It's been a good few days on the flip front. Friday, after 2 weeks of scrambling, I got Frankie all staged and ready to show off for his Saturday showing. The Saturday showing lead to a second showing Sunday and an accepted offer! And Hubby and I sighed a collective sigh of relief. We've learned several expensive lessons with this house: 1- purchase price has to be right for the neighborhood. 2- the best offer is the one you have in front of you. We would have made more profit if we took the first offer... ce la vie. and 3- staging is totally worth the time and money (plus it's fun). When faced with a non-selling house, we didn't want to sink any more money into renovations, so reluctantly we agreed that staging was the way to go. We had resisted previously because we weren't convinced that the time and cost were worth it (spoiler alert: they are). I may be able to envision furniture in the space, but sometimes I forget that not everyone sees a space that way. So I gave myself the challenge- 2 weeks and $1000.
Admittedly, it was trying to rein myself in- I wanted to design the whole space with the absolute perfect pieces! I had to force myself to do just enough to make it feel cozy and to work with the pieces that I could get from craigslist for next to nothing.
I hung IKEA curtains in all the bedrooms using Sarah M. Dorsey's hook method and they totally helped the entire house feel finished.
If you didn't see on face book, I'm kind of madly in love with the mid century modern twin bedroom sets (yes, setS) that I found. Eventually they'll get refinished, but the lines are dreamy and they're SOLID. Sadly, the nightstand was missing it's original knob. I may have to find a suitable replacement in the near future.
This dresser may end up being a future project too- polish up the knobs, repaint it (the finish is the victim of a poor refinish attempt) and add legs which apparently were there originally.
I shopped my own house for the majority of the accessories including lamps and trays.
My absolute favorite view is the view you get when walking down the hall:
It certainly doesn't look like a house that's lived-in, however just adding the furniture and a few strategic accessories, help to make it feel like it could be a home.
Aside from the kitchen/dining witch I had staged when we listed, I totally met my own challenge and was able to furnish and style a living room and 3 bedrooms for under $1000
Here's the cost breakdown:
Living room:
Sofa, craigslist-$50
Side chair, craigslist-$50
Rug, craigslist-$40
Lamp, already owned-$0
Side tables-$30 + spray paint
Living Room TOTAL: $170
Bedrooms:
2 twin beds, 2 dressers, 1 nightstand, craigslist-$100
Queen headboard & metal frame, craigslist-$50
2 Twin mattresses, craigslist-$50
Queen mattress, craigslist-$25
Queen split box spring, craigslist-$FREE
Nightstand, tag sale-$5 + spraypaint & new knobs
Dresser, craigslit-$30
Bedding, pillows, & accessories-$328.33
Bedrooms TOTAL: $588.33
TOTAL STAGING COST: 758.33