Stager Perfection

Martha Cole

Staging and Redesign

Master Bedroom

Master Bath feels spa-like

Living

Kitchen

Attention: Amazing Stager, Martha Cole!  She staged this home at 932 E 56th street and it went under contract in 3 days.  For more information about her see below......

Who I am...
My name is Martha Cole. I’m a wife, mother of two teenage girls, former teacher, stay-at-home mom, and I have been obsessed with homes and interiors since childhood. My husband and I have renovated two older homes in Austin, successfully modernizing while preserving the original charm of the homes. I also founded a decorating ministry at my church which uses volunteer labor and donated materials to furnish and decorate rooms for families in Habitat for Humanity homes. The ministry has been written up in Austin Homes & Gardens and Presbyterians Today.
I have done self-study on interior design for many years, and I am an advocate of architect Sarah Suzanka’s Not So Big House philosophy. One of my favorite hobbies is going to open houses around Austin. I have a particular weakness for small cottage- and bungalow-type homes in some of Austin’s older neighborhoods, and I love to see these little gems being maintained, preserved, lived in and loved.

What I do...
Staging and redesign have completely different goals, but both take savvy design skills.

With staging, I can help homeowners make their homes more appealing, more inviting, and appear more spacious so that potential buyers get a great first impression as well as a sense of how they would live in the home (and they happy life they’d have if they bought the home). Decluttering, removing distracting personal items, rearranging, improving lighting and highlighting a home’s best features are keys to staging. Staging can help a home sell faster and for a higher price.

Redesigning is the art of creating wonderful interiors with the homeowner’s existing furnishings and accessories. I have a gift for being able to work with whatever is on hand. It’s all about using basic design principles: color, form, scale/proportion, repitition, etc. Even humble furnishings can look fabulous if arranged well.

Martha A. Cole
5915 Highland Hills Drive
Austin, TX 78731
MarthaACole@gmail.com

(512) 453-2650

ACL Music Festival - 10th Anniversary

Another one bites the dust!  Actually, thankfully this year there wasn't a lot of dust (there was a year known as the brown booger).  This might have been the best weather all three days combined in ACL history.  The Austin City Limits Music Festival celebrated it's 10th year.  This was my 8th year to go, WOW!  My parents live walking distance to the festival and they have gone every year, it's a no brainer when your that close.  You can even go back to the house for a break and here the music from their rooftop overlooking the Austin skyline.

There were so many great bands and I always enjoy hearing new music I've never encountered before.  This year we also did a first and that was taking our 7 month daughter Siena to the festival.  We opted to just take her in the morning from about 11-1pm.  This was my first time to partake in the Kiddie Limits and it did not disappoint.  There were kids with red mohawks, drum circles, live kiddie music, and much much more.  Siena danced, crawled, and took it all in.  She loved it and promptly passed out on our stroller ride back to the house.

Biking down to the festival

Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr threw some cool treats to the crowd!

Relaxing at Ray LaMontagne

Just me and a few thousand of my closest friends ;)

Siena & her rockin grandma

Some favorites on Friday this year included Ray LaMontagne, Foster the People & Coldplay (I heard Kanye put on an awesome show too).  Saturday, we took Siena to Federico Aubele and then later we went to Iron & Wine (they live in Dripping Springs).  It was rainy & misty so we enjoyed the covered tent and banjo pickings from Abigail Washburn and we LOVE Gillian Welch.  We caught a moment of Cee Lo and then did a lot of dancing for Stevie Wonder!!  After some late night lasagna we rested up for DAY 3!  My close friend is in Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr so I got there early so I could be up front and they brought their A game.  Everyone was rocking out to their show.  The sun came out in full force for this show and they showered us with popsicles, how nice.  I danced and jumped and went crazy so by the end of the show I was exhausted and retreated home for a break and a chance to give Siena some kisses.  Merritt & I made it back down for an amazing Fleet Foxes show.  Their harmonies were absolutely incredible.  I met up with Josh from Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr at the legendary Randy Newman show which was a classic.  My husband Merritt and I finished off the night up front and center for Arcade Fire, a perfect way to end a wonderful weekend.

Circle C Victory!

Signing the last of the paperwork!

I helped Cheri & John find a lovely home to lease last year.  But the time had come for them to find permanent digs here in Austin.  We started the home search and found the PERFECT home for them in Circle C Ranch.  This gorgeous home boasted the ideal floor plan, hand-scraped hardwood floors, and a beautiful yard gardens.

What a gorgeous home for an amazing couple

We had a bit of journey on the financing, but these days, who doesn't?  I work with some amazing lenders if you ever want to find out more about what you qualify for just shoot me an email!

SOLD!

Love these folks!  Call Allstate Insurance Agency on Brodie for all of your insurance needs and they will take great care of you.