When we got the call from the Hripko Group to stage a 6000 square foot home in Elbow Valley I immediately went shopping. I had 3 houses currently staged with my rentals and was sure I would not have enough inventory to style a home that grand. And I was right! I spent 2 days gathering decor and artwork and packed it all up along with just about every other item we had – and we used every single piece.
This was a large project with myself and 2 team members along with 2 movers hustling for 2 hours (ok… 2.5 hours… it had so much ground to cover). And a huge shout out to the Realtor, Alex Hripko, and her assistant for helping with the decluttering and packing – we would have doubled our time without you!
I was so grateful for each moment. 1. Grateful to give my team members and the movers work. 2. Grateful to experience and appreciate such a beautiful estate in Elbow Valley. 3. Grateful to work with realtors who trust me with such a significant listing. 4. Grateful for having found this career that fills my cup with each new job.
The house was original and authentic and we had to lean into that with more traditional decor that would elevate but not stand out.
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Living Room
Soft goods play a big part in how a living room feels. The biggest change in this room was quite simply the area rug. The area rug had to be lighter, brighter, and bigger to match the room’s scale. And as tempting as it was to put brighter pillows on the couch, the more traditional cream blended in and allowed the architectural features to be the star.
Always be learning.
Alex told me that the client’s medallion in front of the fireplace was actually a negative element as it could tell buyers the fireplace is not used or in working order. So we removed that and let the fireplace fend for itself. A good tip!
Elbow Valley Living Room After
Elbow Valley Living Room Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Kitchen
The scale of the island is hard to grasp in the photos – but even my largest pieces looked small on the sprawling countertops. We styled the island simply with ‘centerpiece-style’ decor so as to not clutter the space. A large bell jar with florals and candles gave a freshness, and accompanying vases and trays gave visual weight.
For the rest of the kitchen we decluttered, organized, and put out cutting boards and cookbooks for a homey welcoming visual.
Elbow Valley Kitchen After
Elbow Valley Kitchen Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Dining Room & Breakfast Nook
The dining room was my favourite room in the home. It had an exorbitant round dining table worthy of Elbow Valley, which had previously held only a tiny vase. I made a custom arrangement specifically for this space and paired it with a lovely linen runner and accompanying candle holders.
The breakfast nook’s biggest change (not pictured) was the removal of a large display wall unit filled with glasses and replaced with an appropriately sized piece of art. I also got creative with a country-kitchen style runner and coloured glass assorted candle sticks to make the table feel more homey and casual compared to the more formal dining room.
Elbow Valley Dining Room & Breakfast Nook After
Elbow Valley Dining Room Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Fire Side Room
I wanted this room to feel less like the lobby of a lodge and more like a Parisian sitting room. The room had many of the elements we needed from the cream-coloured furniture and oval mirror. We brought in flowers, brightly coloured urns and bowls and pillows, and removed some of the brown and red decor and clutter on the mantle. This styling tied into the cooler river rock fireplace and gave a modern feel to this isolated room off the entry.
Elbow Valley Fire Side Room After
Elbow Valley Fire Side Room Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Master Bedroom
The primary bedroom needed a bit of a freshen-up. This was a room that we wanted to feel modern and chic. We brought in cooler grey/blue pillows, white flowers, silver candles, and pearlescent glass. We also removed the TV and computer so that buyers could see this as their sanctuary and focus on the view.
In the bathroom we brought in eucalyptus, small modernized artwork, and packed away personal items.
Elbow Valley Primary Bedroom After
Elbow Valley Primary Bedroom Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Children’s Bedrooms
How sweet are these rooms? The owner’s kids are grown up and long gone, but the two rooms tell 2 different stories! The daughter’s room was quite sparse and so we added blankets and decor to make it feel more lived-in. The son’s room still had most of his childhood toys and books and so much of this room had to be packed up and decluttered to match.
Elbow Valley Children’s Bedrooms After
Elbow Valley Children’s Bedrooms Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Mother-in-Law Suite
This room really felt like a transformation. We found a blow-up mattress and bedding in a closet and completely remade the bed to show better as a true mother-in-law suite. Alex did a wonderful job packing up the awards and trophies off the mantle so that we could style it with minimal decor.
We (and by ‘we’ I mean the movers we hired) swapped the two blue couches that were in this room with 2 beige couches in the basement so that the sitting area was a little softer on the palette when you first come into the room. We used area rugs to define the zones and styled surfaces accordingly.
Is the blue rug bold? Yes. But what you can’t see is the circus-red valance and drapery and so we chose to lean into the bold colours since there was no masking those.
Elbow Valley Mother-in-Law Suite After
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Mother-in-Law Suite Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Basement
In the basement, we focused on creating zones using an area rug and artwork. The client had some wonderful framed movie posters in the media area, which we accentuated by removing some furniture. We added a rug to the sitting area to offset all of the warmer tones and tied that in with fresh artwork sprinkled throughout. All of the artwork had to be large enough to match the scale of the room, and colourful enough to draw the eye up and across the space.
We also had those poor movers swap the 2 beige couches with 2 blue couches which were in the mother in law suite… 3 flights of stairs away! #worthit,
Elbow Valley Basement After
Elbow Valley Basement Before
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Office
The office cleaned up well. This was another room where Alex and her assistant worked hard to pack away personal items and excess for us. We then organized the books to be less distracting on shelves, sprinkled in decor, and swapped artwork.
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Office After
Elbow Valley Occupied Stage Office Before
