Staging

Staging Projects | A Condo Conversion that Shines

Written by: Dena Langdon

Photography by: Robert Socha

See how realtor Kaja Bolton staged and sold this 850 sqft condo for a conversion that shines, receiving multiple offers all which exceeded asking price.

Sometimes a building needs the right people with the right vision to bring out its potential and give it new life. The apartment building at 413 Jefferson Street found those people in a developer who hired realtor and stager Kaja Bolton

The developer completely redid the building’s units with Kaja’s input throughout the process on the floor plans and finishes. Having worked with Kaja Bolton before, they knew she could produce results and when the unit was completed, she worked her staging magic on the 850 square feet condos.

 

All three of the units that sold received multiple offers and they all exceeded the asking price, each apartment outbidding the next.

In order to reach good numbers I just needed to stage it well in neutral colors to appeal to a lot of people,” she says. While many buyers love an open floor plan, the first thing they’d see when walking into this apartment was a pillar in the middle of the room. 


The developer had originally planned to remove the central pole, but in the end it stayed. Kaja’s staging turned it into an asset, so much so that none of the buyers even mentioned it as a problem. She did this by defining the living spaces, starting with a large dining room table.

 

The bigger farm table distracted from the pillar’s awkward placing in the room’s middle and worked with the furniture to help define the space. The natural wood table felt more like a butcher block island, but also showed buyers that they could entertain. The space could have a  lot of different uses to fit different lifestyles, thus broadening its appeal.

The pillar now served to separate the dining room from the living room, which Kaja brightened up with indirect lighting. A clean color palette with a bit of pop in the form of shades of blue, nubby pillow textures, and shining brass, increased the living room’s inviting feel. “I find that you need a little bit of color to draw people in,” Kaja explains.

 

The trick is to keep people’s eyes moving around the room, “because when you do,” Kaja says, it feels larger.” Everywhere someone looked in the open living space, there was something to delight. A whimsical silver monkey on a wooden side table, fresh flowers, and a wall of city photographs brought interest to the contemporary condo. 

To make sure that the two-bedroom, one-bath condominium had family appeal, Kaja used pink with gold accents in the smaller bedroom. A child-sized plush chair in dusty rose invited a little girl to grab a book and snuggle up.

 

After she’d staged and listed them, all three of the units had multiple offers. They all exceeded the asking price by a considerable amount, and each apartment outbid the next.  Kaja’s listings surpassed the average selling point for two-bedroom condos on the same block by more than $162.63 per square foot, even when some of those buildings had additional amenities such as an elevator.

 

 Reach out today to find out more about how Kaja can work her magic in your building.