A classic William Wurster ranch home, transformed!

Houzz Tour: A Mid-Century Modern Getaway

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A mid-20th Century Modern classic...

As most of my fans know, I love modern design!  And I have a special place in my heart for mid-century modern design.  This home is a great example!  Set in Sierra Madre, CA, it sits next door to original and psuedo-Craftsman homes, but it dares to be different!  LOVE it...

(Click on the image to enlarge.)

It's beautiful, but...

A friend sent me these photos of an amazing contemporary in Melbourne, Australia.  A perfect example of a stunning house that will likely sit on the market because it doesn't feel warm and inviting.

Even in this market, staging works...

Real Estate Staging Association® (RESA®) the member run trade association for professional stagers, has released statistics on the effectiveness of Real Estate Staging and the results are pretty darn cool. The study included 126 vacant and occupied homes previously on the market, on average 263 days unsold. Those same homes were staged and... they sold in 60 days on average. This is 78% less time on the market after staging.

Not only that, 284 vacant and occupied homes that were staged BEFORE they went on the market, sold in 40.5 days on average after staging.

www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com

A half-day of "Re-Design" ... a different kind of interior design

Hello all!  This is a photo of my new friend Judy, standing in her newly arranged home.  Judy had just moved in, and while she loves her new home, her old furniture was of a style she was no longer fond of.  Yet, she wasn't ready to purchase new furniture... maybe just some new accessories and pillows.  She saw my blog and asked me to come over.  When I arrived, all of the furniture was pushed into a corner and the dining table was this huge monstrosity that dominated the dining room.  Since I can design a home in ANY style, from modern to traditional, I knew I could help her!

(Click on the images to enlarge.)

I began by pulling all the large seating furniture OFF the wall, and creating a "floating" seating area in the center that faces towards the view of her terrific back garden and patio.  (It's OK to "ignore" the fireplace if you have a better view elsewhere.)

Then, I arranged her traditional furniture in a modern way, which means no clutter, good furniture and picture spacing, and few accessories.  I showed her on the internet a beautiful new area rug to purchase for the seating area (all of hers were too traditional or the wrong size).  Some new throw pillows make the sofas look terrific.  And we created a reading area for her husband, who loves to read!

Finally, in her dining room, simplicity was key.  I removed the two leaves in the table so that it didn't overwhelm the space (she also has a more informal dining area).  Pictures were kept spare as well as accessories.  Two of the chairs were placed along the wall, further making the table less ominious. 

The result?  I beautiful home that's traditional yet modern in it's arrangement.  This was ALL accomplished over the course of an afternoon!  Judy and her husband love it, and about a month later, they called me to re-do their office reception area as well!

You can call me too if you'd like to do the same thing to your home.  Re-design can involve using just your existing things, but we can also do a shopping trip together for updated accessories as well as search online.  If your budget doesn't include the cost of a traditonal interior designer, then Re-design may be right for you!

Revisiting a classic... the Saarinen pedestal table

From Design Within Reach:  In a 1956 cover story in Time magazine, Eero Saarinen said he was designing a collection to "clear up the slum of legs in the U.S. home." Later that year, he completed his Pedestal Table and Tulip™ Chair Collection (1956) and obliterated the "slum" by creating a cast aluminum base inspired by a drop of high-viscosity liquid. 

When I was in my mid-20's, I had a vintage Saarinen table, white base with a medium wood laminated top.  Loved that piece.  When I was moving I had to temporarily leave my furniture in the garage of a friend.  When I returned, the table was gone!  And my friend had no idea where it went to (altho I suspect an open garage door was too much temptation for a passer-by!)

I'm currently lusting over... the CB2 Scan Chair!

Oh, how I love Scandanavian design!  But CB2.com isn't listening, because right now their beautiful Scan chair is out of stock.  That's what happens when you wait too long to order!  Reminds me of my grandmother's Palm Springs home back in the day...  please bring back this beautiful chair!

Let a room serve it's original purpose...

Before: All work and no play!

After: A fine place to relax and enjoy the view!

In this master bedroom, the sitting area was taken up by a large blue cabinet that included a home office! Now, do YOU want to do office work while trying to relax in your master bedroom? A quick switch of furniture got this room back on track!  There was already a home office elsewhere in the house, so taking this back to a sitting room made perfect sense.

Stage your exterior? Absolutely!

BEFORE: Yes, people really DO live this way! Even this newer home looks old and dingy with clutter around.

AFTER: Clean and pleasant! You would think this is obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I've had to help clients de-clutter and stage their home's exterior.  If you'll give me a call, I can help you too. 

Modern yet romantic...

Proof that modern doesn't have to mean antiseptic and cold.  This is a very romantic bedroom, and it has masculine and feminine appeal.  I love the modern mirrors and how they interact with the window.  The blue on the bed is very luxurious and the modern chandelier is elegant yet fun.  Sweet dreams!

Transform with paint and simple updates...

Here's a great example of what paint can do for a kitchen! I do this kind of transformation all the time, but this fine example comes from "Stage a Star" in Cincinatti, OH.

A dark dreary and dated kitchen is completely redone thanks to some clean white paint on the cabinets and a soft green on the walls. No more dark wood cabinets and gingham wallpaper! In this case, they also replaced the stove and microwave. However, for a tighter budget one could keep the stove because the black and white would go with the new white on the cabinets, and just replace the microwave with a white one. Also, high-quality press-and-stick veneers in white and stainless steel are available over the internet for updating your dishwasher inexpensively.

The only mis-step here, for me, is the plants and baskets on top of the upper cabinets. It's a bit 1990's, too "country style", and probably wouldn't work well here in California. I prefer to keep that space free and clear as it makes the whole room look less cluttered, larger and more contemporary. Otherwise, great job!

Good design makes your home look more valuable

I love the neighborhood of Atwater Village in Los Angeles. This neighborhood has scores of classic bungalows and cottages from the 1920's and 1930's. Often I'm asked how can you make small rooms, typical of this era, look great?

The answer is scale and color. Never fill a room with oversized furniture, and never use dark furniture against light walls as this gives contrast and condenses your room. Even though these rooms are often smaller-proportioned, the right kind of furniture can make your home look more "expensive" and more appealing to buyers.

Before and After - Craftsman Bungalow revealed!

Believe it or not, this one is just a really good paint job, furniture on the porch, and landscaping.  Nothing structural was added.  Look closely... all of those fantastic architectural details were there, they just needed contrast painting to show up and stand out!

Another example of what color can do...

Now, would you have recognized this house after the re-do?  You may think you're stuck with plain white, but most houses could use a dose of color.  Scared of darker colors?  Do as this family did, and leave part of it lighter (the stone facing).  Brighten it up with a third accent color (in this case, red).  Be adventurous!

Organization is key to selling your home

BEFORE: Often, heavy outdated furniture can overwhelm a space, even when it's neatly organized. See how the large armoire makes the room seem small and cluttered? The 1980's called and they want their medium-tone oak back!

Photos Courtesy of Kristen Coppa, Altera Real Estate

AFTER: Clean, elegant simplicity is best, whether you're staging to sell your home or enhancing your haven. Most of the time you only need room for a laptop and some storage under the desk. Most reference items are now found online, so why keep the paper copies? Donate them to your local charity or library! Enjoy a nice uncluttered, stylish office space!