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Every year, I try to make it to the BIA Parade of Homes to see what’s new and different in the world of new homes and in design.  This year, the parade was in my neck of the woods – Sunbury, Ohio.   Although a little smaller than years past (only 6 houses), this year, the parade featured several interesting trends.  As I gingerly made my way through the homes (recovering from a back issue – thank goodness for a great Sanctuary crew to make my job less labor intensive!), I captured some of those trends to share with you!

The first house, the M/I home priced at $625K, I dubbed the house of pattern – lots of floral fabrics, rugs and wall coverings.  In the front of the house, the office featured a patterned rug and great placement of the desk and the accessories.

The master bath was a bit of a floral explosion, but since it only featured blue and cream with chrome accents, it was bold but not overwhelming.

The master bedroom featured – you guessed it – more floral patterns.  This time a bright pink, blue, green and cream, paired with trellis and greek key patterns.  I liked the navy walls and crisp white wainscot.

Blue flowers made an appearance once again in the great room, this time in the draperies.

One of the strongest design features of this home was one of the bedrooms, featuring a really interesting use of trim.  I love how it works in the room, especially with the headboard.

Finally, a picture of the kitchen.  Loved the use of chrome in the fixtures (works so well with stainless steel) and the counter and backsplash choices.

Next time I’ll share a home I called the house of texture.  It was my favorite on the parade this year!

Thought I’d share a few photos from another staging in a senior community, this time in Grove City.  This unit is a studio apartment, with a kitchenette. small eating area and bath.  Enjoy!

We’ve been busy at Sanctuary!  More stagings will be posted in the weeks to come!

Just completed a few more model units for local retirement communities.  Check out a few of the great photos below!  Unit one is a large studio located in Dublin, Ohio.

And the second unit, located in Groveport, Ohio.

More units will be revealed in the weeks to come!

Recently, we were contacted through Houzz (one of my favorite websites in the world!) to provide staging services for model units in several local retirement communities.  Check out some of the photos from the first unit we completed below!

Stay tuned for more transformations in the weeks to come!

After being on the market for 7 weeks with little success, the homeowner of a vacant ranch home in Westerville reached out to Sanctuary for staging.  Right after staging, the realtor, Rachel Casto, held a tremendously successful open house that we had the pleasure of attending along side her.  The open house was so well attended and busy that it was actually a little hard to keep track of who was touring the home, but Rachel did a fantastic job!  A little less than two weeks after staging, the home was in contract at full ask – it is amazing what the combination of a great realtor, willing homeowner and a little staging can do.

So here are a few photos of this great home:

First, we’ll start with the living room area – staging highlighted the large size of the room, all of the natural light and the soaring ceiling.  What a great space to work with!

On to the open kitchen, perfect for entertaining.

Next, a look at the master bedroom and bathrooms.  I really love how the master bedroom turned out – such a calming retreat.  This room elicited a lot of positive feedback from buyers.

Finally, a look at the bathrooms.   So cute!

We are thrilled that this wonderful home sold so quickly after staging.  A big thank you to Rachel Casto and the homeowner for allowing us to create a sanctuary in this space!  Stay tuned for more Sanctuary successes.

A wonderful home owner in Hilliard, Ohio reached out to Sanctuary to stage a few rooms in her home before she put it on the market.  Our home owner wanted to try to sell the home on her own (For Sale by Owner, commonly known as FSBO) and wanted just a little assistance to help her home shine.

The home had so much going for it – great curb appeal and a really nice neighborhood.  Working with a limited budget, we transformed her foyer, living room and dining rooms into sanctuaries, using many of the pieces she already had, mixed in with our inventory.  The result was stunning.  

Playing off of her more formal style, we mixed in some contemporary elements to update and freshen up the space.  We brought in the sofa, tables, chairs, art and accessories, accenting the hutch and plates on the wall.  Here’s a side by side: (Note:  the home owner was in the middle of packing when the “befores” were taken!)

Turning our attention to the dining room, we added place settings, a centerpiece, new art and accessories to mix a little modern in.

And a few more pictures from this home:

The end result?  I have to admit, I was a little nervous about this one – FSBOs often take much, much longer to sell than homes with an agent.  There was no need to worry – this home sold in 1 day for full ask! The homeowner was so pleased with the design, she asked Sanctuary for design assistance in her new home once she is unpacked.  Another Sanctuary success!

Wow!  It has been a really busy month.  Several houses staged and sold (more to come on that), and the celebration of my birthday and my husband’s birthday in Chicago.  What a fun city!  We had a blast with all of the typical tourist sites, but one site stood out for me – Merchandise Mart.  We spent a whole afternoon (could have easily turned into several days…but we did have a plane to catch) in the world’s largest design center – I was like a kid in a candy store.

First of all, can you believe how big it is?  It is the world’s largest commercial building, and second only to the pentagon in terms of size.  Over 4,200,000 square feet, it covers two full city blocks and has its own ZIP code.  With my design credentials, I had access to floors reserved for the “trade” as well as floors that were for the public.  From lighting to flooring, furniture to rugs – this place has everything!  Over a few posts, I’ll share some of the trends that I saw.  First up – tile.

I’m always happy in a tile store – Columbus has a few good ones, my favorites being The Tile Shop and Floor, Decor and More.  But this place took tile to a whole other level.  Lets look at some of the trends that we might be seeing in the months/years to come.

Trend #1 – Neutrals:  whites, greys, beiges and blacks – neutrals are everywhere.  From travertine to marble, neutrals are anything but boring.  Pieced together in amazing ways, these sample boards are works of art, which brings me to trend #2.

Trend #2 – Patterns:  This bathroom is stunning!  While I don’t even want to think about how much this costs per square foot, it goes to show that tile is being cut and placed in new and unique ways.  No boring squares and rectangles on these walls.  The circular pattern is a star.

Trend #3 – Texture:  Another trend that I saw everywhere is texture.  While there were still a lot of flat, classic subway style tiles (simply timeless), everywhere I looked there were textures worked into the surface, creating drama and visual interest.  In the right space, some of the tiles above would be stunning.  The more practical side of me does wonder about cleaning – all of those nooks and crannies – but they sure are beautiful.

One last picture for inspiration:

In the weeks to come, I’ll share more of what I saw at the Mart.

Last time we took a look at bedrooms and all of the details that help them sell.  Today, let’s look at bathrooms.  We’ll feature a few different bathrooms, pointing out the special touches that make these bathrooms ones to remember!

First up, an old world style bathroom.  The vanity area has been carefully staged with fluffy towels, soap dish and dispenser, a pretty mirror, nice bottle of perfume and a pretty plant.  Neat, clean, luxurious.

Lets now look at another feature of this bathroom.  A beautiful shower, fit for royalty.  Staged with towels (rolled towels are a stager’s friend!), matching soap dishes and another plant, this shower has room to spare.

Next, let’s look at another bathroom, a little more classic and traditional in feel.  A pretty hand towel (note the ring on which it is hung as well as the circles on the towel itself), another mirror, orchid (another stager favorite) and soap dish make this bathroom really shine.

From another angle, this same bathroom carries a theme of circles (chosen because of the really cool vanity light fixture) to the shower curtain to tie the whole look together.

How about this bathroom?  With pale blue, tan and cream, this bathroom has just a hint of beach.  From the seashells on the shelf to the use of candles, this bathroom is clean and serene, just the way buyers like them!

Hope you enjoyed looking at just a few of the bathrooms we’ve staged.  Stay tuned for more rooms in upcoming posts.

Sanctuary Staging is known for attention to detail, and in real estate, the details matter. As a part of my certification process, I spent a significant amount of time studying the psychology of buying decisions, and I use that knowledge to help homes sell. Let’s look at a few staged bedrooms, with a special emphasis on how little things can deliver a big impact, creating emotional connections that consciously and subconsciously pull buyers into a home. So first up, a master bedroom.

Notice how this bedroom represents a good balance between masculine and feminine. Dark, rich colors for him, lush pillows and accents for her. Two nightstands, two sets of prints and two lamps also reinforce the his and her theme. The use of a plant in the corner softens the room and balances the dark draperies in opposite corner. A cozy chair, with lumbar pillow and throw, whispers to buyers that this is a place  to read, to enjoy a cup of tea and or to just rest for a while. The nightstands reinforce this with candles (how romantic!) and books. Looking a little closer at the bed, notice the tray. All set with a tea pot and tea cups. The far right corner also features a mirror – helping buyers literally see themselves in the space – another subconscious impression.  This room is staged to sell. Let’s look at another example. This room was a smaller master, so staging was very carefully done. Placing the bed on an angle at the far corner and the use of soothing neutrals make the space appear larger. An upholstered bench at the foot of the bed showed that there was plenty of space for a seating area, and again, the attention to detail is evident – note the tray set for tea, and even a copy of the morning’s paper beside it. Greenery softens the space, while the art added visual interest and just a touch of color.  This room too, was staged to sell. And sell it did, for full price.

After viewing these photos, you might be saying “Who actually lives like that?” It is important to note that there is a definite difference between staging and living. If you are anything like me, you barely make up the bed before you rush out the door to start your day. That’s living. Staging? It’s all about creating the life you wish you had – the life where there’s never any dirty dishes, breakfast is served in bed, friends gather for good times and there’s always time to relax. Sounds awfully nice, huh?

Sanctuary creates the good life for open houses and provides sellers with ready to go vignettes (typically on trays for easy set up) to set out for subsequent showings. But with rooms staged like these, subsequent showings may not even be needed – we do have a bit of a track record for selling homes from a single showing or open house. Stay tuned for upcoming posts featuring other rooms in the home.

Part 2 – Staging Large

Welcome to Part 2 of our Staging Large and Small Series! In Part 1, we covered some of the myths associated with staging: Home staging is only for half million dollar homes and up.  Empty rooms look bigger than those with furniture in them.  Buyers can see past the “stuff” and see themselves living in a home.  One by one, we busted these myths and shared some of the truths about home staging, featuring a cozy home of only 1,000 square feet.

So, let’s move on to large. We recently staged a 3,400 square foot home in Kitzmiller Crossing in Blacklick, Ohio (located near Gahanna and New Albany).  The owners are a wonderful couple who are getting ready to begin a new chapter in their lives and live their dream – retiring to Florida. We first visited the home to begin planning how to stage this property for a quick sale after they held a full house tag sale and while they were still packing. Their goals were simple: design spaces where they could live for short period of time until their official retirement and sell the home quickly so they could fully close their “chapter” in Ohio and move on to a new chapter in sunny Florida.  The owners also partnered with an experienced, knowledgeable and very kind realtor, Betsy Neidenthal, who believes in the power of staging.

Sanctuary Staging took advantage of the wonderful features of the home to create a series of spaces any buyer would love. Take a look at some of the before and after pictures below.

First, the formal living and dining room.  This room is a large space, perfect for entertaining.  To help this space really shine, we lightened up the room and used tones of cream, silver and turquoise.  Now onto the family room.  With a open concept, wall of windows and soaring ceilings, new furnishings really helped this room show beautifully! Turning our attention to the kitchen, let’s take a look at a space perfect for cooking and enjoying a special meal! Master bedrooms should be a retreat for their owners, and all staged, this one is no exception! Finally, sometimes, you just need to get a little work done.  The staged home office shows that work can be made a little more enjoyable. The result?  This wonderful home, at a higher price point of over $420K, received an offer one week after being put on the market, and went into contract within 10 days of being on the market. Feedback from showings was glowing.  Our owners are one step closer to living their dream and the buyers will soon be moving into their dream home.  Sanctuary Staging made the difference!