Small Office Interior Design

Home Staging

5:18 PM |

I have teamed up with a couple of realtors in the Northern Virginia area to do some home staging. So far, the homes that I have been hired to stage have been vacant. This is typically not the case when you hire a stager. When I walk into a vacant home, I am in my element. Brad and I start hauling our stuff in and I have a ball arranging furniture, hanging curtains, making beds, placing accessories, etc. LOVE. It. Here is a home that I just finished. The realtor took me over to the house a couple of weeks ago to get an idea of what I may need. She said I didn't have to stage the entire home, but she really wanted the living room, dining room, and master bedroom done.

Here is the living room BEFORE

Here is the living room AFTER the staging

Luckily, the realtor had the IKEA sofa and chairs in her warehouse. The blue sofa was not cutting it for me. ;) I took out the orginal living room coffee table and replaced it with one that was in the basement. I didn't love either coffee table but had to work within my $1000.00 budget. I know that may seem like a lot of money, but it adds up when you're buying curtains, throw pillows, etc. There wasn't money in the budget for a new coffee table, so I tried to use what we already had.

The dining room BEFORE

The dining room AFTER

The master bedroom BEFORE

The master bedroom AFTER

The guest room BEFORE

The guest room AFTER

More pictures...

Thank you to my awesome babysitter who not only came over and helped me stage the house, but also took the amazing cloud picture shown above.

I bought these 3 mirrors, and I think they look great in a grouping!

To any realtors, email me if you're interested in hiring me for any of your listings. If it's a vacant home, I have a pretty large staging inventory. If it's just to go to the seller's home for a consultion, I charge $230 for 2 hours. In that time, I will do the following:

- Rearrange furniture as needed
- Rid clutter
- Advise on paint colors if they are choosing to repaint
- Advise on what should be moved from the home
- Identify places in the home that need to be cleaned (e.g. baseboards, doors, walls, etc.)

Then, I will create a punch list and email it to both the realtor and seller.

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A pretty, rustic, minimalistic hotel on Gotland

9:29 AM | Labels: Converted factories, Design hotels, minimal, Rustic

Ever romanticised of owning a B&B on a beautiful island somewhere? Me? Always! Today I'm dreaming of owning Hotell Magazinet which is now for sale on the wonderful Swedish east coast island of Gotland. Decorated in beautiful rustic, minimal style with orginal floorboards and pillars restored from the days when it was a flour warehouse and then a grain depot in WWII, it's already for you to move in and start receiving guests!

Fantastic Frank

Incidentally, Gotland is a fantastic place to go on holiday. Lots of very trendy and arty Swedes flock there each summer. Some of the summer cottages available to rent are just beautiful. Well worth an internet search!

Hej heeej.

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Back From Boston

4:15 AM |

Today it is back to work after vacation...boo. Patrick and I went to Boston with one of my best college girlfriends and her husband and we had a great time. Boston is such a pretty city, I felt like I was on a movie set the entire time. We packed a lot into three days...

Oh yes, you are seeing correctly, that is a poncho I am sporting. I would have paid double the asking price of that glorified trash bag it came in so handy, how did I not pack a rain jacket?

I had to include this picture because behind us is the balcony where the Declaration of Independence was read for the first time. That gives me chills. Anyone who loves history must have Boston on their "to see" list. So much packed into such a small area, it is hard to wrap your head around it.

When I go on vacation I am completely okay with playing the part of ~~target~~ tourist- map in hand/camera hanging around my neck. I am thankful I married someone who doesn't mind being dragged into some cheesy pictures. (Off the subject...how big was the crush I had on Woody back in day?)

I know you don't come to H&H to see blown up pictures of the Cheers cast. Unfortunately, I don't have the pictures most readers would prefer to see- the shops of Newbury Street, the Brownstones, the quaint restaurants. We saw all of that, I just wasn't snapping away at the moment. But I do have one picture that might interest you. I did find a little time in the midst of all the touring and eating to meet up with two of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie for SabbeSpot and Lindsay of EverythingLEB. The last time I got to see these ladies was in NYC so we had lots to catch up on. It was nice. So nice. And I got to meet Remi, can you spot him?

Even though Boston was truely amazing and I would 100% recommend a visit to anyone, it was the first time we had left Henry and we thought about him the entire time. I knew when I saw this little patriot hat it was something my little man would need for future days. You are going to have to take my word it looks cute on because getting him to sit still long enough to capture on film proved to be fruitless. Here is the best I could do, half way off...

I can't wait to go back with him on day.

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A beautiful retreat on Ibiza

11:26 AM | Labels: Holiday homes, International homes

Hejsan, hejsan! Hope you all had a wonderful weekend and great midsummer! Here it's been raining for three days, no exaggeration! In panic, I've been trawling the web for a spot of sunshine. In case you're still wondering where to go this summer I think I have the answer. This rental villa in Ibiza. Exposed brick, beautiful old wood beams, modern concrete and chandeliers and the ubiquitous mediterranean blue. The question is, could you tear yourself away from it at the end of the week? Eeeek!

Ibiza's secret villas via Etxekodeco

Seems a very far cry from the original Ibiza party scene. What do you reckon, could you relax here for a week? or make that a fortnight?!

What are you up to this summer? Any other tips?!

PS Just a little note to say that after my three day midsummer break I logged on only to be appalled by the ad showing on my Midsummer post. Eeeeek! Since I'm aware that you're a super intelligent and sophisticated bunch I've momentarily put a halt to the google adwords while I get my head round all the tech etc. Back to the drawing board!! :)

Hugs from a wet, rainy Sweden.

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