A Cute 1950's Home Gets Staged to Sell!

I was excited to stage this little 1950's home that in the great Inglewood Neighborhood of Nashville. It was vacant and needed some personality to compete with other homes.  I'm eager to see the Realtor's final photos because the owners was implementing some of my recommendations including painting the front door and installing a more prominent light fixture in the dining room. Want to see some before and afters?

Let's start with the exterior...





The owner left a dining table and chairs but the dining room needed some color.  I also recommended changing the light fixture to a fixture designed to hang over a dining table.  

I added color by creating a tablescape using bright yellow and black with sunflower print napkins.  I also added art  and greenery.

The living room was a blank canvas.





The bathroom is a bit dated and very white.   I suggested that the homeowner paint the cabinet black and switch the hardware. The wall heater was another negative that drew attention.  I suggested that they try painting it white to blend in to the wall.  You won't believe the transformation!

I love this makeover!  

Another view. They did an awesome job on the cabinet.

The kitchen was a bit dark due to the red wall.  I suggested either adding stronger lighting or paint the wall.  I actually like the red wall so I'm glad they left it.  It may not be universally appealing but the kitchen is a place where you don't have furniture that has to work with wall color.

Standard staging rule... no trashcan in sight.  No one wants to buy your trash!  :-) 

I added a white shelf above the stove to break up the red wall and tie in the white cabinets.

A few cute accessories adds a little character.  This worked  but if I had been able to find a wall mount iron pot rack it would have been perfect!  

A kitchen vignette.  Lemon pound cake should have universal appeal - right?  It sounded good to me and  with a few lemons and other items... we're ready to bake!

The homeowner wanted to keep the cost of staging  as low as possible  so I did not include the 2nd bedroom in the staging plan.  I ended up adding a few items in the room in the end to add a little something that may help buyers imagine a use for this space.  I just finished renovating this little sewing cabinet.  I'm eager to get this one back to use in my home.

Who can resist this little face?  I've learned from personal experience that when a family with a child looks at a house and the child finds a room like this, they make up their little minds right then and there.  "This is MY room!"

It reminds me of a sign I saw in a store the other day..."Unsupervised children will be given candy and a puppy."  When a child loves something... just try taking it away or saying no.  Life can become painful.  I always tried to keep the upper hand when my boys were younger but I have met parents that would do anything to please their baby.  Even buying a house!  So why not take advantage of that situation? 

I hope you enjoyed seeing inside this charming house.  If you'd like more information on it, you can contact the Realtor, Candee Potter at ReMax Choice Properties. 
Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great week!

Lori

Mountain air made me brave!

I'm still a rookie at painting and have never really tried watercolor so on our trip to the mountain house I took along my paints.  I had fun!  Watercolors are pretty cool!

Let's see... what to call my first mountain watercolor???  This is the view from Mom and Dad's porch (sort of!) so how about.... "View from the Porch"

"Sunflowers"  I saw this picture in a magazine and  decided to try it with watercolors.  I'm not thrilled with it but decided to show you anyway!

My favorite painting is one I left with Mom and Dad as a thank you for our week. and I forgot to shoot a photo!  Oh well... maybe some day I'll get a photo and post that one!

God. The master artist!

We're enjoying a week at our family mountain home in Little Switzerland, NC this week.  We're here with my parents, my older brother and his family from Harrisonburg, VA, and my nephew and his wife, Nicole, who is a perfect addition to the family!  God planned that union for sure!

The view from the porch.



Our Golden, Chance. This is his first visit to the mountain house.  Three deer crossed the property last night. A pretty exciting moment for Chance!

One of Dad's day lilies with a guest!






A double bloom day lily. Dad's favaorite.

A Queen Anne's Lace about to bloom.  Cool!

A beautiful spruce bough.   This is Christmas tree country!

We'll be going on plenty of adventures this week.  I'll try to keep you posted!  Thanks for stopping by~
Lori

Linking to Savvy Southern Style  Wow Us Wednesday

Bathroom transformation progress!

You've seen lots of photos of other people's homes on my blog.  I don't always time to work on my own home but I have spent a little time on our bathroom.  Wanna see??? Let's start with the "before" photo.  I took this picture when we were looking at the house.

Not bad. Right?  The problem was that I'm not exactly a "brown" person.  Getting up each morning and showering and getting ready for the day in a sea of brown was kind of a downer for me.

Very simple changes.    I love this color.  It's Sherwin Williams "Silvermist."   It's relaxing and bright, and it looks great with the black counter and the wood floor and cabinets.

I found this mirror in a thrift shop over two years ago.  In fact, it's probably one of my first thrift store purchases!  I think I paid $12 for it.   I loved the shape and architectural detail.  I was not crazy about the gold finish so it's been sitting in storage waiting for it's moment in the sun.   I painted it with brushed nickel spray paint to match the light fixtures and hardware and I LOVE it!  It's the dramatic piece I needed.

I found this Champagne bucket at Goodwill a couple weeks ago for $3.50.  I cleaned it up a bit but it's still a bit tarnished.  I've decided I like it that way!  It adds character!  It's handy for our washcloth supply!  I also considered putting a houseplant in it.  Maybe one day!

   

I love the smell of this lotion.  It's the aromatherapy "icing" on  the cake !

 Now on to another room!    Thanks for stopping by!!


Linking to "Wow Us Wednesdays!" at Savvy Southern Style.  Check it out!

Lori

Planning a weekend with my BFF!

 

The boys have been out of town all week and my sweet hubby just left for a fishing weekend.  Perfect time for a girlfriend visit with Holley.  IF she can make it!  She sent a text earlier asking if I had made plans.  She should know... I ALWAYS have plans.  When I asked her what she'd like to do she said "Shop.  A little peace and quiet.  Maybe a craft project of something.  Let's create something inspirational!"   So...


Shopping... mmm...so many choices for treasure hunting!  Garage sales are looking good this weekend and I've never been to the  Nashville Flea Market.  It's said to be among the top ten flea   

markets in the country. Dealers and vendors from 30 states and 1300+ booths with a huge variety of gifts, antiques, collectibles, jewelry, arts and crafts, tools, house wares, handmade clothing, and more.

Of course, we can always try our regular stops at 

Or perhaps we'll check out the antique stores! 

Maybe an estate sale???  

And then.... PEACE & QUIET!

I have the perfect place for that.  My porch!  

We can sit in the "sky chairs" and listen to the birds.  If it rains this weekend, we'll get to enjoy the sound of the stream running behind the house.  The last time Holley visited, we put a twin bed on the porch to nap on.  Maybe she was planning to come back for a little R&R???  She IS the planner! 

A craft project...

Certainly something I am well equipped for!  Choices are:

Painting

Jewelry Making

I found this bench project at Lowe's Creative Ideas.  
We could make one for each of us!  Maybe?  
Sounds like work and neither of us likes to sweat! 

Another project from the Lowes Creative Ideas website.  I don't think we'd make the box but it would be fun to fill  one with notes of encouragement and trinkets that celebrate our friendship.  Since we live close to four hours apart now, it would be great to have something like this on those rough days when we are calling
1-800- GOD- HELP!
(a personal joke we share - not too hard to figure out!)


If Holley can't make it, I'm sure I'll pout stay busy.  I have a project I thought I'd take on to surprise the guys when they get home.  They know I'll do something so why disappoint??
I'll share that one later.  Just in case they are reading!  

Everyone have a great weekend!  Give your best girlfriend a call and if you can spend some time together, take advantage of the moment and find something fun to do!

Have a great weekend!
Lori

Ahhh... a little treasure hunting catch up!

My staging work has really taken off so I haven't been able to post regularly.  Even worse I haven't had time to treasure hunt or play with all my finds!  I finally got a chance to do a bit today.  Want to see the latest?  It will be quite a hodge podge but here goes!

My little rooster lamp.  A Goodwill find for $5.00.  I had her on the porch but brought her into the kitchen this weekend.

A close up.  Isn't she a beauty?

I've been seeing silver gilded shells and think they are gorgeous.  I thought I'd give it a try.

I think they turned out great!

What do you think?  I can hardley wait to find some other bigs ones to work on!

I've seen other bloggers Champagne buckets and finally found one!  It's a little rough but I like it!  I'm still trying to figure out what I'm going to do with it!  Suggestions?

I love to find original works of art like this.  Someone wrote "Katy" on the back but it's not signed.  Pretty nice.  Don't you think??

Well friends... I wish I could spend a little more time catching up!  Especially studying all you blogs and latest!  Perhaps this will be my week to slow down a bit???

A special hello to my son, Robert, who told me this week that he had been reading my blog.  I love you Robert! 

Lori (Mom... for Robert!)

Countertop Makeover... Pretty cool idea!

I came across this video on Lowes website.   I stage many houses that really need counters updated to compete with similar homes but there is often no budget for replacing countertops.  This may be aone solution.  I can't find the price for the kit but I think it's around $250 to do up to 50 square feet.  No bad!  I haven't tried this but I watched the video series.  If you are a DIYer, you may want to try it!    Here's the first video in the series. 

Be sure to let me know if you try it! 

Thanks for stopping by.  I've got lots of updates for you once I slow down! 

Stay tuned!

Lori