If you haven't seen Ellen Caruso's Whale Tale's you are really missing out. I HAD to share this one because I am the inspiration! :) I grew up in a small town in North Dakota so when I told Ellen my favorite Whale Tale was 'Old McDonald Had A Farm' I think she was speechless. LOL. Not really a Whale Tale but that didn't stop her creative flow! Make sure you check out her past drawings as well. UNBELIEVABLE!
Now here's a new Whale Tale, I've had in my head for quite some time. I've been inspired by so many Active Rain friends, and especially those whose works I consider to be creative and inspiring. Yes, all you STAGERS!
But this one is extra special, cause as you see the characters and setting can only mean once person, - Shar Sitter :Rooms With Style
Her stories of growing up on a farm, and the one room schoolhouse gave me the basis for this Whale Tale. Then add her staging works, her before and afters, along with the amazing giving person she is, and thats how I arrived at this.
Just wanted to say a big THANK YOU for helping us with staging our townhome a couple months back. After 6 weeks of de-cluttering, moving, cleaning, shopping, and rearranging, we put our home up for sale last Saturday. Our Open House was on Sunday, we had 8 showings by Thursday and 2 offers on Thursday night. We accepted an offer that ended up being above our asking price!
Your advice was so valuable to us. I just wanted to let you know that we couldn't have done it without your help! We close at the beginning of April, and we will definitely be calling for help with our new home :)"
Okay....I mentioned I don't normally hear how Home Staging Consultations end up as so much time may elapse between when I meet with a homeowner and when they may list and I don't hear back. But here I got two emails in a few days! And did you see that part that said..."above our asking price".
More proof that Home Staging can and does make a difference!!
That was the subject line of an email I got yesterday. It went into my 'Junk Mail' and I almost missed it!
Here was the rest of the email:
"Hi Shar,
I wanted to let you know that your 2 hours of staging advice led our hand toward a very quick offer and sale of our house.
We met with you back in November in our home and made color, furniture purchase and placement decisions based upon your advice that really made our showings pop!
Thanks for you help! Very happy to give any referrals to you!"
Well, wasn't that nice! Most of the time, after I have been with a client for a Home Staging Consultation and given them a detailed list of what they need to do to get their home ready for sale, I never know if they follow through with the instructions and how long it took their home to sell. I am unable to track all the homes I have been in for a consultation as many don't list for months if not a year later.
It is so great when a homeowner follows up with me. I love it!
Do you have a dream for the future? Let me tell you a story.....
My story starts last October when I was asked to "write down 50 things you would do if nothing could stop you" as part of a Home Stager Trainer's Class. So that night I gave it serious thought.....
If nothing could stop me, if I had no barriers what would I do??? Hhmmmmmm...
#1 On My List: To start a Non-Profit that would decorate homes or spaces for women who were coming off the streets and out of abusive situations.
As Nate Berkus says "Your home should rise up to meet you".
I believer that is for everyone...no matter what your situation or where your "home" is. Home could be a women's shelter where you feel safe for the first time in years, a subsidized housing project that is all your own, or one room in an apartment shared by others in your situation. So, I wrote it down.
"I want to start a Non-Profit to bless women coming into perhaps their first safe living space ever."
I had visions of what I would do with it when I retired. Receive donations, refurbish a worn out table by painting it a fun color, bringing new life to an old chair with fun fabric, have a list of volunteers to assist me. I could visualize it in the future.
So....guess what I did Thursday??
I decorated a three bedroom apartment for three women coming off of the streets from sex trafficking and prostitution.
Did you hear that?? Thursday.And I haven't retire yet!
I won't go into the details but this happened quickly. Someone at my local church knew what I did for a living, called me and asked if I would be willing to get involved. I called the charity and was told the women were moving in Friday and they needed help "pulling it together".
I went down there Wednesday morning and a large local furniture store was just pulling away from donating BRAND NEW FURNITURE!!!!
But, there were no 'girly things'. I went to my warehouse, picked out lamps, artwork, and girly things that I could donate.
Oh....I forgot the best part. When I told my sister what I was doing she came back to me a bit later with this:
"For these women the bed has never been a safe place. They need to know it is now safe and they need to be blessed with some nice new linens, not used.". I must mention my sister is a psychologist and volunteers with women who have been sexually abused or part of sex trafficking.
So...off to Target I went to buy new bedding that she was going to donate. New sheets, new comforters, a fuzzy blankets for cuddling.All coordinated with their room's paint color of course. Any good designer would have the paint deck samples with her. LOL.
I realized I needed help and needed to rearrange my schedule to meet the time commitment. With a one day notice I was back decorating the space with a wonderful woman named Sandy.
We worked for six hours cleaning, arranging furniture, making beds, hanging artwork. Boy were were exhausted but oh so blessed.
We left each woman with a brand new towel and wash cloth along with a box of chocolates and fresh flowers.
I think these women will have their home "rise up to meet them" when they walk in.
What do you think?
Bedroom 1: The taupe room
Bedroom 2: The lavendar room
Bedroom 3: The blue room
The common area:
The Hallway Garden:
So....do you have a dream for the future? God may have something in mind sooner.
I don't have my own Non-Profit yet to help numerous organizations assisting woman but hey....this is a start and it happened quicker than I thought.
Do you love to read but never have time? Now is the time to change your ways....only one book a month! Plus you get to discuss it with wonderful people in the Rain.
Join in on our first book of the year...The Paris Wife. Hosted by Ellen Caruso and she ALWAYS serves wonderful treats!! Join us on Ellen's post on February 15 for the discussion!
If you haven't joined the "Reading In the Rain" Group...come on...you know you want to!
ATTENTION ALL BOOK READERS, nows the time to get our fingers ready to turn pages, or fire up your Kindle or other on-line book reader. We've got a book or Two to start off the New Year!
First, if you like author Ann Patchett, (most know for her award winning book 'Bel Canto'), her newest book 'State Of Wonder' is getting rave reviews. I just started it and was immediately drawn in by her characters and story, so if you wish to read this, I'll be glad to blog and share comments on this story as well as our January selection.
And I'm not the only one saying this, here is a quote about it.
"Patchett’s latest novel really is something special and worth considering for all the literary prizes, festivals and reading groups going this year."
Our official Book for the month is 'The Paris Wife'.
A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wife captures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.
Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald.
Though deeply in love, the Hemingways are ill prepared for the hard-drinking and fast-living life of Jazz Age Paris, which hardly values traditional notions of family and monogamy. Surrounded by beautiful women and competing egos, Ernest struggles to find the voice that will earn him a place in history, pouring all the richness and intensity of his life with Hadley and their circle of friends into the novel that will become The Sun Also Rises. Hadley, meanwhile, strives to hold on to her sense of self as the demands of life with Ernest grow costly and her roles as wife, friend, and muse become more challenging. Despite their extraordinary bond, they eventually find themselves facing the ultimate crisis of their marriage—a deception that will lead to the unraveling of everything they’ve fought so hard for.
A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.
NEXT MEETING FEBRUARY 15, I will host the book discussion for this book. Be ready to share your comments, and I'll provided the virtual snacks.
As a Home Stager and Redesigner I am asked to stage and decorate many types of homes. Starter homes, massive homes, ramblers, two-stories. But, I have not yet been asked to stage one of MN's most popular houses. Well......okay maybe not that popular.
But three months of the year they are fairly popular creating entire cities of houses!
Remember the movie "Grumpier Old Men"? Yup...that was Minnesota! We love to Ice Fish! We meaning 'they'.....not we including me. :)
There is the starter house:
The small but whimsical house:
The 'sticks out in the neighborhood' house: (every neighborhood has one)
The very cozy house:
The big boy on the block house!!!
And Aahhh.....the "Frosty The Snow Man House" - hurry up it's warm outside:
I am hoping one day to be asked to stage one of these 'houses'. I will let you know! Those of you in Florida.....eat your hearts out!
New Year's Resolutions to lose weight, get in better shape, blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong, it is all wonderful! I commend you and I hope you stay with it.
But boy or boy it is hysterical come January to see the parking lot at my health club.
I work out at Life Time Fitness, an extremely large facility. The one by my home is one of their largest in the country I believe with something like 350,000 sq. ft or some crazy number. Plus four pools, spa, cafe, 4 water slides, outdoor umbrellas, outdoor grill, yoga room.....you get the picture.
So today I go to work out about 8:30 AM (I don't normally workout on Saturday unless I haven't gotten there much during the week); and oops, forgot it was January! I had to park in the back forty literally!
The parking lot is huge as you can imagine with a facility that size and it was packed. I had to park at the furthest end instead of in my normal 4th or 5th row. I easily walked a block and a half from my car to the front door. Granted I am there for the exercise but when it is 12 degrees and even lower with the windchill it is BBbrrrrrr.
When I came out of the facility about 10:30 it was even worse! Cars were circling watching for people to leave, cars were parked along drive paths. It was crazy!
But, it will be a little better in March, and much better come April. Then we will see the phenomenon all over again next January. But for the short term....I'll be walking a little further each day!
If the gym is part of your New Year's Resolution stick with it! Make the rest of us walk a long distance the rest of the year, not just January!
Premier Home Staging and Redesign Firm Serving the Entire Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN Area
Remember last year's color?? Persimmon? Ugh....it was okay for for an accent here and there but other than that I really didn't like it.
This year....I am liking Benjamin Moore's pick: Wythe Blue.
Soothing, classy, elegant yet hip and modern. Here is what they say about it:
2012 Color of the Year!
"Much more versatile than you may think, blue is truly a classic color. It has universal appeal, never goes out of style, and is overwhelmingly chosen as a color favorite across North America. It evokes the sea and sky, physically calms us, and symbolizes trust and commitment.
Because of the influence that blue has in our world today, we have chosen wythe blue (HC-143) as Benjamin Moore's 2012 Color of the Year. It's a beautiful, calming hue that has an element of heritage and offers grounding rootedness, providing comfort and stability."
Here are Benjamin Moore's other Color Trends for 2012.
Spiced Life
A palette of well-seasoned hues that offer a refined perspective.
Sense & Sensability
Timeless colors that make an established home feel contemporary and a new one a little more worldly.
Earth & Sky
Nature's hues unite for a style-savvy palette that transcends organic roots.
Eclectic Elegance
This diverse palette offers a clean, tailored look that works well with any decor.
Now that you have some inspiration go ahead......change a room or two!
If you are uncertain or don't know how to put colors together, call a Certified Dewey Color Specialist to assist you with your color choices for one or all of your rooms.
Premier Home Staging and Redesign Firm Serving the Entire Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN Area
Need a quick snack recipe and I mean quick? Plus it is yummy!!
I made these for my Christmas plates but they would be fabulous for a New Year's Party, Super Bowl Party or anytime during the year.
Cinnamon Pretzels!
It is such a nice surprise when you think you are biting into a regular pretzel and then find the taste of cinnamon and sugar! Delicious.
Put them in a Decorative Tin and they would make a wonderful Hostess Gift as well.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 pound package small pretzel twists
Directions:
1. In a large roasting pan stir together oil, sugar and cinnamon. Add pretzels; toss well to combine. Bake, uncovered in a 300 degree F oven for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 12 cups.
Microwave Directions:
2. In a very large bowl stir together oil, sugar and cinnamon. Add pretzels; toss well to combine. Place half of the pretzel mixture in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 100 percent power (high) for 3 minutes, stirring after every minute. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Repeat with remaining pretzel mixture.
In reading the reviews of this recipe a couple complaints were that the sugar wasn't sticking to the pretzel. To make sure the pretzels were well coated this is what I did. (I used the oven, not the microwave).
A couple hints of what I did:
1) I used Rold Gold Mini Pretzels as they are a little fatter. (I made one batch with the thinner ones and not as good).
2) I doubled the oil, sugar and cinnamon for 1 pound of pretzels to make the coating thicker.
3) I put the coating in a bowl, poured in 1/2 the pretzels and stirred them until well coated. I used tongs to place them on the pan. Then I repeated the process. Any additional coating remaining in the bowl I poured over the pretzels in the pan. I also set the timer at 10 minute intervals to stir them thoroughly to keep them coated. I had no problems and the thicker coating was the best!!
I cannot stress enough how easy this recipe is and how good they are!! I hope you make them for yourself if nothing else. Enjoy!
This blog will show great examples of home staging and redesign as well as inform you about great things in the Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN greater community. You'll get to know more about Rooms With Style, the type of home staging and redesign work we do, as well as get to know the owner, Shar Sitter, a little better.
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.
Okay....I mentioned I don't normally hear how 
Our official Book for the month is 'The Paris Wife'. 
The one by my home is one of their largest in the country I believe with something like 350,000 sq. ft or some crazy number. Plus four pools, spa, cafe, 4 water slides, outdoor umbrellas, outdoor grill, yoga room.....you get the picture.
;)
;)
;)
