Photographs taken by PDXVtours 

Most of us who work in the field, have at one time or another been sent a link like this one: Terrible Real Estate Agent Photographs. Sites like these humorously document the type of well meaning, but ineffective, pictures advertising property (that are not as uncommon as one might hope).

I recommend clicking on the link for a chuckle, but it also made me think about how important good photography is for selling your home. I take a lot of pride in the work I do staging. I blog a lot about the time and creative energy involved in highlighting the selling features of a property, but I cannot say too many times how lucky I have been to work with a great number of wonderful photographers.

I would like to take a moment to talk about a recent photographer I worked with, Rowan Gillson, of A Little Rojo. A photography instructor with IPS, Gillson has traveled extensively, his stunning work can be purchased through sites like Corbis Images, or his own personal site.

His unique style incorporates lush colors, and a narrative quality to even those pictures, like the ones below, of an inanimate home. Scroll down to see my recent staging expertly captured by Rowan Gillson.

Lovely six bedroom house in Lake Oswego, with a beautiful view of Mount St. Helens, Mount Jefferson and Mount Adams. Click HERE for a virtual tour, or scroll down to see some pictures from the staging.

Quick update on a recent staging I did in Lake Oswego, its already pending sale.

At 3,690 sq ft, homes this large can be overwhelming for a potential buyer when they are empty. There is so much space, and so many rooms that it is easy for the would be buyer to have trouble gauging rooms functionality, and it’s not unusual to assume an empty space is smaller then a well-furnished one, because there is no reference point.

Scroll down to see some pictures from the staging:

Gorgeous buildings of sleek metal and glass. These three waterfront condos stand next each other, along the edge of the Willamette River. Sweeping views, open floor plans, and a wonderful location surrounded by shops and restaurants: The Strand.

A lot of the staging decisions for this condo had to do with balancing room function with emphasizing the phenomenal view. Because the view was so dynamic, it was important that the staging didn’t compete with what was the clear visual focus of every room. I used base neutral tones, and then accent colors that were mirrored in the view from each window.

Click HERE for the virtual tour, or HERE for the listing.

I recently staged a home in the Portland Mt. Tabor Neighborhood. Less then a fifteen minute drive from downtown, this is one of those sought after neighborhoods (93% of residents rated it good or very good on a livability survey) that feels incredibly residential, but is within easy walking distance of pedestrian heavy areas like Hawthorn and Belmont that are full of restaurants and boutiques. The best of both worlds, and right near the scenic Mount Tabor, with all its bike paths, walkways and playground.

Knowing a lot about the area allowed me to stage for the demographic that seeks this neighborhood: a mix of white collar singles and couples from a more affluent background. This house was an elegant a five bedroom with three bath. I staged to emphasize the beautifully classic feel of this 1911 home. Click HERE to check out the listing, or scroll down to see some pictures from the staging:

A little update about a recent staging job. 3 bedroom 2 bath ranch-style house. Just staged this, there was an open house on the 9th, and its already pending. The stylistic architecture on the ceiling was gorgeous and really showed off all the features one looks for in a ranch-style, open floor plan, low pitched-gable, wide windows. Paired with the fact this home was just a sweet 15 minute drive from down town Portland, I knew it was going to be an easy sell. I looked to the neighborhood demographic for the staging, and focused on casual modern, with an eye to a cozy family feel.

Last week we staged a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath home in Tualatin. It sold on the first day with 20k over asking. There is so much emotional and physical work involved in selling your home, and it can be tempting to just list ones home “as is.” The fact is, that cleaning, decluttering, home repair and staging are all investments. Putting 1k or 2k into your home might seem intimidating, but sometimes small fixes can create a bidding war. We are really lucky to be in a sellers market, there are so many potential home buyers looking to own – but that makes it all the more important to show your home in the best light. The more people who want to buy, the better chance of someone paying over asking.

Recent staging job for a spacious four bedroom custom build home, with a 1/3 acre lot and luxury features like a wood sauna. This home is gorgeous, and had been sitting on the market for 6 months before staging. Because this is a custom build home, and only sixteen years old, it has a very unique layout and design, with a lot of wood and built-in shelving. There was an interesting aesthetic mix of modern and Victorian. When initially put on the market, the pictures in the listing emphasized the more classic elements of the home, but didn’t do justice to how versatile the space is. I was really excited to get to play with the visuals on this staging. Here are some pics.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Some more pictures:

To see the full listing Click Here.

Since I normally blog about home staging,  I thought it would be nice to do a post about another side of my business: interior design. For those who don’t work in the field, staging and interior decorating can seem very similar. The fundamental difference between the two has to do with function. The main goal of interior design is to create a functional living space that not only fulfills the daily needs of those that live there, but creates a space that is visually pleasing to the client and reflects their personal style and preferences.  The main goal of staging is to sell.

With interior decorating you have to get to know the home owners style. You get to  guide them through different furniture and accessory choices, and work to create a mutual vision on each room. As a designer you also have to weigh visual choices against the functional needs of your client for each room in order to help them  maintain a space that will fulfill their daily needs. Certain counter choices for a kitchen might look gorgeous, but not be functionally appropriate for a family that likes to do a lot of heavy cooking. When navigating through hundreds of different design choices, a decorator make the process less overwhelming and uses their expertise to narrow the choices to those that best fit each client.

While home staging is the bread and butter of my business, I really enjoy getting to do interior design also. You can also browse around this web-site to get the best construction services as it can attract more buyers. With staging so much of the work involved deals with creating neutral space that any buyer would want to move into.A lot of time is spent on helping a seller transition from seeing their house as THEIR HOME, to instead a house they’re selling cash for your house. It’s a nice balance doing interior decorating, getting to help a client create their ideal home space, making their house feel like their home.