Mood Boards

Mood Boards

You have probably noticed that I am a huge fan of mood boards. every time I have a new project I start the process with a mood board. It helps me to find out what my client is looking for - the atmosphere, feeling, colours, pieces of furniture. The main thing is that it should also help the client to visualise and see if we talk the same language.

First I need to see the place in real or at least photos of it and discuss with the clients what will be the function of the space. Then I make a list what style and colours they like. Sometimes (quite often) It is actually easier for them to answer what they don’t like and want.

Having all that information the work starts. It takes some time to find the right pieces of furniture, textiles etc. I always use pieces that can be found in the shops of that area. It is no use to present something which doesn’t exist in the stores. Of course, there can be something that needs to be ordered. Almost all the big pieces of furniture such as sofas and dining tables have a delivery time.

If the client already has existing furniture, and just need some new ones, I try to find similar as the existing ones for the mood board. That helps to create the whole picture. Here’re some examples of mood boards which were made this way. In this living room there were already that rug and coffee table. New sofa, small TV unit, table for laptop were needed.

Styling A Rental Home In Torreblanca

People who rent out apartments often say that it’s not worth styling the place. I totally disagree with them! Of course styling a rental home makes a different. First of all it is easier to rent out, most probably you get a better price for it, and what is most important is that your clients will be much happier there and they will also take better care of it.

In the beginning of December I got this project to style a house and make it more harmonious in colours and create an airy, cosy and inviting atmosphere. It was already furnished so the main point was rearranging the existing furniture in the rooms and add some textiles, framed pictures and small pieces of furniture. The house has two rental units, which can be separated with a door if needed. One upstairs, which is the main unit and where I concentrated on this time. It has 3 bedrooms, kitchen, large living and dining area with open fireplace. The downstairs unit is little bit smaller one with two bedrooms, small kitchen and living area and bathroom.

Fresh & blue master bedroom.

Details of the master bedroom.

Master bedroom before the styling.

Dining area - after styling.

Living area after styling.

Living area before styling.

Living area after styling.

Living area before styling.

Living area before styling.

Small bedroom after styling.

Two bedrooms with double beds after styling.

One of the bedrooms before styling.

Moodboard for the living area.

One of the bedroom moodboards.

Another bedroom moodboard.

Zen Studio Malaga

Yoga teacher and life coach found a perfect place for her new holistic yoga centre in Malaga’s upcoming neighbourhood Soho. Located in the second floor with beautiful huge windows facing the pedestrian street and the renovated old houses opposite, it certainly makes this property very special.

She had in mind what she wanted - airy, light place with blue sea vibes. Some compromises had to be done, for example she wanted to have white or light grey floors but as it’s a rental a totally new flooring would’ve been too expensive. Anyways, the floor is in good condition so even if it’s dark, it doesn’t disturb the fresh atmosphere of relaxing studio.

My role was basically give advice and tips, help with shoppings and show the way. The business owner made the main job. As mentioned before the floor was left as it was, but all the walls were painted in white except in the office and locker rooms the walls got a serene pale blue cover. In the small toilet the tiles were painted and new furniture was installed.

The aim was to make the office cosy and informal, yet being in harmony with the other rooms. Round table is not a typical choice but here it works well and the round form creates a soften atmosphere.

You can find more info on Zen Studio here!

Moodpboard with water colours.

Light pieces of furniture create airy space.

Looks inviting, doesn’t it?

Blue & light grey.

Calming hues for the office.

Women’s locker room has a beautiful light curtain in watery pattern.

Lockerroom for men.

Tiles were painted in pale blue and new furniture was installed.

Calming & relaxing…

Welcome to Zen Studio!

See The Difference: Styled & Unstyled Space

This vacation home by the sea was refurbished with some new pieces of furniture, but not so much with textiles. So when I was asked to go and take photos of it, I realised that it would look so much nicer with a bit of styling. Luckily my friend and colleague, also Tiina btw, has a lot of things at her own home which I knew would match to this home as well. She packed several bags full of rugs, blankets, cushions and other small decor items for me, and I picked up a few things from my own home as well.

I styled this apartment in Fuengirola room by room and shot every space before styling the next one. Here I enclosed also the before pics so you can see the difference. In my opinion styling works. It’s definitely worth the time & money, isn’t it? After the owner saw these new photos of her flat she asked me to make it as it looks in the pics. I made a calculation for her how much the decor pieces would costs plus my fee for going out for shopping and styling the place. She gave me a budget and it was all done in two days (I could have done it in one day).

Creating a cosy & inviting space for a client and seeing her happy for the result, make my day and make me love my job!

Small kitchen just needed reorganising the counter top.

Bathroom needed just the basic thing - closing the toilet lid.

Inviting bedroom means a cosy bed.

Cushions, blankets and pictures create a cosy atmosphere.

Let there be light, and fresh branches of eucalyptus.

Boho chic rooftop terrace.

5 syytä miksi asunto kannattaa stailata myyntikuntoon

Miksi koti kannattaa stailata ennen myyntiin laittoa?

Sunnuntain Hesarissa oli iso artikkeli kodin stailauksesta myyntikuntoon. Sain sen pohjalta idean kirjoittaa aiheesta blogipostauksen. Olen jo useamman vuoden painottanut kodin stailauksen tärkeydestä. Päällimmäinen kysymys tuntuu olevan miksi. Siis mitä hyötyä siitä on asunnon myyjälle?

Kodin osto on aina jännittävä sekä myös stressaava prosessi. Kukaan meistä ei halua tehdä väärää päätöstä varsinkin kun kyseessä on suuri summa rahaa. Välillä tuntuu onko edes mahdollista löytää juuri sitä oikeaa minulle tarkoitettua kotia, kun mikään netissä olevista asuntoilmoituksista ei nappaa.

Monet meistä ajattelee että eihän sillä kalustuksella ole mitään vaikutusta, mutta näin ei valitettavasti ole. Ostaja etsii itselleen asuntoa josta voi tehdä oman kodin. Silloin kun asunto näyttää selkeästi myyjän kodilta, siitä ei yleensä välity tätä oman kodin tunnetta ostajalle.

Asunnon tulee totta kai olla toimiva ostajan kannalta, mutta ostopäätös tehdään useimmiten tunnepohjalta. Asunnon täytyy tuntua juuri oikealta.

5 syytä miksi asunto kannattaa stailata myyntikuntoon

1. Asunnosta saa paremmat ja houkuttelevammat kuvat. Tämä taas auttaa ostajaa huomaamaan asuntoilmoituksen muiden joukosta netissä tai vastaavasti kiinnostus herää kuvien kautta välittäjän tarjotessa ko. asuntoa potentiaaliselle ostajalle.

2. Ostaja saa asunnosta paremman käsityksen kun se ei ole liian persoonallisesti sisustettu ja ole niin selkeästi myyjän koti.

3. Stailattu tila on myös helpompi hahmottaa kuin vastaavasti kokonaan tyhjä.

4. Asunnon ostaja ei osta myyjän kotia vaan tilan, josta hän voi tehdä oman kodin.

5. Stailattu asunto menee nopeammin kaupaksi ja siitä voi saada jopa korkeamman hinnan, koska se huomataan paremmin ja se saa enemmän kiinnostusta sekä näkyvyyttä ja näin näyttöihin saadaan enemmän potentiaalisia ostajia.

Olen myös kuullut väitteitä, että stailattu koti olisi jotenkin valheellinen ja feikki. Pitää paikkaansa ettei stailattu koti ole välttämättä sellainen, jossa asutaan ja eletään, mutta sen tarkoitus onkin antaa mahdollisimman neutraali kuva tilasta ja näyttää mitä siihen mahtuu. Kodin stailaus myynti kuntoon kannattaa aina! Asunnon myyjä voi tehdä sen itse tai pyytää ammattilaisen apua, jolloin vältetään tunnesiteet asuntoon ja nähdään se ostajan näkökulmasta.

Tässä muutama ennen ja jälkeen esimerkki yhdestä stailaamastani kohteesta Aurinkorannikolla:

Cosy Office

I’m so happy I got this project to make Erika’s office space cosier. She wanted to have an inviting office where she could meet her clients and have her friends to pop in for a coffee and chat when ever they are in the area.

It was important to place there a seating area and a reading nook with a bookcase. First we were thinking a table with a couple of chairs, but as the space is limited we changed that idea for a comfy sofa with a pouf.

The room is in two levels, so the upper part is dedicated for reading, and the lower level for working. First I made a moodboard to find the right colour scheme Erika likes and a layout how to place the furniture to see what can be fitted there.

Most of the furniture had to be ordered and the delivery time was up to 8 weeks. The good thing was that Erika was not in a hurry and we could do this makeover step by step. After receiving the main pieces of furniture it was time to look for soft furnishing such as cushions & blankets as well as wall art. Erika has such wonderful & colourful photos she took in Wynwood in Miami - those will be perfect on the wall. Meanwhile we added some random pics to the frames just to see how the wall will look like with them and mirrors.

Here are some sneak peeks of the project - how it looked before and what is the situation at the moment. Btw, one of the reasons why Erika chose to buy this apartment was the view!

Moodboard for an inviting office.

Office layout.

Before

Empty grey wall unit to be covered with Marimekko fabric called Lumimarja.

A view to the river Danube.

After: Statement wall & cheerful pink details.

After: Reading nook on the upper level.

Shaker Kitchen

What is a Shaker Kitchen?

A Shaker Kitchen is a kitchen style that is distinctly minimal with a clean-lined design that has little or no decoration.

Shaker Kitchen cabinet doors consist of a recessed panel and a four-piece wood frame. Most of these kitchen cabinets are constructed from wood and dovetail joints. The original Shaker Kitchens were modest due to the Shaker’s religious views.

A Shaker style kitchen has simple lines and understated elegance that has stood the test of time. The cabinets have a significantly unadorned look with a focus on practical design and craftsmanship. This design style comes from a religious group’s need to create furniture from bare essentials and without embellishments. Because of its unfussiness, you can find a simple Shaker Kitchen in modern, traditional, high-end and budget homes alike.

You can find more about Shaker Kitchens here!

I made some mood boards of Shaker kitchens for my client. Do you like Shaker Kitchen style or do you prefer another style?

Materials & colours

Original Retro Home

I had such a lovely time in Finland in July! I could meet my family and friends, enjoy good music, eat all those Finnish delicacies and experience the changeable weather - one day it was so cold and rainy and the next day it was hot and sunny.

The trip was not just for relaxing but for a bit of work as well. One of my projects included home-staging and photographing a home in eastern Finland. A house built in the late 70s needed some refreshing before putting it on the market.

The house was in a pretty good condition as the owners have been taking excellent care of it over the years. They didn’t want to do any renovation, which I think was a good choice, because a small reno wouldn’t have added its value. And a big makeover to update it totally and bring it to this decade would have cost a lot of money. The thing is that if you cannot hide it then embrace it. That’s what I wanted to do in this case!

This retro gem just needed a lot of uncluttering and rearranging the existing furniture. Broken pieces of furniture and those not-in-a-good shape any more pieces were thrown away. No cash was needed to replace the existing furniture.

Now when it’s easier toes the potential of the space, people (a potential buyer) can see if the place will make a perfect home for them. The future owner can then decide wether to keep the retro vibes or turn the house to a modern home.

The nature around the house is so fresh and green. It comes in trough the windows. It feels as having wonderful paintings which change according to the season. I picked up plenty of wild flowers in the garden and surrounding area.

Guest Room Makeover Ideas

This guest room in a large penthouse apartment has recently been used mainly as a storage room. Now the owner would like to change the mood of the space and have a room where friends and relatives would feel comfortable and welcome.

She has a wallpaper ready. That charcoal hue wallpaper with light grey patterns is by a Finnish designer Stefan Lindfors. The wallpaper will be used partly on the wall against the bed. Test of the walls will be painted in light grey. The floor is a hardwood floor, and kind of yellowish at the moment. It will be painted in white or light grey, or perhaps the floor will be covered with vinyl. Let’s see!

The statement piece of the room will be the headboard - a padded forest green in velvet. The green hue was picked up because there’s already an existing bedspread in dark grey. So green will pop up beautifully among the dark tones.

This makeover is in process and goes on according to the owner’s schedule. Can’t wait to see some action there. i’ll keep you posted!

The current situation.

Time to get rid of the pastel colours.

Moodboard for the guest room.

Mediterranean Soft Colour Palette

A teenager went for a family trip to Provence and fell in love with the beautiful soft colours she saw everywhere there. When back at home she wanted to update her room and make it more suitable for her state of mind. She’s not a little child any more nor a grown up. I made a mood board according to her colour references. Waiting for to see how the project goes on!

How do you like these hues of Provence?