Home selling this year?  While the real estate market has improved, we continue to see homes that stand out and make a impressive first impression get more showings and stronger offers!

When selling a vacant home it is hard for potential buyers to see the size of the rooms.  Since over 94% of home buyers are looking on the internet for homes it’s important for your marketing to be more than a picture of a corner and windows!  This week we staged six homes for builders.  These homes were all new and looked great, but these savvy builders know that staging a home will give them less time of the market and get their listings sold quicker.

This home was beautiful with lots of wonderful upgrades.  It does leave a potential buyer wondering about the size of the room.  Will my 7′ sofa fit?

When staged it is easy to see the room size and the space has a warm and welcoming feel.

How effective is your real estate marketing?  If you’re preparing a home for sale, or have one listed that hasn’t sold quickly perhaps its time to make sure your listing is marketed so it generates the best possible sale!

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas.  Creative Concepts specializes in helping home sellers stage to sell and owners not selling to re-design their spaces to live well

Just had to share this recent upgrade we did for a beautiful historic home in Albany, Oregon.  The main bathroom didn’t have a shower….problematic for most families.  It had a few other uhhhh…..”issues” that kept this room from feeling like a  ”spa retreat”.  Little things like wallpaper and green plastic tiles on the walls….on top of plaster.  The problems may have seemed overwhelming when considering affordable options for updating.  How much would it cost to update this space?

We made a few upgrades and this new bathroom now feels like a luscious hotel bathroom!  How many changes can you find?

This update was affordable and gave new life to a historic home.  The cost was FAR less than you can imagine!  What small projects can transform your home?

We love creating beautiful spaces and happy endings!!  

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas.  Creative Concepts specializes in helping home sellers stage to sell and owners not selling to re-design their spaces to live well

Creating a remodeling plan that is affordable for master bathrooms can be difficult, but something we do often for clients who are preparing their homes for sale.

This bathroom became a hot selling point when the dated formica counter tops and the tile tub surround were transformed with large travertine tiles. The grey tub was epoxied white and new lighting added ambiance.  The golden oak cabintry and trim were painted white and a new toilet installed (no more grey toilet and oak seat!).

I LOVE this before after shot that Ric from Bring a Camera of Corvallis Oregon — these pictures capture the transformation well.

The owner was thrilled with the design and the new look, and posted this review of our company online:
I had Creative Concepts remodel my kitchen and master bathroom after five months unsuccessfully selling my house on the market. They also staged with stylish and updated furniture. I had a contract for my house within one week of reopening after the staging and remodeling. I couldn’t be happier with the results and working with them was easy. They actually came in under budget for the project.

We love creating beautiful spaces and happy endings!!  What small projects can transform your home?

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas.  Creative Concepts specializes in helping home sellers stage to sell and owners not selling to re-design their spaces to live well

A spacious master bathroom should be a selling point when home selling.  Well usually….

What if it is cluttered or dated?

Updating the master bath can be the last thing on the “to do” list.  When preparing your home for sale, savvy owners maximize the positive features in their homes and make sure these assets become memorable in listing photos and in person.

This spacious master bathroom went from well used to decluttered and well photographed, but the home still wasn’t receiving any offers.

The wallpaper distracted from the beautiful views and the oak cabinetry generated comments of “feels dated”.

A few changes….. and an amazing transformation.

This home was for sale and sold quickly after the updates were made.

Do you have selling features in your home that aren’t living up to their full potential?

A design or staging consultation can get you started to your own amazing transformation!

Creative Concepts -Home Staging and Contracting

503-881-0886             CCB# 180695

Professional Home Staging – Reliable Contractor Repairs – Beautiful Results!

We had lots of wonderful home staging and contracting jobs in Corvallis this past year.  From beautiful new construction models to vintage homes needing a little TLC and creativity.  About half the homes we staged were listed for sale without success…..some for a -L-O-N-G- time.

One of our favorite staging jobs had a few strikes against it.

• BORING paint colors in some of the rooms and walls of cedar paneling.
• Odd spaces – like super long entry wall and alcove where an old wood stove probably once stood.
• Super bold colors in the master…orange and blue.  Not a common combination.
• The home sellers had limited time to sell their home without being in a very difficult situation.
• Kid friendly furniture and decor wasn’t going to “wow” buyers.

We brought in lots of color for the dull rooms, and made the bold master bedroom look designer perfect, and provided furniture to be envied by potential home buyers.  The long white entry wall now said welcome and the alcove was the perfect place for a television.  This home SOLD the first week!

We loved helping these home sellers maximize their profits when selling this home!

Here’s the before and after shots.  Can you see why it was one of our favorite home staging successes?

When preparing your home for sale in Corvallis Oregon, be sure to prepare it so every photo entices potential buyers to see the full potential of every space!  Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting has the expertise to maximize your time and budget as you prepare your home for the best possible sale.  Contact us at 503-881-0886 or stagingoregon@gmail.com

Most of the homes that we help prepare to sell have at least one challenge.  A staging, cleaning, de-cluttering, or maintenance situation that isn’t easy to solve.

This spacious kitchen was in great shape, but the island and pot rack made it feel cramped.  Removing it wouldn’t be hard, but would cause a couple of other problems.  Any ideas of what they may be?

Removing the pot rack will leave some large holes and the ceiling may be a different color under the bracket than the rest of the ceiling.  Anything else?

The grout under the island has never experienced any use (should be read as:  walked on, spilled upon and abused daily) compared to the heavy use the traffic patterns in this kitchen would experience.   No matter how clean you keep your floors, unless you are fanatic about cleaning/sealing there is going to be discoloration in your floor grout as time goes by.  

With the help of our expert painter, the ceiling holes were patched and the color feathered in so the home seller only had a minimal cost removing the pot rack.  The island was removed but the outline that it had been there was painfully evident.  A tough grout cleaning job like this one was something we recommended to leave in the hands of cleaning experts.  We contacted VS Restoration and here are the amazing before and after shots of the work.  Looks fabulous doesn’t it?!

Solving little problems like these help this home look better and it will sell quicker too.  These projects can be a hassle, but knowing professionals who can perform the work expertly and affordably is the key to success.  A special thank you to VS Restoration for the photos and a job well done!

We’ll be staging it next week and have some more before/after shots to share!

Thinking of selling your home and some of the challenges that make it seem daunting?  We love referring professionals who can help make those daunting projects disappear!

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas who specializing in helping home sellers stage to sell or re-design to live well.  Moving or improving?  We have the expertise to showcase your home’s full potential, stretch your budget, and maximize your time!

Our job as professional home stagers takes us into many homes being prepared for sale every week.  We see all types of master bedroom closets -

tiny
huge walk ins
organized
messy
nice built in features
wire racks

Even in some of the nicest closets we sometimes notice a huge problem that can be a turn off to buyers.

Odor

Sometimes it is from laundry hampers being placed in the closet…

Exercise clothes…

But most often it is from shoes.

Ok…I confess – my shoes are not sweet smelling and neither is a closet that often is closed up!

When home buyers are viewing homes, master bedrooms and closets are huge selling points – SO – don’t just declutter and organize.  Make sure closets smell fresh and clean.

We recommend our clients to use a foot spray in their shoes to help solve that problem.   There are dozens of types available and they can be found in the store usually by where insoles and personal products are sold (not usually in the shoes department).

Make sure you make the most of every space when you are preparing your home for sale and that your closets are a pleasant surprise – in every way!

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas who specializes in helping home sellers stage to sell or re-design to live well.  It’s the attention to details that makes the difference!

Licensed, bonded and insured contractors – CCB#180695.

Okay, I’ve got the dinner planned and the grocery list ready…but somehow a holiday meal is more festive with some seasonal decor.  There are some years I decorate way in advance, but this year I’m missing that I don’t have a little grade school kiddo who is making a turkey out of construction paper hands or coloring pilgrim hats — something seasonal to adorn my walls would be fabulous.

Here’s some super quick and easy decorating ideas that you can do in minutes and affordable too.

What a wonderful way to welcome your guest with some fall blooming pansies or mums.  I especially love them planted in pumpkins.

Your dining room table can be elegant and simple all at the same time.  Don’t you love these creative ideas that can be prepared quickly and still have such a beautiful stylish look?

I especially love this one.  I think I will use cranberries and popcorn in the votive holders.  Quick and fun way to add some color!

Source: marthastewart.com via Margaret on Pinterest

Taking just a little time to do some extra decorating will make you and your guests feel extra special! Keep it simple and enjoy every minute of your holiday!

Related Blog Posts:

Simple Fall Decorating Ideas

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting who provides services including interior design, vacant and occupied home staging as well as remodeling coordination.  We love to create spaces people love to come home to!  Need some decorating or home selling ideas?  Contact us at 503-881-0886

Professional Home Staging – Reliable Contractor Repairs – Beautiful Results!

What’s the biggest mistake people make when updating their kitchens and bathrooms?  

Choosing surfaces that don’t complement each other.  They might be close….almost a good match — but there is a little difference that makes it “off”.

Not that each individual surface isn’t beautiful on it’s own – but when they are all brought together they don’t play nice together…..it’s always a case of undertones.
We were removing the staging from this lovely coastal home recently which has been professionally remodeled and very lovely.  The bathrooms don’t “feel” quite right.

This photo has too much glare on the counters to see clearly, but lets take a closer look.

Under tones.  

Always lurking in the background and can rear its ugly head when different under tones are in the same room. No amount of decorating is going to make this problem go away.

The backsplash has a pink undertone which doesn’t play nice with yellow undertones  in this counter top.

I’ve intensified the colors in this picture to help make it very evident.

Can you see the undertone clash?

As interior design professionals our job often involves making these choices for our clients and making sure they all work together in a room.

All too often we receive a phone call after the tile is installed and not working well with the counters.  A design consultation during the remodeling process can often save hundred of dollars and achieve professional results.

One secret – when you choose a granite slab or quartz surface they give you a little piece of the product.

Do yourself a favor and don’t invest in purchasing and installing tile based on the colors in this tiny sample.

It’s kind of like choosing an exterior paint color based on a tiny paint chip….the results can be disappointing.

Tiny differences in undertones can have a huge effect on end results of your project!  Make sure you watch your tones!

If you don’t have the trained eye to see the difference in tone, make sure to hire a professional so your construction or remodeling project has the beautiful look you are planning!

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas.  Specializing in helping home sellers stage to sell or re-design to live well – and making good design choices too!

Moving or improving?  Creative Concepts-Home Staging and Contracting has the expertise to showcase your home’s full potential, stretch your budget, and maximize your time.

Professional Home Staging – Reliable Contractor Repairs – Beautiful Results!

How many decisions are made during a kitchen remodel?  As remodeling contractors, we have helped lots of home owners with choosing products and designing kitchen remodels.  We love making a ho hum kitchen into one that really has amazing functionality and appearance.   Our most recent kitchen remodeling project is really difficult — because it is mine!

While I’ve been able to source flooring for other people very quickly but I’ve invested probably 20 hours into our flooring choices and still haven’t made a final decision.  (Tile is too cold, are hardwoods durable enough?)

I’ve debated on whether I wanted white cabinetry….

But I’ve seen kitchens with beautiful glazed cabinets I love too.

I think we’ve decided definitely on stained wood – not painted. One decision finalized. Check.

• Honestly, there are hundreds of decisions within a kitchen remodel. It isn’t just the cabinet color but then the
• door style
• finish
• handles
• glass doors?
• specialty features
• hinge style
• soft close?
• deep drawers or cabinets?
• and that’s before we even talk about layout of the cabinets or other critical details!

Sound overwhelming? It can be.

I’m making my final appointment with the cabinet maker this week. We’re removing a wall between the dining room and kitchen and then we’ll be able to finalize the measurements and plans.

Here’s our before pictures.  Yes…I have a border (I loved it when I put it up and now think it looks horrid), boring white formica counters (that I really don’t mind). I actually like the white appliances, but will be changing them out as well. I think the stainless looks better with wood colored cabinets don’t you?

Here’s how it looks today as we start demo (yes I should have removed the junk from the refrigerator and done a little staging!

Here you can see we've already removed the upper cabinet here and are getting ready to remove the wall between the kitchen and dining areas. Yes...this light fixture should have gone long ago too.

What’s the hardest part of a kitchen remodel?

Too many wonderful choices!

We’ll keep you posted along the way and I can’t wait to share our remodeled kitchen with you soon!

Margaret Oscilia is a Professional Home Stager with Creative Concepts – Home Staging and Contracting serving Salem Oregon and surrounding areas.