Sometimes a house has been renovated/built by someone determined to prove their vision is a viable, preferable one. It may not be everyone's dream to live in a Russian "villa" (think Rhode Island "cottage") on the Baltic sea, for example, but if you did, you would have marble floors throughout and very elaborate mouldings. It is our job as stagers to make the house appeal to a wide base, however, and see that the builder's vision has a certain charm and efficiency no matter how mad it might initially appear.
The Background:
Some local Russian emigres decided to try their hand at the fix-and-flip game and made the house as nice as could be... in their eyes. Their realtor is new to the business. Anxious to take any listing and make it a success, she was told by everyone in her office: "Get this thing staged; it's your only hope". Plus, it's coming on at over $2 million.
The Brief:
Make sense of a Russian-flavored renovation for an upscale American market.
Living Room
Dining Room
The Family Room
The Bar - Russian Vodka, of course, with some fun black stools. I had ordered cream and silver, but the black came instead. Looked fine given that the hearth is ve-ry black granite.
This half of the room now has a glass chess set on it, with a famous game in progress: Fischer vs. Spasskey in the 1972 World Championship.
Yes, that's vinyl sheets on the glass... to minimize heat... "hey, whaddya want for $2 million?!!" said the REA when I asked if I could take it down.
Then I fell apart upstairs. I was told to do a sofa in the sitting room. I picked what I knew the builder would love (and pay for), not what was right for the home. Still, it has a sumptousness to it, don't it?
Why so much yellow?
"Ees forrrr sun."
Ok, there's kind of a lot of it. We should repaint the principal rooms something else.
"I do Dining Room"
Not Kitchen?
"No. Cabinets."
Kitchen
What you can't see here is the elaborate (foam) moulding in this space. It's got personality but odd with the light fixtures. The builder was a professional artist back in Russia. He and his wife still paint in oils, but for fun now. So, to them, lighting's primary purpose is to make the art look good and then light the area.
My favorite space was an upstairs bedroom, which I did in adorable Peter Pan and Beatrix Potter. I was asked to change it - too bland. I had no more color left in inventory for non-gender-specific bedding, so rushed out for a pack of multicolored napkins. With an ornate stitch on the sewing machine, we have COLOR:-
The final chapter has yet to be written here. It's a lot of money. I was told I was "a miracle worker on this one". Nice to hear, no question.
The Bottom line
Every house deserves to be seen not just in general terms, but also in context.
Vodka and chess anyone?
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