Category Archives: Model Units

Home Staging a Brooklyn 5th Floor WalkUp

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Home Staging Brooklyn condo

With a very minimal budget, we successfully staged this 2 bedroom Brooklyn walk-up to create marketing photographs that will attract the young professionals/families who love this neighborhood’s mature trees, rows of brownstones and a playground right on the corner!

The seller did not want to invest in a new kitchen (sigh) but did renovate the only bathroom and installed a stackable washer/dryer in one of the hall closets which will definitely increase the property appeal. One of our goals was to show how to arrange the living and dining furniture in the square-shaped room to accommodate a family and its guests. While minimal in art and accessories, the staging design clearly achieved its goal. Seller and broker were both very happy with the photographs!

Home Staging Brooklyn

“This listing is another example of prime Carroll Gardens living. The 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment features an oversized living room with great light, an open kitchen, fireplace, a skylight in the master bedroom and it has washer and gas dryer. In addition, this unit is on the top floor located 1 flight away from your own private roof space with stunning views of Manhattan. 200 President is conveniently located near great shops, restaurants, parks and the best schools Brooklyn has to offer. Note, this is walk up building.”

Home Staging Brooklyn

Home staging a Brooklyn walkup is not without its challenges, but we were thrilled with the result. On the one hand we hope it sells fast, on the other hand, it would be good to de-stage in January when I’m on a fitness regimen anyway!

Listed at $949,000, with a monthly Maintenance: $779
Carroll Gardens

Staging in Brooklyn Heights: Rental Leased Within 2 Weeks!

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Brooklyn Rental Staged and Sold

 

Brooklyn Heights is the IN place. Full of construction, there are new towers and prestigious buildings with a plethora of amenities popping up throughout the zip code.  Competition is fierce and usually the “newest” – because whichever has the caché of being the “newest” rents the fastest.  The marketing director of a management company for several very prominent rental buildings in the Heights and Dumbo areas realized the dilemma one of her buildings was facing and called our company to stage three units – a first floor studio, a one bedroom and a 2 bedroom unit.

A staged property

Vintage green glass speaks volumes to the stylish Brooklyn set.   For the one bedroom apartment, our backdrop of black and white was invigorated with green and yellow.  We absolutely love the lines of this velvet green sofa from R&B; paired with a white leather wasilli chair, black and white chevron leather rug and a combination of black/white and solid yellow pillows, this room screamed “Welcome”.  The vintage green glass displayed on the open shelving in the kitchen was the perfect touch to complete the color scheme we installed in this open floor plan design.  The Client had a little concern about the boldness of the sofa, but when the unit rented 2 weeks after it was released, I think she was okay with our design choices.

Green Sofa

The first Unit we staged was the 2-bedroom and we went bold – black, white and significant pops of red to really make the unit come alive both in photography and in person.  Within one week, the apartment rented!   All of the furniture, art and accessories were relocated to another 2 bedroom vacant unit with a slightly different lay-out.  That, too, rented quickly – within 2 weeks.

Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans takes iconic imagery and turns them into subtle tells of lifestyle and values.  It must be odd to have your entire career be defined by something as quotidian as a Campbell’s Soup Can.  Even more odd that painting over a photograph was considered the height of a new form of expression.

Reflecting on his career, Warhol claimed that the Campbell’s Soup Can was his favorite work and that, “I should have just done the Campbell’s Soups and kept on doing them … because everybody only does one painting anyway.”    [Phaidon.]

He might have been on to something – considering that one iconic piece of artistic expression garnished $9,042,500 at auction!

We love staging in Brooklyn; give us a call!

Related Brooklyn Rental Staging

Upper West Side Triplex Staged And Furnished Outdoors

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Upper West Side Triplex Staged

upper westside home staging NYC
This  triplex is on the ground floor and offers a large outdoor patio.  To maximize the budget and the staging design,  I purchased some of the outdoor furniture which the developer can now sell with the Unit (by hiring a stager who has trade discounts and resources, a client enjoys the benefit of purchasing quality goods for less than it costs to rent).

The staging needed to show a living-dining area that could accommodate a family of 5 or however many folks the buyers might fit into a 3 BR, 3 Full bath plus Rec room, 2,900 sq. ft. unit.  There are a lot of options.  This is a terrific entertaining home with the outside space, too. In contrast to the Penthouse Unit, we designed the Maisonette with a more transitional decor.  To bring the outside into the unit, we painted the recessed ceiling a very pale blue which not only highlighted the dentil molding but “lifted” the ceiling in the room.

Upper West Side triplex staged

The outdoor play area offers a lot of space for family life.  It is a  built-in “play area” for the young children as well as a great dining and entertaining space. Even though the unit is on the main floor, it faces the back of the building.  Surrounded by very pretty buildings and blooming foliage, the outdoor setting is tranquil and inviting.

Since some of the units are still being sold by a marketing team, not just individual brokers, we had to match the building’s official listing description and that of Streeteasy:

Home Staging NYC

This new West End Avenue condominium brings modern luxury together with the traditional elegance of Manhattan’s historic Upper West Side. Set between the lush natural beauty of Riverside and Central Parks, the West End Avenue  condo is surrounded by the Upper West Side’s elegant historic architecture and tranquil, tree-lined streets. With just eleven full-floor homes, a stunning duplex penthouse, and a graceful triplex maisonette, residents enjoy the many benefits of living in a truly intimate private community. Exquisitely designed full-floor residences feature private keyed-elevator access, exotic natural finishes, and premier European fixtures and appliances. Most of the residences provide expansive views of the Hudson River. Select amenities and services include an attended lobby, fitness center and live-in property staff. In every detail, the condominium creates an elegant contemporary lifestyle in one of Manhattan’s most cherished historic neighborhoods.

You can see those “expansive Hudson River views” on our blog post from last week —  – Staged Penthouse Colors The Upper West Side – they are quite stunning!

To have your Upper West Side Triplex staged, give us a call at 917-428-3965.

Brooklyn Model Staging: Square Box Now Luxurious Home!

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When staging models in Brooklyn, we are faced with the same challenges in New York City: a lot of money for not enough space! With the model units I’ve been staging lately, I’m finding slightly larger spaces, and great views. Here is a cute studio, essentially just a square box, that we turned into the perfect home.
Brooklyn Model Staging
With a neutral palette, the emphasis is on the view. The pops of turquoise add drama, for sure, but they also play off the grays and beiges to provide counterpoint and a nod to the blue sky on a dynamic New York sunny day!

Interesting shapes add interest where perhaps “function” might normally dominate. A buyer gets the impression the living here is fun, luxurious and “in”! The lucite pieces obviously keep the overall design light, and while they make physically take up space, they don’t interfere with the sight lines.
Brooklyn Model Staging - Part 2

To get your home professionally designed by Debbie Oulvey, please call 917-428-3965.

Curbed And Flourishing in Brooklyn!

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It’s always nice to see your own work in the press! These lovely models were featured an article on Curbed.  These models were in the process of being finished, I had yet to hang the artwork. Nonetheless, I think the photos make the units look real, spacious, stylish, and good fun. What do you all think? Apparently, they’re being snapped up really quickly.

This was a NYC home staging in Brooklyn, where a 1 BR can cost north of $700K!!  It was fun to focus on the mid-century modern designs here, as that is the taste of the target buyer.  The appliances and finishes are impressive; lustrous quartz, Viking cooktops and refrigerators – and in a “sponsor apartment”, no less!!  (Of course this is a builder, not a sponsor and those early co-op days of the oak-trimmed Formica cabinets are long behind us. Still, there are many who remember…)

There are rental units mixed in, and those units have GE appliances, but still textured gray cabinets and quartz counter-tops.  That and lovely 3″ gray wash oak floors.

<sigh>

I love home staging NYC!

 

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For more information on how you can have your own home staged for sale by Debbie Oulvey,
please call 917-428-3965