Staging...

 When I was leaving this morning to meet the realtor at the "other house" the wind was blowing and stuff was falling all around me. I couldn't resist taking a picture from the driveway of the whitecaps on the water! (this is zoomed in quite a bit!)

 Things went very well at the other house! Our realtor was very pleased with the condition of the house and the changes we had made since we purchased the house from her 3 1/2 years ago! Yes, we have used the same realtor to purchase both houses and are now using her to help us sell the other one! Above is the upstairs fireplace "staged". I added a nice flowery wreath, a spring-y picture and a bucket that will have a plant in it soon! Left the mirror, the fireplace utensils and the fireplace screen, all clearance items at Lowe's and Home Depot! Oh and the fireplace grate a ReStore discovery!

 As I was waiting for the realtor to meet me I had a chance to walk through the house that I fell in love with 4 years ago! I still love that house! It took me 4 months to convince my hubby that this was the house I wanted. He has always disliked the house. Of course in that 4 months the house sold twice, but both times the buyers had "financial or family issues" and had to back out. I told the hubby it was meant to be, so he bought it for me =) I had no intention of selling it, until I found the "cottage on 39th" then I NEVER looked back. When we were house hunting, every weekend the house had an open house we would go visit this view. The view out the front window. It is what ALWAYS drew me back to the house.

 After we finally decided to buy the house we would come have dinner in the back yard (it was empty) so I could peek though the windows and "mentally decorate" every inch inside! Good times I tell ya! But now it is time for someone else to give this house some love...

 I placed my bucket of flowers in the kitchen. From here you can look out the front window and see the water. I am hoping someone else will love that view like I did. Our realtor was friends with the previous owners, she used to come over for dinner parties and sit at this counter with a glass of wine and watch the sunset.

 The sun was peeking out a bit in the windstorm, which was nice for my pictures =) I added a cookbook, a bottle of wine and a metal basket with some kitchen towels and hotpads.

 The cookbook is open to a page for italian meals...

 The upstairs bathroom, I need to put a plant and some soaps in the basket and this room will be "staged".

 Last but not least, my favorite change! The family room! Now I must explain... when we lived in the house I painted down here a pale green (the previous owners had painted it bright yellow and the fireplace was covered with an entertainment center the homeowner built in BLACK! Uh, ya yellow and black!) anywho, once I painted the living room green I decided to paint this room blue and wanted to add beadboard to the lower part of the wall. So I started by painting the fireplace white (against my hubby's wishes).

Then I painted the laundry area which is located in a closet in this room blue. I had started painting one wall before last summer when I wasn't home very much due to some things going on with family that took me away. So only part of a wall down here was the blue. Then we decided to move.

 I "staged" the finally finished mantle, with my Salvation Army Ikea picture, a couple star fish a candle and a pitcher of flowers.

 Left the fireplace utensils, a bargain from ReStore and added a few pieces of wood to an old galvanized bucket. I am in total LOVE with this room! My plan was to put an Ikea couch down here, with the Ikea end tables and coffee table that have glass and cubbies to put sand and shells and pictures inside.

I am considering this color for my studio. The hubby hates the color though, so I am not sure... what do you think? Love or hate? Would you want to live here? The house goes on the market Monday. The hubby and I need to do some clean up outside this weekend. Yay!