Prudential recently hosted a vendor fair prior to their awards banquet on Tuesday, June 9th. Over 55 vendors displayed goods and services that benefit Prudential Realtors and their clients.

Professional stagers are a Realtor's Most Valuable Parners in Service!! By connecting with a professional stager, Realtors will hit a home run with their clients every time!

Realtors visited the Mid Valley Professional Stagers (MVPS) booth and walked away with several souveniers that are sure to help them remember the M.V.P. theme.  We used softball fabric as a table runner/topper, utilized gloves as business card holders, provided property score cards for Realtors to use when evaluating their client's listings, and MVPS trading cards that provided our contact information.

Realtors also had the opportunity to play a bean bag toss game to enter a drawing for a complimentary consultation.

A huge THANK YOU to Prudential for including Mid Valley Professional Stagers as one of their Most Valuable Partners in Service and for the opportunity to participate in a second year of their annual vendor fair.

Last week I blogged about phase 1 here of a recent volunteer project and I promisted you an update on phase 2 of the H.O.M.E. Youth Resource Center... so here it is.

The following weekend, January 31st, three members of Mid Valley Professional Stagers (MVPS), along with the generosity of one community member and three men from the National Guard, we tackled the removal of carpet and the pad throughout the main and upper level of the resource center. Two local contractors also contributed services by relocating the washer, dryer and 2 refrigerators as well as installing a wonderful storage solution for the teen's backpacks.

With hammers, pry bars, gloves and masks... we were ready. Over the years, a different carpet had been added to each room, giving it an eclectic mix. Much of the carpet pad was so old that it just fell apart. Based on the large volume of traffic and condition of the carpet, it appeared to be 15+ years old. We were thrilled to find hardwood flooring underneath that was in pretty good condition.

The following week, donations for area rugs, 2 new sofas and miscellaneous items were received to help provide warmth in the transformed spaces.

Above is a group photo of the carpet removal team and below are a few action shots from everyone hard at work. As you can see, the men handled the majority of the "muscle" part and us women were the staple removers and clean up crew.  We were tired (well exhausted, really) and dirty... but another day that resulted in a HUGE difference for the H.O.M.E. Youth Resource Center and the at-risk teens it services!

   

Article submitted by Lisa Sherman with Interior Aura. Copyright 2009.

Trash to treasure projects are always a bit of extra work, but so rewarding in the end!

I found that the size and shape of this table set was perfect for staging.  However, the light pine wood was just not working for many of the homes I'd like to put it in.  It was time for a "redesign" and I decided to go with a very dark neutral... one can almost never go wrong with black, right?!

Here are a few "before" photos...

Here are the "after" photos of the table set used on a current staging project.  As you can see by the wall under the desk and the dusty floors - the contractor returned for a few repairs, requiring a second cleaning.

Submitted by Lisa Sherman of Interior Aura. Copyright 2009.
www.interioraura.com

Here are a few more photos to share our day...

Thank you to all of the Salem Area Professional Organizers who graciously donated their time - we greatly appreciate you!!

This article submitted by Lisa Sherman of Interior Aura. Copyright 2009.

I recently had the opportunity to work on a few design and custom projects for a client's new home.  One of these projects was a to upholster a built-in window seat.  While shopping for the necessary materials, I discovered a few resources that allowed me to save quite a bit of money.

Fabric stores are a wonderful place for fabric, but definitely not the place to purchase foam or batting.  The local fabric stores sold 1" foam for $14.99/yard and 2" foam for $24.99/yard.  Batting was also very expensive, so I decided to try a few other places... 

• Fred Meyer carries 1" foam for $9.99/yard and 2" foam for $15.99/yard.  The foam pads were located in the camping and paint areas.
• Walmart carries 3 yards of 1" foam for $15.99 and 3 yards of 2" foam for $35.99.  Batting ran 1/3 the cost of the batting at the fabric store.  Both the foam pads and batting were located in the fabric area.

By taking a bit more time and price comparing, I was able to save money for both my client and myself.  I hope that this information is a helpful money saving tip for those of you who may need to upholster something for your next project!