more pics and details about this home please visit the Staged Listings page on our website.

For more information about this property please contact
Kristin Riggs of Mal & Seitz Real Estate at 503-823-1409

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This vacant home was staged by Synergy Staging.  Let us turn your property into one buyers will want to call their new home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.

Have you seen the new show Stager Invasion on TLC?  It premiered last night with two back-to-back episodes.  It's a totally different take than The Stagers on HGTV.

After watching it I'm not sure that it's the best representation of how staging really works, but anything that keeps the business and concept out there in front of potential clients can't be a bad thing, can it?

The concept of this show is that they go into occupied homes that are a disaster and stage them with a team of about 20 people in 8 hours.  The team walks down the street much like Extreme Home Makeover.  They paint, landscape, build, and stage all in 8 hours.  The stager, Lisa Lynch, likes to take every item out of the house into the driveway, do all the interior work, and then bring everything back in.

While many of us stage occupied homes - it's always annoying to me when they put time limits on these types of tv shows.  In the real world a house in this shape could never be staged in 8 hours except at a large expense.  I guess the added pressure makes good tv.  They attempt to show the limited budget they can work on by purchasing only a few items for the home.  In reality, the labor and staging cost would be exorbitant with that many people working on a house.

Though some feel the budgets on The Stagers are high, at least they are all disclosed and paint a more realistic picture of how staging works (although when do we ever get 5 days for each project!)

But I digress - some of the concepts that Lisa shares on the show are sound (de-cluttering, de-personalizing, use of space, etc.) but the idea that this is how staging works is not realistic.  However, it does show how preparing a house for sale can help it sell quicker and for top dollar.  The homeowners may not feel like a project of this magnitude is something they would like to tackle, so they may bring in a professional stager to help them.  That's where we come in...

So what are your thoughts?

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Synergy Staging turns your property into one buyers will want to call home.  Please call us at (503) 557-2244 for a free no obligation quote.