Last week I made a quick mention of Clark in one of my vacation posts that I'm sure most of you missed it. WE ACCEPTED AN OFFER!!!
While Hubby and I were partying away at my college roomie's wedding on June 2nd, we were also exchanging e-mails with our realtor, counter offering, then accepting an offer on Clark! Happy- dancing ensued, but seemed appropriate since we were already on a dance floor. I'm still nervous for the home inspection (which is happening as I type this!) and hope everything sails smoothly to closing, so keep your fingers crossed for us.
Aside from general maintenance (mainly yardwork), I haven't spent too much time out at Clark since the first open house on May 10th. Just before the last open house and the showing that lead to the offer, I did do some minor staging. Our realtor wanted to place a vignette in the basement to show that it could be usable space. I couldn't let the basement be the only spot in the house with furniture, so I got creative with things I already had and placed a couple vignettes in the upstairs as well.
The living room was my favorite. I added a small entry table and a chair vignette:
This 'art' is an ad that I received in the mail from Madewell, framed in an IKEA frame; the planter is from Anthropologie and was the centerpiece from my friend's wedding last year; and the adorable table I borrowed from Mom before she sold it on Craigslist.
I'm calling this area the "reading nook." I purchased the lamp (from Target) before the house first went on the market since there's no overhead light in this space. The chair you might recognize as my $12.75 thrifted chair (that's been living in our bedroom) and the pillow, which I had in my office, was purchased from Target.
The kitchen just got a little hominess.
Every time I knew that we had a showing or open, I made sure that there were fresh flowers in the vase. The vase and tray were both purchased from HomeGoods just for Clark-staging purposes.
I also added a bowl of apples, hoping it would made the kitchen a little more welcoming. Come in, grab an apple, stay a while!. Ok, I really just wanted another excuse to ogle the backsplash. Hello sexy tile! The bowl was a wedding gift almost 4 years ago.
The vignette that started it all suffered from poor lighting in the basement:
Our Realtor, Amy, borrowed the chairs from another house staging; the indoor/outdoor rug I purchased to add a pop of color here for $15 at Ocean State Job Lots; the pillows I've had for about a decade (from j.c. penney maybe?); and the cute side table I just bought at the ReStore for $11 to refinish (or restore, if you will... sorry...)
I also added a small 'station' right next to the garage door to show that you can use it as a mud-room-type space. I'm still not sure if this area really adds anything, but I guess it doesn't matter now, since he's essentially sold!
The bin usually chorales my shoes in my closet (from Container Store), the ottoman is from our entry (Target), and the pillow is the same vintage as the blue from the other basement vignette. The raspberry pillow here was also my attempt to tie into the pink rug in the other area.
Mother nature also did me a favor and helped to stage the front garden (aka the flowers are in bloom!)
I don't think I ever showed you the full front door either. I love love love the skeleton key welcome mat (Threshold from Target... I think all the Target stuff I mentioned here was actually Threshold too.... add it to my list of addictions)
I'm not sure if all my staging was 100% successful, but I'll call it a win, since 2 days later we had an official offer!
Once we go over all of our numbers again, I'll give you a summary of how we did on our first flip, since I know a lot of you are curious.
I just hope we can sail smoothly to the closing!
(New here? Clark's our very first flip house- check out the process!)