Category Archives: Home Staging Principles

Do Home Stagers Look At Trends?

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Moroccan Trends

Ask successful Home Stagers if they follow the interior design industry trends and most will tell you “no”, that they maintain a timeless, season-less look.  A trend has to get pretty mainstream before most home stagers will consider incorporating it into their projects.  Amazing Space NYC has a different point of view on trends.  We believe that at certain price points, an interior that has elements of current design styles, colors and motifs can be essential to that property selling at or above the ask price.  New Yorkers want interiors that are current but workable within what often can be tight living quarters.  Here is what you might see in some of our future staging designs:

The 3 M’s: Moorish, Moroccan, Mediterranean

I thoroughly enjoy scouring the trade shows.  At last month’s NY NOW show (formerly known as the NY Gift Show), it was clear which patterns and styles were going to be the sweeping trend this fall.  Moroccan and Arabesque designs are not new to the interior design trend circle; I have actually written about them in the past, and they certainly are not fading away yet.   Designs that are attributed to southern Spain, northern Africa and the Arabian peninsula were a-plenty at the August trade show. Octagons, quatre-foil, kilim, ikat, suzani and Moroccan tile – these cultural icons will be the must-haves in design.  Take a few minutes to watch “The Making of the Palace” for the FX series “Tyrant”.  Cece De Stefano is a brillant designer and successfully encapsulated the grandeur and recognizable motifs of Middle Eastern, Moroccan and Mediterranean design.  ASNYC will embrace them in some of our future stagings as well.   [great video of the whole set construction process –> http://www2.fxnetworks.com/video/317595715663 – they built a whole palace]

Tyrant Set Design

Turkish Floor Lamp with mosaic and bronze

Turkish Floor Lamp with mosaic and bronze

Metals Move To The Warmer Side

Move over stainless steel and brushed nickel.  Polished chrome might fall to the back of the line, too.  The interior design industry is turning to warmer metals such as brass, copper and bronze.  But don’t worry – this is not the blinding, 80’s polished brass that we still have nightmares about.  The trend forecast is for brushed and matte finishes.  And while polished brass is finding a home in hardware, tables and light fixtures, the metal is not as yellow and loud as in previous decades.  The sheen is warmer and more sophisticated.  Go ahead and embrace this brass.  It reads elegance!

Other Popular Trends

Home Staging with Acrylic Furniture

Decoist makes a great case for Acrylic Furniture

For a home stager in NYC, Lucite and acrylic are invaluable materials for Staging.  Physically, clear lucite chairs provide the necessary seating for a dining area without visually overpowering the area.  This is especially important when staging the infamous living-dining area combinations of post-war construction that continues to saturate the NYC real estate market.  A space with 4 to 6 clear acrylic chairs can look open and inviting; fill the same space with upholstered seating and the area just became claustrophobic.

Metallics are still a fave of the design industry.  You will see them on pillows and even rugs, any why not?  They add a playful bit of glint and sparkle to an interior without looking like the Pottery Barn catalogue at Christmas time.  We have metallic rugs and pillows – and yes, even a few sequent accent pillows – in our inventory and they get a lot of action.

Metallic Pillows

Enjoy the trends that are coming to this fall’s interior designs.  You will certainly see some of the motifs in the home stagings by Amazing Space NYC.

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For more about Amazing Space NYC’s interior design and home staging services, please call 917-428-3965.

Why You Need a High-end NYC Home Stager To Do A Studio!

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NYC Home Stager#1  This is what it looked like:-

#2 The asking price is $524,000

#3 The maintenance alone is $1,255 a month and only 50% of it is tax deductible.

#4 The apartment “is a back apartment with no view”…and faces North.

#5 To anyone OUTSIDE of NYC, this is absurd!!  But this is New York City – the heart of Greenwich Village in a well-run,  doormaned co-op.  And pets are allowed.

What to do?

 

We took advantage of the main space to add a sectional and desk. With varying textures and a simple pallet we achieve a feast of visual interest… which compensates for lack of space. From a glass topped table with smooth steel legs, to a textures sofa with shaggily soft pillow, the “living room” is a stylish spot to read, entertain or watch tv.  There doesn’t need to be a tv hang on the wall for the buyers to easily recognize where one would go.  An open shelf, free standing, is a great way to delineate a space without sacrificing light.  By NOT filling the shelves with glass, but rather interesting silvered sculptures, the divider doesn’t unnerve  buyers with a “don’t bump that or you’ll be owning the crystal fragments”. The originality suggests a luxurious pied-a-terre or perhaps a first-time homeowner’s private lair.

There are possible buyers now. As opposed to a dirty L-shaped box that competes poorly against New Construction, no matter how fabulous the location.

Home staging does more than solve the design problems. It illustrates the lifestyle for a series of potential occupants. Notice that the total lack of view isn’t covered up.  There are no sheers, even, on the windows. What you see is what you get. And what you get is something quite practical that can be as serene or as cosy as any discerning New Yorker might want.

For NYC home staging solutions, please call 917-428-3965 and ask for Debbie Oulvey.

The Only 2 BR In The Hush-Hush One57 Is Staged For Sale

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New York City Home StagingI recently had the pleasure of staging the only 2 br condo in the notorious, super hush-hush condo, One57. The home had been purchased when the units were first offered for sale. Now it is being sold at an impressive $6,000+/sq.ft.  Dramatic views are only part of the story.  Floorplans are larger here:  3,200 sq. ft in other buildings might be a 5 BR, here they are a mere 3.  The goal is ample grand space from which to admire the skyline views.

From a staging perspective, it was important to honor and work within the public areas of the building.  These were designed by Thomas Juul-Hansen, with “discreet opulence” that references the “great French modernists, such as Jean Michel Frank.”  There was no choice, then, in staging with a modern elements and a neutral palette.  As usual, AmazingSpaceNYC didn’t sacrifice comfort for design. Real people can see themselves living here.  The softly textured furnishings counterpoint the floor to ceiling glass with cold, concrete, stone and steel buildings beyond. Accents of blue bring the sky closer while relating to the blue, water-rippled look of the building’s exterior.

Dark hardwood floors, punctuated by voluptuous columns continue the luxuriant ambience; it’s hard not to become overwhelmed with the abundance of light and sky.  Dramatic finishes add further luster.   Rich zebra wood cabinets in the kitchen with black granite counters, appliances by Miele, Sub-Zero and a Zephyr island range hood.

Home Staging NYC one57 condo The master bedroom shimmers in silvers, grays and crisp whites, grounded by a skin area rug.  An alcove becomes a reflective area, so long as your vertigo is in check.  Here, at least, there is a real view of the river, as opposed to the old real estate joke that “partial river view” meant, “yeah, sure, if you stick your head out of the window and lean, a lot!”   Generously sized walk-in closets are part of this floorplan, of course!  Each room has dimmers and lighting control, with Valli and Valli hardware.NYC home staging | home stager

More real river views from the second bedroom create particularly stunning evening sunsets.  It is the perfect spot for a den, or home office if another bedroom wasn’t absolutely required.

Home Staging NYC The bathrooms have the new striped marble that has quickly become popular  — Statuario — and an interesting glass countertop.  Shower and separate bath tub both has Dornbracht fixtures.  Feeling spare and Euro-chic, this space is ideal for any Master of the Universe’s grooming.

Every unit has a Miele washer and dryer, FERMAX audio sound system. And so it should, for $12 million!!!

To have your home staged by noted New York City home stager, Debbie Oulvey, please call 917-428-3985

Lifestyle Marketing —

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Home Staging Brooklyn with Lifestyle Marketing“Lifestyle Marketing consists of segmenting a complex market into niche subdivisions based on interests, attitudes, and beliefs.  This marketing technique creates an enthusiastic and loyal consumer-base and establishes the brand as a valuable part of the consumer’s everyday life.”

Similar Terms:  – Lifestyle Segmentation, Cultural Marketing

 When designing a model unit, there are two choices: home staging or lifestyle marketing. Home staging is like a spray shot  – creating a “generic” space that would appeal to the widest number of potential buyers, in a similar vibe to Pottery Barn, West Elm  and Williams Sonoma.  Home staging keeps a careful distance from trends and specificity of any kind; the goal is to be the most classic and “evergreen” as possible.

Lifestyle marketing, on the other hand, picks up on the voyeurism in human nature and creates something deliberate, something specific. A space is customized to an aspiration  or ideal of the potential/target buyer .  Usually that ideal is a combination of career, hobbies, and trends.  Of course, there is the chance that one person’s image of a hip, tech multi-millionaire is not at all the same as another’s.  A seasoned Lifetsyle Marketing professional knows the limits and will not push the envelope too far with the lifestyle elements.  In New York City real estate, especially in Brooklyn where the market is hotter than hot, there is considerable money on the line – both in sales and in rentals.  It is important to get it right.  Sometimes that means adding a little quirky fun to a design, but only if it speaks the language of the target demographic.  The goal: making the property memorable as well as enviable.
Lifestyle Marketing and Home Staging in New York CityWith this 2 bedroom, we added a fondue set at the dining table. What better way to tempt children to eat fruits and veggies than to make it fun with fondue?  Especially now that Cookie Monster is Veggie Monster!

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To have one of the designers at Amazing Space NYC

design your model units, please call 917-428-3965

and ask for Debbie.

Lifestyle Marketing as home staging in Brooklyn model units

Isn’t this Master Bedrrom delicious?! 🙂

Home Staging A Brooklyn 2 BR for Rent

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Home Stager in BrooklynWe staged this 2 bedroom apartment in one of Brooklyn‘s most desirable school districts needed a total make-over.  The renters who resided in the unit obviously needed more space (and a good cleaning service).  The Living Room was facing the kitchen, when it was occupied by tenants, which rarely shows well.

Model in Brooklyn Condo home staged by Debbie Oulvey

Similar unit one floor below.

ASNYC brought in a team of contractors that refinished the kitchen cabinets, painted the walls, repaired closet doors and handles and topped it off with a thorough (and much needed) cleaning.

A neutral palette was used for the furnishings in the main room in order to make the kitchen a part of the room and not an intrusion.  Grays, taupes and a pop of blue bring life, warmth and a touch of color to the space.

A complete make-over.  The lamination on the cabinets was falling off; the doors and the island were badly scratched.  We had new cabinet doors made and changed the kitchen from dull cherry to a satin white. The result: a clean, contemporary kitchen that opens into a stylish, hip living space.  By adding a soft gray hue to the living room walls, we gave a little more emphasis to the contemporary kitchen while, at the same time, adding depth and character to the living – dining space.

Brooklyn Home Staging

To have your home staged by Amazing Space NYC, please call Debbie Oulvey at 917-428-3965.

NYC Model Redesign – Real Stager Required!

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NYC Home Staging for Model Units

Before, when it was decorated by a high-end designer

This is the original “Model” for that space. It is on the 27th floor. When I was asked to model the 29th floor space we looked at the problems with this one and made them go away on 29. The furniture that was used in the original models reminds me of a low ranch in Long Island, not an upper east side apartment worth millions of dollars. Redesigning this space on a higher floor, we immediately knew what NOT to do: No chandelier or oversized floral arrangement in the dining area that blocks the views and windows. A white fireplace instead of a clunky, dark brown media console. a larger, more expensive wool rug to anchor the seating area. And layers of elegance using furniture, art and accessories.

Here’s the After:-

NYC Home Staging

AFTER – interior redesign by the team at Amazing Space NYC.

Staging Model Units Is a Unique NYC Home Staging Skill

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NYC Home StagingOften times, New York developers hire a high-end (and über-expensive) designer for the more expensive units in a new development.   The rooms are over-the-top, dripping with everything that personifies the designer’s signature style.  Unfortunately, these showcases do not usually lead to sales as the prospective buyers cannot identify with the style or the use of the space.  It is just too specific (and usually appeals to a very small percentage of the buying clientele) but the installations make for great photo op’s and press coverage!

Such was the case with 2 Units in this upper eastside development.  While everyone enjoyed the opulence of the designer units, the marketing team wanted room photographs that were more about the views, the space and the use of the main living areas Our company was hired to build 2 new living spaces using pieces from the high-end designer units.  We cherry picked everything – from rugs to sofas to books for the coffee tables – and built rooms that reflected the price point of the Units without being so overly decorated that buyers would only remember the furniture but not the room itself.

The development and marketing teams both commented on how completely different the furniture looked when it was paired with different accessories.  I wanted to emphasize the spectacular views but also offer a comfortable counterpoint to all the glass and steel. A buttery cream sectional sofa placed on an elegant, neutral rug anchor the space.  A round coffee table, gold-leaf occasional table, open accent chairs and complementary accessories soften the overall impression as does the fabulously rich, white fur throw.  So as to not detract from the blue river and sky, we relied on beige, cream, whites and grays for our palette with pops of color in the green succulents and the one red coffee table book in the center of the living area. The neutral palette allows the sky, river and city to take center stage.  Looking at this room, I am reminded of a quote the Nobel-winning mystic Rabindranath Tagore —

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”

Quiet appropriate, wouldn’t you say?

Thank You For A Great 2013!

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Inner City Scholarship Fund is one charity Amazing Space NYC believes in wholeheatedly2013 was a great year for Amazing Space NYC. We achieved a record growth of 34%, and have been able to sponsor a child through the Be a Student’s Friend organization.  We are sponsoring an elementary school student attending an archdiocese school in the Bronx by providing 70 per cent of the tuition for the 2013-2014 academic year.

I never went to catholic school.  These students that I help live at or below poverty level. Most are minority, being raised by a single parent, and in some cases a grandmother. The public schools in their neighborhood are dangerous. These families know education is the way out of poverty and welfare. Helping them with tuition is such a small token. We also collect and send gently used toys and books to the schools to help other students who might not have the means to purchase life’s little luxuries.

It has long been a personal goal of mine to give back, and so this first step is truly deeply meaningful.  I could do not it without my wonderful clients and their clients.  Here is a cross-section of their kind remarks this year:-

After our loft sat on the market for 4 months without an offer, leading us to change brokers, our new broker recommended Debbie. I have to confess I was skeptical about real estate staging – the idea that  a few bright pillows and vases could magically sell an apartment.  Debbie quickly demonstrated that effective staging is far, far more than that. Her implementation of straightforward but dramatic changes to furniture placement, decor, and use of color, made an immediate, palpable difference in the presentation of our apartment. Not only did the offers come in quickly, but our place became more fun to live in while we were waiting for our sale to close.  I should also add that Debbie works at the speed of light. Its truly amazing how fast she got our place looking fantastic.

Stephanie, TriBeCa

Debbie, just a quick note to thank you again for working with us to stage our apartment last week.  Over the past few days we’ve noticed the tiniest of details and the amount of care that you took with our space from storing our most-used items in easy reach right down to fixing the torn under-linings on our dining room chairs…I don’t mean to gush, but we really, really appreciate everything you did for us and I know the time frame was a special concession for you.  Thank you again.
As an update: we accepted an offer well above asking price today, and we owe this in large part to your timeliness and creativity.  We’re very pleased, and just wanted to thank you again.  If there is anything we can ever to do help you: letters, referrals, anything; please let us know.

Amanda, Upper West Side

 Thank you for all your help! .. We feel you had a huge impact on the “new” look that helped sell the apt.  Separately, We have a bid out on a one bedroom  on park ave and 36 street — if it goes through — would you be open  to schedule a consult at  the new place?

 Pearl, Upper West Side

Well apparently your staging job was TOO good for 79 street as we are about to get an offer.

Jackie, Upper East Side

Just wanted to let you know that we have an accepted offer on our place!  We have several offers straight away and we had a small bidding war.  We hope to have the contracts signed next week.  You did great work and I will, for sure, recommend you.

Chiara, Upper East Side

 

Holiday Decorating – Whoa There!

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Excessive Holiday Decor

Admittedly, this was a Show House of Christmas Decor, in Florida!

Along with holiday gatherings come all of the decorations.  What do you do when you are trying to sell a property right smack in the middle of the Christmas holiday season?  Will the seller become the Grinch and steal little Cindy Loo Who’s tree, decorations and presents?

Absolutely NOT!  Buyers need to feel a connection with a property – and allowing a home to show traditions and the spirit of the holiday season is perfectly acceptable, as long as the decorations do not block flow or create obstacles.  Be cognizant of how people walk within and between the rooms.  Make sure the buyers can still see the features and selling points (don’t place the 7′ tall tree in front of the window that has the spectacular view of the Empire State Building).  Substitute holiday-inspired statues, candles, and accents for your every day ones.

Most important is to follow the outline from your professional Stager with respect to de-cluttering and de-personalizing the rooms when adding your holiday decorations.  The result will be tastefully decorated rooms that offer the flavor of the holidays while still allowing potential buyers to easily see the bones of the home.

Bleak and Basic Before Staging This NYC Home

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Before Home Staging NYC One Bedroom Appartment

A new paint color, a thorough cleaning and a simple, but effective, Staging Design by Amazing Space NYC and this one bedroom condo on the Upper East side sold in ONE day at full ask,  with multiple offers and a bidding war.

One bedroom condos are a dime a dozen in New York City. The post-war units tend to all look alike.  A single window, the parquet floors, the open plan… it’s a common look.  How to make this one stand out? How do we create a memorable event that will capture the buyer’s attention and elicit offers?

This before photo is a bit dark, but you can see the whole space is awkaward… and yellow.  ASNYC approached this space as we do every property: we identify the target buyer, renovate as much as the budget allows,  deep-clean the rooms and then illustrate how the next buyer can advantage of what’s there.

NYC Home Staged by ASNYC

 

A fresh coat of Elmira White HC-84 provided the perfect backdrop for a combination of contrasting furniture and large pieces of dramatic artwork.  Since red is a color that traditionally spurs people to action, touches of red were incorporated to add punch and purpose.  The staging design plan created the “wow” effect we consistently strive for, which then led to several buyers having the “I gotta have it” reaction.  We just love when that happens!

Multiple offers and a bidding war that resulted in an accepted offer heads above the ask price.  It’s fun to be able to report such an amazing success!

For your own potential success story, please call 917-428-3965 and ask for lead designer, Debbie.