Arcadia Home Staging – Confucius says “One Must Have A Good Tool In Order To Do A Good Job”
November 30, 2009
What does Confucious have to say about home staging in Arcadia?
What does Confucious have to say about home staging in Arcadia?
What do Confucius and home staging in Arcadia have in common?
There is an old Chinese expression which translates roughly to “One must have a good tool in order to do a good job”. This comes from an ancient text called the Analects of Confucius.
This wisdom can apply to many aspects of our lives, but when selling a home in Arcadia, that “good tool” is Moving Mountains Design Home Staging.
Doing a good job, in real estate and in home staging, means making sure that, from the moment a potential Arcadia home buyer drives up to the front of your house, steps inside the front door and looks around, he or she feels like they have found the perfect home, the home they want to buy. There are many Arcadia homes for sale so you have to make sure your home is in excellent condition and shows beautifully. Home staging by Moving Mountains Design will help your home make a good showing.
Here’s how Moving Mountains Design can be your “good tool” when selling your Arcadia home:
- When you hire us to stage your home, you are hiring an Arcadia home staging company with years of experience in the area and hundreds of homes staged and sold.
- We understand whom the home buyers are in Arcadia and we stage to their taste. Because of our extensive experience staging homes in Arcadia we understand what these home buyers will find appealing.
- Feng Shui is important to many Arcadia home buyers. Michelle Minch is trained as a certified Feng Shui consultant and understands how to “fix” many Feng Shui problems that may slow down the sale of your home.
- Our private home staging furniture and accessory warehouse is located in Arcadia. We are a local business. We eat, shop and work in Arcadia.
- Our furniture and accessories are hand selected for you and our selection is customized to show off your home or listing. We know how to make your home or listing look its best and we have the accessories, artwork, luxury linens, towels and Persian rugs to do just that.
- Our furniture rental partner has a 100,000 sq. ft. warehouse full of hundreds of sofas, chairs, dining tables and beds! When you hire Moving Mountains Design to stage your listing or home, you aren’t stuck with what ever furniture we happen to have left over in our garage or mini-storage like you would be with some lower priced home stagers. You will get a custom staging plan using beautiful furniture in excellent condition that makes your home look like a photo in a magazine.
- We provide professional quality photographs of the rooms we stage. Our photos will make your home look outstanding on the internet and in printed brochures and marketing material. We provide these photos FREE for our complete home staging clients. Since 80-90% of home buyers start their search for a new home on the internet, professional quality photos are very important.
- Even in this market, many of the homes we stage sell in 60 days or less, often in the first 2 weeks and some over asking price.
This Arcadia home closed escrow 29 days after staging by Moving Mountains Design
This Arcadia home sold after the first open house after being staged by Moving Mountains Design
Don’t try to do the job of preparing your home or listing for sale with a dull tool.
For the best home selling tool call Michelle at Moving Mountains Design 626)441-8975 or contact us by email to learn how we can help you prepare your Arcadia real estate to encourage a faster sale at a higher price. We also stage homes in Pasadena, San Marino, San Gabriel, South Pasadena, Altadena, Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.
Giving Back – Holiday Gift Ideas
November 28, 2009
If you are like my husband and I, you are looking for ways to give something to those less fortunate this holiday season. While a gift of time is ideal and doesn’t cost anything (except time), sometimes we would like to do a little more. Following are our favorite charitable organizations that help those in need around the world:
For as little as $20 you can donate a flock of ducks or geese or for $30 you can donate a hive of honey bees. Your gift provides training and a means of self sufficiency. And it is a gift that keeps on giving. Heifer encourages recipients to share the offspring of their gifts with others in need.
Kiva connects people through micro-lending to alleviate poverty. You can make micro-loans to entrepreneurs anywhere in the world.
Habitat seeks to eliminate homelessness and poverty throughout the world by providing simple, decent and safe housing.
These are 3 organizations we have chosen. There are many, many organizations that would be grateful for your donation of time, money or materials. Even your cast-offs can mean a child will have a warm winter coat instead of shivering in a threadbare sweatshirt. Donate where you can and what you can.
If you have some other ideas for charitable giving, please feel free to post them in the comments below.
Pasadena Architectural Salvage 3-Day Holiday Sale
November 15, 2009
Pasadena Architectural Salvage Stained-Glass
Pasadena Architectural Salvage Stained-Glass
Pasadena Architectural Salvage is having a year-end inventory reduction sale!
Everything in the store, with the exception of a few consignment items, will be at least 25% off of the list price. The SALE starts Friday, November 20th at 10AM and ends at 5 PM, Sunday, November 22.
Shopping at Pasadena Architectural Salvage is always a delight, especially if you are like me, and love to look at beautiful vintage architectural stuff like old columns, doors, stained glass and fireplace surrounds and mantles. In addition, PAS sells vintage hardware, door knobs, sinks and bathtubs, as well as old pottery, architectural ornaments. They also have quite the collection of books and publications on old houses and architectural salvage.
A few years ago, I was working on a complete down-to-the-studs renovation of a vintage 1920 Craftsman cottage in Highland Park. In order to return the home to its original charm (and eliminate a heinous circa 1970 bathroom remodel) I purchased a vintage claw foot bathtub from PAS. I also purchased some very groovy circa 1940 metal porch rockers. I had them powder coated and often enjoy watching the sunset while sitting in them on my front porch.
I always look for an excuse to visit, and I think you will too, once you step foot inside.
For more information about Pasadena Architectural Salvage call (626)535-9655 or visit their web site Pasadena Architectural Salvage.
And of course, if you wonder if something you see at Pasadena Architectural Salvage is right for your home, call me. I’d love to assist you. Its what I do!
Staging A Business – A Hollywood Advertising Agency Office Makeover
November 8, 2009
This week I was called to makeover a Hollywood advertising agency office.
I was given 2.5 days to shop and install new furniture, artwork & accessories for the reception area, conference room, kitchen, a big open workroom with 8 computer stations, hallways & restrooms. In addition, one office was converted into a lounge/game room.
This Emmy Award winning agency, is bidding against some “big boys” for some exciting new clients. They wanted to make over the look of their offices to better reflect their abilities and talent.
Conference Room Before "Business Staging"
Conference Room After "Business Staging"
As you can see, I replaced the mixed chairs (that sent mixed messages), moved a movie poster (into the game room) and “requisitioned” 2 mirrors from other rooms to give the conference room a sophisticated “we’ve got it going on and we can handle anything you throw at us” look.
Adding a beautiful succulent arrangement and a few well edited mid-century pottery pieces to the entertainment center, ties the room together.
Office Before Conversion to Game Room
Game Room Lounge After "Business Staging" (60" LCD TV to come)
I closed off a door at one end of the room to give us more useable space to create the game room/lounge.
The two black leather sofas were repurposed from the entry and the conference room, as was the coffee table. The book shelf was moved to the opposite end of the room, and a large painting was used to hide the second door. The movie poster from the conference room was moved into this game room where its more appropriate. A 60″ LCD TV will be installed tomorrow. The repurposed coffee table supplies lots of space for the TV, gaming consoles, and various other electronics.
Reception Area Before "Business Staging"
Reception Area After "Business Staging" By Moving Mountains Design
The reception area was rather uninspiring before it was staged by Moving Mountains.
Now its tastefully furnished with some personality and fun pops of color.
Here’s another shot of the reception area:
Another Shot Of The Reception Area After "Business Staging"
This is just one example of what this Los Angeles home stager can do with a modest budget and a tight schedule.
Home Staging Is #2 In Top 12 Home Improvements Survey Results
November 6, 2009
Do-it-yourself Home Improvement Project
Home Gain released their 2009 Top 12 Home Improvements Survey results yesterday.
The Home Gain survey, completed by 1,000 Realtors, listed 12 top do-it-yourself home improvement projects for people getting ready to put their home on the market.
Click here to go to the Home Improvement Survey results
The top 5 recommended home repairs with the greatest return on investment were:
1. Cleaning and decluttering
2. Home staging
3. Lightening and brightening
4. Landscaping
5. Repair plumbing
If you’re unsure where to start with your home improvement projects, hire a professional home stager for a home staging consultation.
When you hire Los Angeles home staging company, Moving Mountains Design, for a home staging consultation, we visually inspect your home, both interior and exterior. Based upon our extensive staging and design experience, we’ll recommend the most important repairs and upgrades you can make to maximize the appeal of your home to potential buyers. We provide you with a written Comprehensive Consultation Report which includes paint colors (if painting is recommended) and carpet color recommendations (if carpet needs to be replaced) as well as pointing out items that need to be repaired, areas to be de-cluttered, furniture placement and improvements to your landscaping. If we feel it would be in your best interest to purchase new bedding, towels or throw pillows, we’ll include some inexpensive places to purchase those items. You can do as much of the work (or as little) as you would like. Our services are a la carte.
We have a Rolodex full of service providers, including moving companies, painters, cleaning services, carpet installers, handyman services, countertop fabricators and landscapers, among others, if you need help completing the preparation of your home.
In the event you need rental furniture, art work or accessories (if the house is vacant or you need a few pieces to augment what you already have) we can provide that as well.
Moving Mountains Design maintains a large warehouse of rental accessories, art work, plants, bedding and towels for use in vacant homes. We can dress up any style of home from Craftsman to Contemporary, be it a condo, a cottage or a castle.
Call Michelle today (626)441-8975 to arrange for your home staging consultation. Moving Mountains Design is among the top home staging companies in Los Angeles and Pasadena, based upon our experience and excellent track record of getting homes sold quickly. We know what makes homes sell!
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