Archive for the ‘Before & After’ Category

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First Impressions: Just Two Changes Make a Huge Difference!

November 16th, 2009 by pangaeablog

Okay, so this is not about Interior Design. But clients ask me for help with their Exterior choices too. This client has a house in Milwaukee that they are fixing up with some remodeling inside and also were painting the exterior and installing a new front door. My client really had her heart set on gray and she is also using grays for her neutral colors inside, so when she asked for help on her color selection, it was really about choosing the right gray. I thought you would enjoy seeing how helpful the free online color selection programs are. This one is Personal Color Viewer® by Benjamin Moore.


Here is the exterior before painting, and below are three of the many grays we considered. You can see what a difference each shade makes. I recommended a paler warm gray because I felt it worked better than the deeper and cooler grays on this wood exterior. Her interior grays are also warm in tone and it made their new front door in a deep iron gray really pop out as a focal point.

Continue reading to see the “after” photos & new door …


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This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 11:09 am and is filed under Before & After, Remodeling & Construction, Staging to Sell, Tips & Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Portland Home Sold in 1 Day in THIS MARKET!

October 15th, 2009 by pangaeablog

Portland Home Stager, Pangaea, shares how pricing, elbow grease and professional home staging got this Portland, Oregon Home SOLD IN ONE DAY to the first person who saw it!

I would just love to take all of the credit for this, but as I have said before, it takes a team to successfully sell a home. With properties languishing on the market for months and months at a time, it seems like a miracle that a home could sell so fast. So, here is what each person did.

The Broker:
* Counseled the seller regarding the importance of condition and presentation of the home.
* Expertly assessed the right pricing for the property
* Referred the seller to the Home Stager
* Hired a professional photographer to take great photos for the listing

The Home Stager (Me) :
* Started by asking the broker for any special concerns or negatives about the property – Although either of the two bedrooms could be the “master”, the seller had set up the downstairs room as their master and the upstairs bedroom as a “guest” room with a futon. So the perception of no master on the main floor was an issue.The bedroom on the main floor looked very crowded & wall color was dark.
* Scheduled and performed a thorough “Walk & Talk” consultation for the seller with specifics about what needed to be done and why.
* Empowered the seller to know that she could accomplish everything by prioritizing and showing specific examples to take out any guesswork.
* Provided additional furnishings / art / accessories and returned to do the final staging.

The Seller:
* Trusted her professionals and committed to doing everything recommended by her broker and home stager.
* Rolled up her sleeves and worked hard!

Now here’s the success story that shows that all three pieces are what sold this home —

Two weeks prior to going on the market, the broker put out a “pre-listing” notice so people would know it was coming up. She connected with another broker who had a buyer ready to buy! They went to see the house, contract in hand ready to write an offer, before the painting and staging work had been done (bad idea). As soon as the buyer saw that the “master” bedroom was downstairs, they changed their mind and passed on the house.

So, to prepare the home, I had the seller remove clutter & older, unattractive furniture. Also had her paint the kitchen in a warm sand color and paint the cabinets white, plus update the hardware. The main floor bedroom had a futon in it. Because of the arms on the futon, when it was folded down to be a bed, the arms protruded into the space enough to make it very tight and to “scream” that it was a guest room. Although I had recommeded painting a lighter color in the bedroom, time & money made us decide to go with the existing color. The seller’s white bedding made the dark walls seem even darker. So I used darker bedding more befitting of a “master” bedroom, and added art & throw pillows that tied in with the green but in lighter shades.

Once the property was staged, professional photos were taken that day and put online asap! An open house was held the next day. According to the broker, the very first person who walked in bought the home. The main level bedroom was readily accepted as the “master”. Happy Ending!! If you would like help professionally staging a home for sale, I would love to help! Pangaea Interior Design

Here are before & after photos for you to enjoy. “After Photos” courtesy of Rachel Weinstein rachelweinstein@comcast.net

Living Room Before Home Staging

Living Room Before Home Staging

Living Room After Home Staging by Pangaea Interior Design

Living Room After Home Staging by Pangaea Interior Design

Kitchen Before Painting

Kitchen Before Painting

Kitchen After Painting and New Hardware

Kitchen After Painting and New Hardware

Bedroom Before Home Staging

Bedroom Before Home Staging

Bedroom After Home Staging by Pangaea Interior Design

Bedroom After Home Staging by Pangaea Interior Design

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009 at 10:02 am and is filed under Before & After, Redecorating & Redesign, Staging to Sell. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Live at the Show!

September 24th, 2009 by pamela

We’re so excited to present our beautiful booth at the home improvement show.  Your IDS committee has worked SO hard to create a booth that represents us beautifully.  I would encourage all members to go support your colleagues and check out their booth.  The booth features before and after concept rooms and a working design center where our IDS designers will be putting together designs on the spot for the general public.

Drew Carney from KGW was at the show this morning and featured the IDS booth on the morning news.  If you didn’t catch, here’s the video for you to view.  Thanks Karen for a job well done!

Click here to view the video!  Out & About at the Home Improvement Show

The video is divided into 4 parts.

  • Segment #1 is the introduction of the show.
  • Segment #2 features our own Brian Kemnitz from Pearl Painters who has a booth promoting his artistic finish school
  • Segment #3 features the IDS booth and our own Karen Linder
  • Segment #4 talks about the primary feature of the show – the Make – a- Wish Foundation and the treehouse brought in for the show.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 24th, 2009 at 10:55 am and is filed under Before & After, Inspiration & Motivation, Interior Design Society News, Next IDS Meeting, Tips & Trends, Your Designer & You. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Home Improvement Show Registration is LIVE!

August 10th, 2009 by pamela

The online registration for booth shifts at the Home Improvement Show are now available on our IDS website. Click through this link to register for your desired shift and pay to guarantee your spot in order! Registration preferences will be offered on a first come first served basis. Each request will be time-stamped at the time of submission. The combination of your time request and payment secure your place ‘in line’.

Click to Register

Registration closes at the close of business on Monday, August 17th. The HIS committee will publish the schedule to all who responded by Wednesday, August 19th. If there are additional shifts available, those interested will be contacted directly. Be sure to indicate on your initial request if you’d like two shifts in which to participate. We want to open this opportunity up to as many designers as possible, so we are starting with one shift each.

Please note that participation is open to all active IDS design members of any level. If you’re receiving this email and are NOT a member, it means that you’ve attended meetings and we’d love you to join! Booth shifts are reserved for current members only at this point, however. If you’ve considered joining and want to participate, now would be a great time to sign up!

Questions? – Email Committee Chair, Karen Linder

Need more information?
The Details

We are very excited to have a booth at the Home Improvement and Remodeling show that will be held in September, 24, 25, 26, 27 at the Convention Center.

Our booth is large, takes up four spaces, located on prime real estate, Location! location! Location! We are going to have a spectacular booth – sure to catch the eyes of every “Do it your selfer” walking by, a show stopper! I say that because we are going to have “Before” and “After” rooms, each space a 10 x 10 room, completely redesigned to represent the fabulous work we all do as interior designers. The design committee has come up with two beautiful rugs donated for show use from NW Rugs, this piece will be our inspiration for both rooms, we also have some “lovely” before furniture/accessories to showcase and we are working on procuring beautiful furniture, draperies and accessories for our after room.

Click to Register

The front section of our booth will be the design area. In this space we will have cafe tables set up for work spaces, complete with baskets of fabric, tiles, paint chips and magazines. Each designer will have an opportunity to showcase their portfolio on their shift. Our goal is for each designer to have face to face time with potential clients, giving them ideas of ways you can help them with their “design dilemmas”, take away of mini design boards you created for them at the show, complete with your business card attached! Remember the statistic of 74% of the show attendees plan to make a purchase in the next six months.

(these are initial renderings that are still being finalized)

We will also be having a $ 5,000 drawing for a shopping spree or room makeover! Who will be the lucky designer? It is going to be a “Designers Challenge”; we will enter all designers from the show in a drawing, pick three names and these three will meet with the winner. The winner will interview each designer and each designer has an opportunity to present their solution, the winner chooses!

IDS will have a large presence at the show, I hope many of you will sign up for a three hour shift, it is a great opportunity to add new clients to your business!

Best regards,

Karen Linder

Click to Register

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This entry was posted on Monday, August 10th, 2009 at 1:33 am and is filed under Before & After, Inspiration & Motivation, Interior Design Society News, Redecorating & Redesign, Remodeling & Construction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Clients Ready for Change

April 16th, 2009 by angela

This project was very rewarding for me as a designer. Listening to my clients needs, which were  “We are so ready for a change”, and then giving me the creative freedom to bring out the best in their living space made it truly a fun job. My clients are both avid readers and wanted to keep their three bookcases and large artwork in the room. We started with warm colors on the walls and continued the color on the ceiling.  The color was a great start to creating a readers’ den.  New furnishings in rich, warm colors and increased  lighting enhanced the space visually, making a huge difference.

fuhrer-living-room-before2

Updating the window treatments to add drama to the room was a must. Changing the layout of the furniture to fit the scale of the room, adding visual interest with accessories and pulling colors from the living area into the entry and dining room was the connecting factor, which created flow throughout the three areas. This was the key to the ending results.

fuhrer-living-room-after1

The “old” room did not capture your interest or the personalities of Teresa and Rich. Having thrilled clients who love their room and are enjoying the calming spirit they feel when in the space is so rewarding. As I walk out the door the final time knowing they will have many years of enjoyment in this space, I wonder who is happier.

This blog post was written by Susan Nicholson Interiors.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am and is filed under Before & After, Redecorating & Redesign. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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