Charming a Verdugo Village Bungalow

It’s been said that no one can truly fall in love with an empty house. And while some may have the necessary imagination to picture a warm, homey scene in their heads while gazing across an expanse of floor and windows, most people need just a little inspiration. That’s exactly what staging does. Staging fills in the blanks, answers questions (will my sofa fit?) and tells the story of what life could be like if you buy this place.

Can you imagine yourself sitting in one of those rust velvet chairs reading a good book on a rainy day? Can you see your family gathered around that wooden table enjoying a meal? Or your friends perched on that sofa, glass of wine in hand, playing charades? Or a group of pals over to watch the big game? This is where staging excels. We literally tell a story. The story of a life you may only have dreamed about before. Are your Pinterest boards overflowing with cozy modern spaces that invite leisure and serenity, the comforts and convenience of home — all as part of a life well-lived? We all aspire to something greater — and staging is the crayon box that brings those empty B&W line drawings to life.

Fresh white walls, fashionable black roller shades, brand new wood floors. Plenty of natural light coming in through multiple windows. All of these elements exist in this large family home located in Verdugo Village, a part of Los Angeles’ Glassell Park neighborhood. Everything today’s family could wish for. So it was easy to stage in a colorful transitional style that nods to current Post-Modern influences.

We warmed up the floor with the organic texture of a seagrass rug (inviting bare feet and kid cuddles), brought in a Saarinen style coffee table with sinuous lines, anchored the room with a sumptuous white linen sofa, accented it with custom mudcloth pillows, and pulled in tones of blush and black for warmth and contrast. But imagine if you stripped away all of the furniture and decor from this room. Close your eyes and picture it completely empty. Still good light, the integrity of wood flooring and freshly painted walls. But where is the life? The ideas? The emotion? Staging breathes life into rooms. Simply put, it’s like CPR for the emptiness.

We always say that it’s the little things that make a room. It’s also why we say “It ain’t done ‘til it’s done.” Until every last detail is placed, each palm leaf arranged. Each book turned at just the right angle. Decor and accessories are the soul of staging — and that’s why we curate and source decor with care, attention to detail and a pure love of the art of decorating. Each tabletop is considered — a trio of items is often the most dynamic grouping. Shape, texture, contrast, composition — all of these considerations are addressed in each curation. Here, a rounded blush-colored vase contrasts with a highly textured hand-woven basket and the freshness of large Monstera leaves. A couple of books — with the top book featuring an evocative photo — are placed casually as if left there by the reader. And the choosing of books by their title, color, size and art is an “art” in and of itself. That’s why we have an entire room at our warehouse devoted to books. We’re kind of obsessed.

But can we talk about these coppery-rust chairs and ottomans for a minute? I mean, look at them. We just recently added this pair to our inventory and we’re crushing hard. We’ve been eyeing new Post-Modern influenced furniture lately and made this purchase to satisfy that yen for soft rounded profiles, matte-black-metal-tubular-framed, low and lounge-y stuff. These chairs tick all the boxes and have all the food groups — warm, contemporary, classic yet eye-catching. I guess you figured out we’re in love. With chairs. Yes, we’ve said it. Chairs.

With a home of this size (four bedrooms), one serves as an office/guest bedroom, complete with a sink-into daybed. We absolutely love to style daybeds because they meld together the charm of a sofa and a bed in one delicious package. First, we laid down an awesome round jute rug with nubby texture for days. Then we got to piling the daybed with all manner of pillows and a linen comforter with a patterned throw tossed over it. We wanted a terra cotta touch, so this cute-as-a-button end table in blushy peach served up just the right look. A high-personality black and brass floor lamp ties into the daybed’s black frame and a rust kilim pillow “talks” to the other terra cotta in the room. All of this yumminess cozies up to a windowed corner to invite lounging, reading or napping.

When asked what are the most important rooms to stage, we always reply “Living room, dining room, kitchen and primary suite.” The primary bedroom is where buyers spend a lot of time when touring a potential home to buy. The questions are many — Will it hold a King size bed? Is there enough closet space? Can I fit my nightstands? How about a rug? What about natural light? Is there a bathtub for long luxurious soaks? Since you begin each morning greeting the day from the privacy of your bedroom, this is the most personal of spaces in a home. Imagine an empty bedroom. Yes, it can answer a few of these questions, that’s true. But can you picture yourself touching your bare feet on a cushy rug and padding to your primary en suite bathroom as your day begins? Can you imagine the soft pool of light from a bedside lamp while you read, with a pup nestled in your lap? Do you see your kids piling-on in the morning to wake Mom and Dad? Since the bed is always the star of any bedroom, we pay a lot of attention to its presentation in staging. Aisles of our warehouse inventory reveal comforters, quilts, linen sheets and pillowcases, downy-soft pillows and woven blankets at the ready to style the many beds we stage each year. Emotions are tapped into each time you show the potential of real life happening inside a home for sale. Each time we touch a potential buyer’s heart. We call these moments touchstones. Each touchstone brings a potential buyer that much closer to “Yes, this feels like home.”

While the primary suite is super important, we give the same attention to guest bedrooms — and in this case, a secondary bedroom in this family home speaks to a more childlike sensibility. Through the subtle use of color (pale blush in pillows and one book) we suggest that a teen (or preteen) girl might favor this room. Careful not to fall into stereotypes, though, we’ve chosen a black mudcloth pillow, an oversized and highly textural woven medallion and a simple gray tufted upholstered bed. The room leans toward a feminine feel, but veers away at the last moment with just enough edge to appeal more broadly. Swap out the pale pink with blue or teal and suddenly you have a more unisex space. That’s the power — and the subtlety — of color. It takes only a touch to make a huge impact and to change the tone of a room’s energy. It’s endlessly fascinating to us, and we continue to immerse ourselves in an ongoing education about color.