Before, after, and everything in between

This 1926 craftsman had beautiful bones — original fir floors, a river-stone fireplace, generous windows — but standing empty, it read as small and dark. Our job was to give the rooms a sense of scale and let that Portland light do the talking.

We anchored the living room with a low, wide sofa to open the sightline to the fireplace, layered in wool and linen textures, and styled the awkward alcove off the kitchen as a reading nook — the detail nearly every buyer mentioned in feedback. Three offers arrived within the first week.

The Hendersons were still living in the home while it sold — with two kids, a dog, and a very full calendar. Occupied stagings are a balancing act: the house has to photograph beautifully at 10am and still function as a family home at 6pm.

We edited roughly a third of the furnishings into storage, rearranged what remained to widen the traffic flow, and layered in artwork, bedding, and greenery from our inventory. The family kept living their life; the listing photos looked like a magazine spread. It went pending after the first open house.

Lofts are our favorite puzzle. All that open space is a selling point on paper, but in person, buyers often can't imagine how to live in it. This one had sat vacant for seven weeks before the listing agent called us.

We used oversized rugs, a sculptural pendant, and a bookshelf placed perpendicular to the windows to define three distinct zones without a single wall. Warm caramel leather and soft clay tones took the chill off the concrete. The listing relaunched on a Friday; it was under contract by Sunday night.

Not every transformation ends with a sold sign. Theo and Jamie bought their Sellwood bungalow in 2019 and never quite finished the main floor — a mismatched sofa here, a hand-me-down table there, and a lingering feeling that the room belonged to someone else.

We started with how they actually live: slow weekend mornings, dinners that migrate to the sofa, a growing record collection. The design followed — a deep sage accent wall, a custom oak console for the turntable, and layered lighting that makes the room glow after dusk. Same house, entirely new feeling.