It’s true that many homeowners are a bit reluctant to stage their home. It seems like a lot of work, and does it really make that much of a difference in the sale of the home? Sellers Fran Sarro and David Waite, quickly learned their answer.

Despite the advice from their realtor, they decided to list their apartment in June 2014 without staging the interior. The result was quite dismal. It sat on the market for over 6 months and the asking price was continually cut from 1.85 million down to 1.4 million. With hundreds of showings and not one decent offer, the sellers were desperate to try something different. They arranged to haul out their outdated furniture and bring in a collection of contemporary designs. After skillfully staging the apartment, what happened next was amazing.

The newly staged property was relisted in April for $1.495 million and the place was swarmed at the first open house. After an intense bidding war, the apartment soon went into contract for 1.8 million dollars. Success? I think so.

I can’t believe how it worked out,” Ms. Sarro said. “I still shake my head.”

The practice of home staging has long elicited strong reactions. Agents and professional stagers point to examples like the Sarro-Waite apartment, and say staging can usually help a home sell faster, and for a higher price, offering a larger return on the investment.

To read the full story, check out the original article: The Art of Home Staging via the New York Times.

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Minnie Micro Trailer Gets Stylish Makeover

Today, I want to invite you to have a sneak peek at the process of converting this little trailer into a comfortable and stylish home on wheels. Follow along with me!

As a real estate agent in Orange County, CA, I love the buying and selling process…but I have a confession to make: I’ve always been an interior design enthusiast at heart! Graduating from the Interior Design Institute of Newport Beach, I took what I learned and went on to accomplish some exciting projects like building a home from the ground up as well as total transformations of several homes, which typically sell with all the furnishings!

But not all of my projects are this large of scale. In fact, I recently just remodeled a much smaller space, the newest edition to our family – the mini micro trailer.

I love traveling and this year I wanted to make more of an effort to venture out and see the world. Which led to my search for the perfect mini trailer. After determining that vintage is cool but not quite efficient for off road camping, I happily decided on a Micro Minnie Winnebago.

Micro Minnie Interior – Before

The exterior of the micro minnie was in great shape, but when we stepped inside, we quickly discovered that the interior decor was depressing.

I’ve had a lot of experience transforming outdated spaces into beautiful new designs – and this trailer was no exception. I saw great potential and couldn’t wait to put a little effort into some small changes on the interior to bring some joy to the inside with color and whimsical touches.

Micro Minnie Before and After Photos

As you can see, this little seat was dated and anything but welcoming. So we decided to ditch the dark brown color palette and update it with a modern, geometric design for the back and use a deep, burnt orange color for the seat. The pops of cream and blue really tie it all together.

 

The outdated valance above the windows were a little too 70’s in design so we picked an interesting bittersweet pattern, and by squaring them off, created a more modern feel:

 

As you can see, the geometric design is carried throughout the tiny trailer, and the nature-inspired pillows add a great touch.

My family and I are very excited about traveling with our two rescue pups, Buster and Grace. Grace can’t wait to snuggle in as soon as we open the door.

Thank you for joining me today! What’s your favorite part of this remodel? Comment below.

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