First I had to figure out what items to get for the room. I already had this great piece of art to use in the space, but needed some more items to ensure potential buyers would know it was a dressing room. I didn’t want to use a dresser for 2 reasons – 1 I didn’t want to have to lug a dresser up the stairs and 2 – I don’t typically use dressers in staged bedrooms, so that would mean I would have to purchase one, load in my car and on and on….

So after scouring sources of inspiration, I decided on a shoe rack, men’s valet and a nice mirror, coupled with a side chair and some cool 50′s art, that I already owned.   I took out some cash and headed for an estate sale and a local thrift store.

The estate sale was a loss, except for a boot planter that I picked up.

Off to the thrift store where I hit the jackpot! 

I found this really cool accent table that complemented the art (seen in the back of picure) perfectly!  Score on the valet too – just what I was looking for!  And of course, the thrift store had a nice 20% off and an additional discount for using cash!  Double Bonus!

Now all I had to do was pick up a nice mirror to complement, and accents – shoes, scarves and a men’s suit. I already had a men’s suit for the valet (I was going to tear it up to make pillows) and the shoes and scarves were easy scores from my own personal inventory and family’s old clothes pile.

A quick visit to HomeGoods landed a nice mirror, with a vintage white frame and I was good.

The next morning, my new Staging project manager met me at the house for an early morning install. Everything was going great except for when I pulled the mirror out of the car. DISASTER! The mirror had cracked, sometime between leaving the store at 7 pm and my arrival at the project at 9:30 am. UGH!

Oh well – no time to fret – we moved the desk, and loaded up the room as best we could. I still think it turned out nice, even without the mirror, don’t you agree?

Here is the room with the valet moved over to get the picture together.

Next time I will have to remember to bring a tie for the men’s suit and maybe a pair of men’s shoes for the valet too!  But I feel pretty good with 24 hours to shop and pull it together! Thanks for checking it out!

After an easy breakfast at my friends house in Palo Alto, I headed up the 101N to Alemany Flea market.  The side streets were packed, people were ready to sell out of cars, trucks and oh yeah, the official market grounds.  I love finding unique pieces, especially for use in home staging projects, and this flea market didn’t let me down! But since I was traveling and HATE the idea of checked luggage, my only planned take-away was the photos seen below! Enjoy!

Welcome to the Market!

First stop – a table of interesting books and what nots. great for accent pieces on bookshelves and coffee tables.

Next stop -  cool original art! I could totally see this in an all white bedroom, and lavender or pink accent pillows, throws, etc. Very chic!

Now this table left me stumped. I would called it ‘Naked Keys’ since it was without the wooden box that make it a piano! Not only did I wonder how it was ‘freed’ from its wooden home, I also wondered how on earth it sounded? I was going to try it but quickly found myself standing between pricing negotiations, so I had to make a fast exit.

This market has more than just decorative items, it also had a whole section of clothes. Lakeitha Duncan  would have loved it!

Racks and racks of clothes!

Cool sign finds – always love vintage signs on an exposed brick wall. Although not sure I would want to advertise smoking tobacco, still a fun sign.

And one more cool piece of art for the road…

Speaking of the road, I totally forgot how steep the hills are in San Fran. I give it up to every single man, woman, and child who lives in this neighborhood, cuz i don’t know how they do hills like this on a regular.

I can't believe i made it up the whole hill...on foot!

Although there were a few cool good finds, it wasn’t floored by most of the items seen.  If I lived nearby and was still a home stager, I would probably only visit once every few months or so. Which means that I am still waiting to be wowed!  Maybe the one in your city will be the one! Who knows!?

Now when we were originally given this piece, it was bright and brassy, with an oval glass top.  Which screamed 1970′s… so we spray painted the base with the intention to replace the glass. But after looking at the base painted, we thought another material on top would be better than the glass. Maybe a marble, granite or even reclaimed wood would be nice on top.  But since we don’t have the tools or expertise to do that ourselves, we are looking for a local artistic type who is able to work it out.  We  would love to use left over materials for this and future projects, where possible.

Just so you know, we tend to stage older bungalow, Cape Cod and cottage homes in Silver Spring and Takoma Park, and newly remodeled modern condos and row homes in DC.  So we need furniture that can work in one of these categories.

Our intention is to pay for time spent on each piece (negotiated before work begins), use the furniture in at least one staging project (get some pictures of the furniture in action) and possibly sell the piece, assuming there is interest.  We may post completed projects here to gauge interest, so if you are in the market for unique and eco-friendly furniture, bookmark this site!

For more details, send us an email message at redo(at)rarooms(dot)com, with your interest level and samples of other work you have done. We are looking for a great furniture partner – maybe it is YOU!

Our first two posts were quickly reposted on AOl (R) real estate and a Santa Monica real estate agent’s blog.  Exciting!

Check out the first posts and add your comments! Share with your friends, especially any real estate friends or investors. And if you are planning on selling your home sometime soon, check back often for tips and advice!

A naked window

First - What to hang?

Here is one of the windows…I had 3 more of the same size, and one more larger in the front of the house.  The windows let in nice natural light which is what I wanted to maintain – I didn’t want the spaces to feel too heavy or closed in with the treatments.

So I thought about Ikea’s Lill fabric panels, which are light gauze fabric, and would keep the contemporary look rather than the traditional look. And they are incredibly cheap at only $5 for a pair! BINGO!  I only needed 2 pairs of these and the I selected a slightly heavier white fabric (also from Ikea) for the larger window in the front room.

Next I wondered - How to Hang?

What I didn’t want to do was drill to hang standard brackets that are traditionally sold with rods.  My drill’s battery had died the day before (end of life) nor did I want to go through the mess of drilling into the walls, screws and the whole mess.  The rods in Ikea were all the wrong size anyway, I had to stop by the hardware store to pickup something that would work.

So while I was in the hardware store, the plan just came together before my eyes!  I left there with a small box  3m Command removable small wire hooks, 4 tension rods, and cup holder hooks as a backup.  Armed with these items and the fabric panels I had picked up earlier at Ikea, I was on my way!

Let the hanging begin!

Basically my idea was to hang the hooks on the corner of each window and set the rod (with the panel on it) in each hook!  To start, I hung the hook in each corner of the window, making sure each hook was lined up (straight) with each other. I would suggest using a straight edge or even the rods themselves to make sure they are hung evenly.

Of course, the great thing about the 3M strips is you can take them off and add a new backing just in case you hang one of them too high or too low. Like this one…

first hook in place

After both of the hooks are hung, test the straightness by placing the rod in the hooks before you thread on the fabric panel. This is to ensure you have hung the rods straight.

Once they are hung straight, go ahead and thread the fabric onto the rod.

Now these windows hung approx 84 from the floor, and the fabric panels were actually 98″ in length. So to accommodate the longer length, I just tied a soft knot in each of the single window to raise it up of of the floor. Plus it looks sorta cool that way as well…dontcha think?

Dressed and ready for showings!

In the end, I spent about $28 at Ikea for the fabric panels and then another $25 at the hardware store for the tension rods, and hooks. The largest expense was the hooks!  I recommend using two hooks for each window under 3 ft, and anything larger, add another hook per 3 ft. So the large window was approx 60″ wide, so I used 3 hooks. I would only use this with LIGHT fabric – anything really heavy would have been too heavy for the hooks and the room.

Good luck with dressing up your windows for a quick sale and hope this info has been helpful!

Last fall, I was contacted by a local DC professional running away from the light, rather than towards it!  He wanted to block out all of the light in his bedroom, that was streaming through the cracks in his custom shutters.  Most days he is an early riser for work, but on the weekends, he was hoping to sleep in a little. Even after Miss Sun gets up.  But that was proving to be more difficult cuz Miss Sun was just a streaming right through those fabulous shutters. Take a look…

Before we started...

So he hired me to take control and keep Miss Sun at bay until he was ready for her.  Our goal was to block out the light with color and fabulousness.   We decided to do a wall of custom drapery with black out lining to block out any and all light leaks.  I grabbed a few fabricbooks from my window treatment fabricator, and together we selected fabric, rod, rings and finials, and he placed the order in mid-November.  Approximately a month later, we delivered and installed the fabulous drapery.  Check out the finished product…

...and the after!

The new drapery give the room a new feel AND the client can sleep in without being bothered by Miss Sun. I know she will miss her morning time with my client but I also know there are plenty more DC condo dwellers who she wakes up DAILY.

If you want to keep Miss Sun at bay, give me a shout!   I work with a fabulous local husband and wife team of business owners – and everything is made BY HAND and with CARE!  They are masters at fabric and can do pillows, valences, cornices, fabric roman shades and even chair covers, in addition to the custom drapery. We would love to help you sleep better too!