Friday

Thank goodness Retail Pushes the Seasons...

I have to admit I groan and roll my eyes when retail stores put out their Halloween product in the middle of August, but when it comes to Easter, Spring & Summer stock...BRING IT ON!!!! Partly because I'm tired of the winter dull-drums and, especially here in Vancouver, the RAIN! And partly because when I was in desperate in need of patio furniture for staging a roof top deck in February!!
This amazing Townhouse in the heart of Vancouver, a skip & a jump to 2010 Olympic village, boasts a huge 1000sq-ft rooftop deck that really needed to be featured as real livable space. The color scheme for the interior space was black, red and white. The mission was to create an unexpected twist once you arrived at the top. Rather than continuing the red & white expected theme I chose a set with luscious Lime Green cushions & accents. This brought the vast grey concrete space to life and by creating two separate uses, one a living room type setting, the other a dining and eating area, it rally felt much bigger -even though it was huge! The rooftop was transformed from a blank vast gray space to Margarita Ville!!!! So thank goodness retail received their summer furniture in February!!! Below is the finished product....
written by~Emily Hagerman
Emily Hagerman Design



Wednesday

Even the Smallest Renovation can Yeild a Profitable Sale...

I love my business, Designing that is! Through positive energy and determination has brought me together with some of the most progressive and successful Realtors in the lower mainland. Not to mention the friendships and referrals that have happened along the way.
One particular Agent had a small condo that needed all the help it could get. The Leaky condo was an empty space that had been under repair and renovation for the better part of a year and was ready to hit the market. After choosing the paint color and lighting fixtures and flooring choices I was set to stage a week later. As I worked on the design for the space the Realtor was working on his game plan.
It took a full day to stage the entire condo and by the end of the day the photo's were taken and the next morning were sent to the Realtor's assistant to be uploaded to MLS. I believe so strongly in all the properties being properly show cased on MLS because that is the buyers first impression.
The condo went live on MLS on the Saturday and the calls began pouring in to the listing agent. Instead of having an open house right away a list was formed and no showings until the following Saturday. A 2 hour Open House was held. For two hours the steady stream of prospective buyers did not stop. (As a courtesy to my clients I like to pop by the home before the open house to make sure everything is picture perfect) The next day the Realtor had 6 offers to present to the seller! The offers were above listing price and by Monday the subjects on the best offer were removed!
The Space was a challenge not only in size but the layout was quite unique. As an empty space it would have been difficult for buyers to envision how to configure furniture and what size of furniture really suited the space.
The moral of this blog is really "Work Smarter not Harder", by creating a sense of urgency and anticipation in the open house delay and the tantalizing pictures of my expert design and final staging- this seller & Agent reaped all the benefits. The investment the seller made in Design and Staging of her space was well worth it and she received it back in the profit she made above her original list price. I love a Happy Ending! Below are a few Before and Afters.
~Emily Hagerman,
Emily Hagerman Design

Living Room Before Color & Flooring

Living Room Complete and Set

Dining Area before...

And After..shot taken from the living room..

Master bedroom Before...

And After...



Amazing what a little Color can do...