My work is always interesting. I never know what I will be asked to stage next.
In the last two months, Advantage Staging has staged a nunnery and a concert hall that has been converted to a family home with a horse barn. As you can see, it pays to be versatile when you are a home stager.
I was called to stage a penthouse condo on Navy Wharf in Toronto recently. The brief for the staging work outlined that under no circumstances could artwork be hung and that all the accessories has to be white. And oh yeah, there is a Vespa in the dining room.
Hmmmm.... no artwork. How would I show the lifestyle of living in the condo. We all know artwork is a major marketing tool to create a feel to a home. All white accessories....okay that's not an issue. Vespa in the dining room.....now that's an creative design prop. I was getting really interested in this job now.
This home staging at 10 Navy Wharf in Toronto is an example of how a minimal staging budget and the right accessories can merchandise a property to the target buyers with the hand of a professional stager on the job. The condo is all about lifestyle living. It is facing the Toronto Harbour and Yacht Club, the Toronto Island Airport for easy access to and from the city, literally steps from the Entertainment district, the Roger Centre and the Air Canada Centre. The buyer of this penthouse condo lives life LARGE and enjoys the downtown life the city has to offer.
Here are the before and afters of the dining room and living room areas. This is another perfect example of how a very low budget of less than $300 can prepare your listing to appeal to your target market.
Investment, minimal.
Impact, priceless.
If you have a property that could benefit by being prepared for sale Advantage Staging is ready to provide home staging services that suit your budget.... and get results.
Michelle Finnamore Advantage Staging 416.928.2999
2010 National Association of Home Builders U.S.A. Silver Award for Design
2010 Ontario Association of Home Builders Silver Award for Design
2010 Certified Staging Professionals Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Fun, and surprising (which is what allure is all about, right?). Well done, you!
Michelle- perfect! You determined the target Buyer and what their hot point would be, then used the Vespa to anchor the pillows on the sofa. Elegant comes to mind!
Hi Michelle--I love how you made the Vespa the piece of art and as a jumping off point for the color of the throw pillows. It's a lovely property and very nice work.
HI Li, love your website. You sure have some alluring properties listed. Thank you for stopping in. This penthouse condo has such a great view, I watched the small jets and helicopters fly in. And of course watching the sailboats set out late in the afternoon was simply beautiful to see.
Hi Kathy, This condo had so many upscale features it really is a luxury home. There are light panels above the kitchen cabinets that change colour with the music that you are playing, there is a soft glowing light source in the panel on the soaker tub. Just too many unique upgrades to list. The vespa was not over the top by any means.
Hi Janet, You have a sharp eye catching the blue pillows working off the Vespa. They also work off the blue of the water in Lake Ontario. Truly a spectacular listing.
Hi Michelle ~ Very nicely done! The condo looks very serene and elegant -- and I love the lack of "too much stuff!" Isn't it fun to have some staging challenges like this every now and then? You're certainly up to the task :-)
Brilliant with Blue! Michelle, I never know what you are going to post or tell us about. What a fun and exciting year you are having. Excellent work as always!
Michelle - This is quite an amusing brief - but if anyone is up to the challenge, you are! Love the powder blue Vespa! Oooh and are those Omar Arbel lights hanging down? Now, if you could post about the nunnery...
HI Maureen, this was a statement condo. Working with the client request to not hang artwork was something unusual for me.
The view is the artwork and that is how the condo is being marketed.
Hi Laura, it is always an exciting day for me. My client base is so diverse. They do say that Toronto is the most diverse, multi cultural city in the world.
HI Sally, I knew you would like this condo as you do so much of your work in condos out there on the coast. The lighting was truly spectacular in this condo. Maybe I will create another post about the lights above the kitchen cabinets that synchronize with music being played.
What an exciting job! Love your accents. They really are selling a lifestyle.
HI Janice, I love the clear rose bowls on the coffee table that have the white rope knots inside them. I saw that idea a couple of years ago in Kelly Hoppen design book. I knew one day I would use the idea and this was the perfect waterfront property to try it. The white hard cover book about super cars was one of my favourites being the automobile fanatic that I am.
I also purchased two white condo fish tanks for the job but they were not used in the end. You may have seen them in stores. They are by Umbra, they are 8" x 10" high cubes that look like condo towers. You stack them on top of each other filled with water and one beta fish inside each cube.
Very sleek table and chair set - love it!
Hi Karen, Everything in this condo was an iconic piece of furniture. Glorius to work with and all white to play off the blue of the water view.
Michelle,
You did an amazing job. These pictures look so inviting that I would just want to move in. As Janet mentioned, the vespa looks like a piece of art in this ultra modern high rise.
HI Anja, I love using unexpected props when the properties are higher price points. The buyers are accustomed to travelling and seeing things that are unusual and eye catching. The vespa accomplished that and tied in with the blue of the lake water perfectly.
MIchelle, Now that is something you don't see everyday. I love the purity of the turquoise on white with the sleek structures outside.
Hi Michelle...As soon as I saw the view I thought that it would take a masterpiece to compete with that view.
The view cocnveys, artwork generally doesn't. Good decision by the powers that be.
Kate
HI Peter, that is the type of staging that I like the best, pure and simple. The less you use the better it looks in the end. It's all about form,texture and colour. Thank you for stopping in today.
HI Kate, That was the the one thing there was on the 42nd floor- a great view. Why try to compete with Mother Nature!
Holy cow! I'd better learn to type (and think!). I was trying to convey the word convey.
Kate
HI Kate, no worries, I understood what you meant :)