Site Conditions

• A mishmash of flooring—oak, parquet and engineered/laminate—looked disjointed and old
• Two lower levels had engineered flooring with unsightly gaps
• Yellow-orange wood floors made everything seem outdated and uninviting
• New floor colors would create a clash with the banister and stair colors, rug runners on the staircases were dingy

Results of Our Work

• Handled project for sellers after they moved out of state
• Brought in inspectors and remediated deficiencies
• Surfaces, including wood floors, refinished in cool, modern gray tones 

The Numbers​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

• Listed: $1.999M​​​​​​​
• Sold: $2.3M 
• Offers: 3 
• Days on market: 7

Sellers Left the Details to Us

Craig’s favorite element of this project? The sellers moved out of state and trusted most details to his team, including generating a big return on their resurfacing investment.

Craig looked carefully for spots buyers might see as weak points. The sellers agreed with his recommendations to improve those areas. It was essential to catch up the rest of the home to the wonderful bathroom renovation the sellers had already done.

The team devoted nearly 2 weeks to inspections and remediating nearly every imaginable issue a buyer could raise. A slight leak in the radiant heat plumbing, maintenance on the sewage pump tank, transfer of roof warranty, roof repairs, and a list of other items.

Focusing on finishes and detail, we envisioned how to make components (such as orange-ish wood bannisters) work with the newly refinished cool gray floors.

After marketing the home for a targeted 7 days, we followed with a bid date to aggregate demand and let buyers compete. The top offer was cash, with no inspections or contingencies. Extra prep work had paid off, with a bid date just 9 days after San Francisco began sheltering in place.

Exterior (before) Landscaping looking a bit ragged, palm tree blocking the garage door. 

Exterior (after) Tidied up the front yard, planted new plants where needed, trimmed trees to show the level of care.

Living room (before) The plusses—dramatic ceilings, crown molding, parquet floors, oversized front window and great fireplace. But dated yellow and brown colors would bring down the price point. Aimed to match design level of sellers’ wonderful hall bathroom renovation.

Living room (after) Cooler tones register as attractive, modern and approachable. Discovered our flooring specialist can restain a variety of flooring materials to contemporary gray hue. He works wonders, even on engineered wood in lower price point properties.  

Dining room (before) This room suffered from a dated yellow/orange look. The open-air patio (right, through window door) should be main focal point, but bright flooring competed.

Dining room (after) Our designer chose wall color to heighten synergy with new lighter, neutral parquet flooring. Grayer and bleached out, it parallels Restoration Hardware and other fine contemporary design.

Bedroom (before) A single change can affect perception of the entire interior. We make strategic choices, stay on budget and strive for highest return on investment. Needed a neutral color and to restore room’s use to a bedroom. 

Bedroom (after) Removed carpet runner on stairs and stained floors neutral gray, which made banister color wrong. Since the floor stain wouldn’t absorb on banister wood so we chose a crisp white. 

Downstairs flooring (before) Engineered wood on lower levels was in poor shape and we weren’t optimistic we could achieve higher-end look on our budget.

Downstairs flooring (after) Floor took to the stain fabulously and made all three home levels consistent, clean and cohesive.

Deck (before) Generous outdoor space was big draw as was promise of entertaining , BBQs, family living with expansive views. Rubberized decking was a rusty red that disturbed our design team. 

Deck (after) Painted stairs and decking material with a specialized paint in a cool, neutral color to complement, not compete with, existing wood elements we couldn’t afford to resurface.  

4th bedroom (before) The starting point, a blank slate with a glaring orange floor.

4th bedroom (after) Mission accomplished—a soothing, contemporary haven that buyers could imagine coming home to.