Recently I spotted another stager's work at a house for sale in Marin County, and it got me thinking. Since I always appreciate your feedback and discussions here on ActiveRain, I'd like to know your opinion as professional stagers: when you stage an outdoor space with a breathtaking view (in this case a 180-degree view of the Bay, including the Golden Gate Bridge), do you arrange the outdoor furniture to drink in the view, or to face the interior of the house? (In this case, French doors to the Living Room are behind the camera.) Or are there other alternatives that you'd suggest?
Please understand that I'm not criticizing this stager's hard work in any way -- I feel that there's no hard and fast rule for furnishing these challenges. I'm just curious how you prefer to approach this staging choice.
So what do you think? To face the view, or not to face the view?
Skipping merrily through our local MLS listings I stumbled across this delightful MLS photo. While I can appreciate the personalized funky style of this house for sale, I stopped dead in my tracks at the dining room photo...
Apparently I wasn't the only one who stopped dead in their tracks...what's that perched atop the buffet, peering at the dinner guests?
As a relative newcomer to Northern California, it's important for me to present my staging business, Leslie Olson Interiors, to Realtors face-to-face. The good news is that Real Estate Staging is the rule more than the exception here, and Marin County Realtors are technology and market savvy. The more challenging news for my business is that many of the Realtors have long-term working relationships with other stagers in the area.
With that in mind, as well as current real estate market conditions, I faced my upcoming Realtor Presentation with great anticipation...yet I knew I had to approach this differently than I might have in the past. I truly wanted this to be relevant for the Realtors attending...and challenged myself not to use the tired and predictable topics they had seen presented so many times before: De-Clutter - De-Personalize - Neutralize... I vowed that I would not so much as use those words!
And okay to be honest I also wanted them to remember my company in terms of branding -- for the company to have a positive "linger factor" with them as they consider staging projects in the future.
To prepare for the presentation I turned to the rich knowledge base on ActiveRain for ideas, and found an absolute wealth of inspiration. It's my challenge to name all the sources of that inspiration by name and blog link below!
To try to provide hand-outs to Realtors that were relevant to Staging and their business (and a place for them to find them when they needed them!) I provided bright orange hanging files that reflected the color in my company logo. The bright white file folder was labeled "Real Estate Staging Hand-Outs..."
To make sure they can find my information quickly and easily in the future, I included a business card and Rolodex cards in two sizes with the same contact information. But how to prevent them from falling out of the folders?
Thanks to Gina Zimmerman's blog tipping us off about a recent Oprah episode on organizing clutter, I printed out a 20% off coupon for The Container Store -- which happened to be located in the same shopping center as the Realtor presentation. How Conveeeeeenient!
And to continue the theme relevant to Staging, Realtors dropped their business cards into a marble bowl for a drawing for a gift card to The Container Store.
Hand-Outs included a company flyer and profile for Leslie Olson Interiors (before and after graphics thanks to Picasa photo software as recommended by ActiveRain users!), the new RESA Staging Statistics Report, a list of web links to publish Realtors' listings, the Real Estate Website Popularity Rankings for January 2009, a copy of one of my ActiveRain blogs featuring a current house my company staged, and an example of a recent Initial Staging Consultation Report.
Early in the morning, ready for Realtors to arrive at the restaurant.
As a sponsor for the event, the display table for Leslie Olson Interiors, including a Before and After photo slide show on the laptop, and Picasa-generated presentation board. On a cool and rainy morning the fireplace was warm and cozy...and even the fire complimented my company logo!
Thanks for your many suggestions for preparing for a Realtor Presentation:
Carol Clay Comment - "As an agent...I agree with the other comments that a gift basket wouldn't sway me one way or another. But I would like to have something at my fingertips so I don't have to hunt for your name or phone number. I hate cheesy give aways, but I love note pads." in Lori Donegan's blog "Questions from a Rookie Stager"
Michelle Minch Comment: "No REA is going to hire you based upon your goodie basket. They will hire you if they think you will make their job easier, make them look good and/or will help them make more money," in Lori Donegan's blog "Questions from a Rookie Stager"
Liz Carla Comment - "I provide a colorful file folder with my brochure, staging articles, biz card, etc. labeled with my business name and phone number. I have received good comments on this. The realtors love it and I really think they keep it. Easy to file in their drawer. Do a give away." From Lori Donegan's blog, Creative Realtor Presentations.
Annie Pinsker-Brown Comment - "I agree that you should use lots of photos and statistics! The numbers are what is important to Realtors. Also we had a realtor panel in my local stagers group and the realtors all said what they wanted from us was a sheet they could give to their clients to explain Staging, the pros and cons and some ballpark pricing. Plus before & after photos. I took that to heart and now give those sheets out at all my Realtor presentations. Explain to the Realtors that it is something they should put into their listing presentations to sell their clients on Staging. Of course it will also have your name and contact info on it. From Lori Donegan's blog, Creative Realtor Presentations.
And thank you for all the great feedback I got about photo enhancing software as I prepared a series of Before and After Staging Photos for a Picasa slide presentation to display on my laptop computer. I was also able to use Picasa's Collage feature to design the company flyer and display board. The blogs about evaluating software packages are listed below:
Since you're still reading this I'll assume that you've successfully cleared off your computer screens since reciting that aloud.
After the tremendously helpful feedback I got from this ActiveRain communtiy I decided to download Picasa last night before I went to bed. One of the bizarre features of this software that it synchs up with your computer hard drive to suck in all the visual images you have stored there. Okay that's not the bizarre part...remember I was verrrry sleeeepy when it was zipping through all these pictures (years of family pictures, holiday photos, trips abroad, staging before and afters...). There's a tiny box in the bottom of your screen that displays the image that the software is currently downloading -- whizzing past at uber warp-speed. It was really weird in my drowsy state, almost hypnotized. I stumbled to bed feeling as if I had literally watched my life pass before myeyes.
Whew!
With that process over I started poking around the software this morning...trust me it's really distracting unearthing all those pictures you haven't seen in years.
But the result is...and I'm kinda proud of myself...if you look at the right side of this ActiveRain blog you'll see a slide show from one of my vacant staging projects! (You may recognize some rooms from that project that I recently featured in the blog, Contemporary Craftsman Before and After - Home Staging Marin - From Vacant House to Inviting Home) Yup, I selected and enhanced each of those photos to produce an album for that project, and even (rather accidentally) figured out how to embed the slide show in my AR settings!
Now the questions for you are...does it (honestly now) look okay? And almost as important, does it slow down the loading of my blog page? (I hate it when that happens.) Is it too frenetic and busy flashing in your view as you're trying to read my fascinating tome? Or are you galvanized to hire my company for your upcoming staging projects -- immediately? Please be straight with me if you don't like it. I can always use the slide show in other places, this was just a learning experience for me.
By the way, with my new technological savvy I promise not to return to taking pictures using the techniques demonstrated in the photo above...
Okay fellow ActiveRain members...I need your help!
One thing that we can all agree on is the critical importance of high quality pictures for MLS photographs and Real Estate Staging portfolios. I am in no way, shape or form a good photographer. And I get easily overwhelmed with the multitude of options available with photo-enhancing software. I long ago left PhotoShop, never quite mastering it. For years I've used ancient versions of Microsoft Office Picture Manager and Paint Shop Pro 7 that are on my PC (sorry, not Mac). My proudest achievement was learning how to straighten my always-crooked images so that the room no longer appears to be sliding into a sink-hole (Eeeeeewwwrrrrrrrrr...THUNK!).
I have so many pictures from projects that I loved...but the pictures aren't blog-worthy, much less up to the level of my business web site.
Lately on ActiveRain I've seen a lot of mentions about Picasa and Picnik software to enhance and modify visual images. I've tried to weigh the options...but my eyes quickly glaze over. And their web sites give me a bit of sensory overload. I just want something that's going to be dazzlingly effective with my mediocre digital photos -- while straightforward enough for me to use without getting exasperated.
Just a simple question for those of you who have worked with them...Picasa or Piknik?
The New York Times is reporting a public outcry over the cancellation of popular home magazine, Domino. As I mentioned in my recent blog, Say It Ain't So...Are Home Shelter Magazines the New Dinosaurs?, Domino is one of several shelter magazines recently nixed because of shrinking ad dollars.
WHEN Domino magazine folded last week, another casualty of the economic smack-down, a howl of protest rang through the blogosphere. Fans of the girlish, how-to decorating magazine owned by Condé Nast were vociferous in their disappointment, posting anguished comments on design sites like Apartment Therapy, Decorno and Design Sponge (which accrued 498 remarks in just a few hours), as well as nondesign sites, like The Huffington Post. Even Gawker readers set aside their snark to mourn.
The commenters bemoaned the death of a magazine that "felt" like them, and worried that their Domino subscription renewals, already paid, would yield subscriptions to Architectural Digest, Condé Nast's remaining shelter title (median reader age: 50).
It remains to be seen if the protests will bring any results, but clearly this is a publication that was innovative, fresh, and tapped into a young, growing market. Quite a contrast from the old dowager Architectural Digest(which, to my knowledge, is not being cancelled).
For Leslie's blogs related to this subject, I invite you to visit:
This new construction craftsman-style home was built in a charming older neighborhood, replacing a house that was dilapidated beyond repair. The Realtor was in fact the person who had designed and built the house -- a two-year labor of love. He hired our firm, Leslie Olson Interiors to furnish and stage the vacant house for sale. Despite the very tight staging budget this was such a gratifying project to work on, as the Realtor/Owner was thrilled to finally see "his" light-filled house transformed and furnished, after nurturing it from concept to construction.
Due to the faltering economy and shrinking advertising dollars, the past several months have seen several home design magazines close up shop, to include:
The 106 year-old House and Garden, Home, Blueprint, O at Home, Cottage Living, Country Home, and most recentlyDomino.
At a personal level shelter magazines have been so important to me through the years as sources of inspiration, aspiration and upcoming design trends. I have folders and notebooks filled with pictures clipped over the years, kept to inform future projects. Some designers' works I've collected as if I were in a movie star fan club. (Don't forget those shelter magazines also elevated the careers of many successful designers.) Sifting through several of these notebooks before our move last summer I felt like I was traveling through a time capsule of dreams deferred (and sometimes realized), representing my own evolving design interests. And for years my Interior Design clients have shared similar magazine clippings with me, helping to crystallize a focus for their design plans.
I fear that some of my favorite magazines may be next in line for troubles (as well as those who write and publish for them), and send them my very best wishes.
Do you have favorite magazines that have particularly inspired you through the years? Which would you truly miss if they were no longer here? Are there past shelter magazines that you continue to miss? What other sources of design inspiration do you use in their place (blogs, etc.)?
As much as I'd rather be the bearer of good news in these difficult financial times, I've read two articles in the past 24 hours that are must-read for all of us who work in home and design-related industries.
Many retailers that we can hardly imagine not being there are currently on the ropes, and may not make it much longer. And shelter publications that we've come to rely on for inspiration are also walking the plank.
Here's the New York Times' article, "The Meltdown in Home Furnishings"
This says nothing about local furnishings companies who are also feeling the effects of the economy. I feel for all who are touched by these industries and their troubles, as well as their families.
You've remodeled, renovated and refurbished. You've streamlined and polished to glow. You've staged to perfection, the photos are grand -- the home is now ready to show.
But...ummm...how are your guests are going to get in?
Yesterday I attended an Open House in Marin County, and spoke with the Realtor as he was closing up the property. He wrangled with the key and struggled with the lock, his face reddening as he worked with the ill-tempered deadbolt. I can only assume that it was just as difficult when he originally unlocked the door when he entered.
I smiled with recongnition. While staging homes through the years I've also struggled with ragged door keys or stubborn locks (often in the dark, with no porch light on). Last year when placing our own family home on the market, I had to return to the store four times until the new key copies properly unlocked the front door. What seems like a simple concept can really derail interested buyers' access. It's just too easy for them to turn around and visit the next property.
Please don't leave Realtors and potential homebuyers pressing their noses against the windows of your lovely home. You've worked so hard for this moment to arrive!
Marin Home Staging, Interior Design and Redesign Services firm serving Marin County, north of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.
For further information, please visit www.leslieolsoninteriors.com
Disclaimer: ActiveRain Corp. does not necessarily endorse the real estate agents, loan officers and brokers listed on this site. These real estate profiles, blogs and blog entries are provided here as a courtesy to our visitors to help them make an informed decision when buying or selling a house. ActiveRain Corp. takes no responsibility for the content in these profiles, that are written by the members of this community.
Special thank-you tulips for the AR community!
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