Mirrors: Botox for Wrinkled Rooms

Mea Culpa-
Holy Moly- what I've been through just to get you a post!  Sorry for the delay.  I've missed you! Don't give up on me, baby.

Mirrors Are Magic
I love me some mirrors! Mirrors are my favorite accessory for staging. I collect 'em in all sizes, styles and frames.  Mirrors are crazy amazing for making any area in a house ooze appeal.  And, mirrors are a big bang for the buck. Of course, their reflective power is great for increasing light in a room.


Hocus Pocus: Mirrors create the illusion of more space. 

House Beautiful

Pinterest

Jennifer Brouwer

Funky and Fun Mirrors

Check out these mirrors now on sale on the Joss and Main website. Talk about a pop of color and a design statement! I can see these mirrors in an entry, power room, a girl's room or one of those McMansion master closets. The price of these mirrors blows me away.  The sale price is $279.95, reduced from $562.38 (or that's the price that has a line drawn through it).  For heaven's sake, the frames are resin!

StagerLinda Copy Cat
Here is a funky mirror I bought at a consignment shop for $16.  Looks kinda like the ones above, no?  (Talk about funky, I tried to wiggle out of the shot and managed to get the reflection of  the top of my outdoor umbrella.)

 

Linda Beam

What funky color do you think I should paint my find?  (I'm leaning towards turquoise....)  I want it to look fun and fresh.  Love to hear your suggestion!

(I have no idea why this print is so small I am hitting the Publish button and will figure it out later!)

Thanks so very, very much for reading my blog and hanging with me during technical issues!

Linda

3-D Vignette Staging Around a Picture

One of my favorite vignettes when staging is to use a picture and 3-D accessories.  I like to take the subject of the picture and 'pull it out' with accessories that reflect the theme of the picture.

Here's a porcelain kitty  gazing into a crystal ball with similar flowers to the painting inside the crystal.  I thought it looked kind of ethereal with the flowered canvas.

For this rustic pencil drawing of jugs, I arranged a variety different shaped vases. I like the way the tall vase has similar lines as the large pitcher in the picture. (pitcher in a picture?) The glaze of the vases complements the gray tones of the drawing.  Also, the brownish tones in the vases picks up the color of the matting and the sticks relate to the wood frame.

With this painting of a vase filled with flowers, I surrounded it with pottery vases in similar colors.  The vases pick up accent colors used in the painting: shades of green, rust and crimson.

This picture is from my house.  I don't load up 7 vases for a single vignette when I stage!  I've collected these vases over the years and all of them have been used for staging in many, many houses.

I'd love to hear what you think!  3-D a GO or a NO?

Later,

Linda

Looks like I'm back in business with pictures!

A Gift of Thoughtful Words

This poem was sent to my by my best friend many years ago.  I think the feeling behind the words is rich. I pay it forward to other friends.  Handwritten, in a beautiful card, I believe it is a precious gift to receive...

                    Oh, the comfort--the inexpressible comfort of feeling safe with a person,
                    Having neither to weigh thoughts,
                    Nor measure words--but pouring them
                    All right out--just as they are--
                    Chaff and grain together--
                    Certain that a faithful hand will
                    Take and sift them--
                    Keep what is worth keeping--
                    And with the breath of kindness
                    Blow the rest away.

                                                                                                    Dinah Maria Mulock Craik

Do you share this sacred bond with someone special?  Where you can spill and they get it without you having to explain yourself?

Who would you pass these words on to? 



Still having technical problems....
I have no clue why I can't post pictures to my blog.  Maybe it's the internet, maybe it's my new blog design, maybe it is something I am doing or not doing....anyway, I intend to keep posting.  What does this poem have to do with staging?  It is my POV that everything from relationships to selling your house is based on the power of emotion.


Linda

A Stylist with Style

My hair stylist, Amber, was planning to move to a larger studio. For months, we poured over floor plans, pictures, layouts and color chips. When the move didn't work out she decided to update her current wee space.  No need for the plans go to waste!  I knew that you would enjoy seeing her cute place.

Here is Amber's "waiting area".  The  cute little glossy white tucked chair came from Amazon.  The wall color is Benjamin Moore Original Gray.  The mirrored table from HomeGoods.

Chandelier was a CraigsList find for $125. It is in the corner above the white chair. Amber was going for "Hollywood Glam". She is not a color girl.  Amber wanted white, gray, mirrors and black and white photography.

For the Gallery Wall, Amber used black and white pictures from "W" magazine and framed them herself.

Her wash station has an arched mirror. 

Cute little sconces flank the station mirror.  It is so nice not to have awful florescent lighting!  See the the movie  reels atop her color station--more Hollywood glam!

Here's Amber mixing my color.  She bought an ugly  brown entertainment center from Craigslist.  She uses it for color storage.  A fresh finish with BM White Dove made it come of life.  See the huge mirror behind her? Another Craigslist find that she repainted in silver.

This is a jewelry chest.  She keeps scissors, combs, etc. in here.  Amber is going to give it a coat of white paint when time allows.  I love the curves!

Do  you see the very subtle stencil on the wall?  The  overlay was done in Benjamin Moore's Galveston Gray.

Sharing some love after my cut and color! Ummm... hugging and laughing made my bangs fall.

Didn't she do a great job?

Happy weekend, y'all!


Linda

Mule Days for StagerLinda

Bing

Having some technical difficulties with my new blog. 

It's slow going....but I'll get there.

Linda

Do You Ever Fake It?

Designers typically pooh-pooh artificial flowers for being low-rent.  

True Confession: I am an offender. Yes, I use fake flowers for staging.  But, here's the deal, I add fresh greenery.

My flower arrangements photograph well for MLS shots. The internet is first place 90% of home buyers shop.

Here is an arrangement of silk poppies in a foyer.

Linda Beam

I incorporated ivy and asparagus fern fronds from live plants.  The ivy and fern help camouflage the stems of the artificial flowers--a dead giveaway.   Here's a close up. 


Linda Beam

See the yellow flower peeking out of the bowl of Gerber Daisies?  It's fake!  I needed a spot of color for the picture.


Linda Beam



For all you you DIYer's, here is the vase used in the first picture with the Poppies.  It is a Goodwill find--loved the pattern and shape--hated the color. 

Linda Beam

Again, the after.

I spray painted it bronze to pick up the darker shade in the mirror.  I added the gold satin ribbon to pick up the ligher gold in the mirror and to contrast to the dark vase.

What do you say? Yay? or Nay? to artifical flowers. 

Later,

Linda 

Don't "Call Me Maybe"... Call Me about Paint Colors

A realtor asked me to quote vignette staging for her vacant house listing.  She said the house is getting showings but 'nobody is sticking around'.   It is a cute house and has a lot to offer.

HATE this color!
Could I just give her a simple pricing quote for the staging?  Nooooooooo....I had give her my opinion. I can't stage a house when there are obvious problems that need to be addressed. 

This house suffers from poor paint color choices.  (Again, I reinterate poor paint colors for selling.) The Family Room is the first room you enter. 


Linda Beam

It is a taupey-mauvey-brown.  This Family Room feels dark and depressing. The color does nothing to showcase the wood floors or brick fireplace. It desparately needs a new paint color!

Black for Drama!
I also recommended that the staircase banisters and railings be painted because they look dingy, are dinged and dated. 

For drama, I would paint them black to coordinate with the fireplace insert, the chandelier in the dining room  and the Ventian Gold granite countertops in the kitchen.

The owners are going with the trim-white color. It is the more conservative route and will, no doubt, be a vast improvement.

Nicely Updated Kitchen & Spacious Dining Room

Linda Beam

Linda Beam

Here are the adjoining rooms that a potential buyer sees after entering the front door:

Linda Beam

Good News/Bad News
The good news is I will be vignette staging the house after it is repainted.  The bad news is the owners weren't receptive hearing any advice on color.  The owners decided to repaint
all the rooms using the neutral color beige they repainted the kitchen. (The kitchen walls were Kelly Green before it went on the market.) 

The realtor told me, "They have leftover paint."

And, that's ok--at least that color in the Family Room is going away....

Look at This Big Porch
Have to show you the great screened porch and large fenced back yard.  Somebody is going to be very happy in this house!

Linda Beam

What is your reaction the the color in the Family Room?  I love hearing your opinions.

Later,


Linda