Stephanie's Blog

Zak is pacing and panting - any ideas?

2008-08-20T23:27:46Z

My 13 year old Golden (one of two) - who pretty much sleeps all day - has taken to pacing around the bedroom at night - panting. He wanders around for a few minutes, plonks himself down, sleeps for about 20 minutes then gets up and does it all again - this usually lasts about 3 - 4 hours and has been going on for about 10 days! I am a little tired to say the least (my husband doesn't hear a thing). The vet has given him all sorts of tests which have come back fine except for a slightly under-active thyroid. We have started him on a pain med as he has arthritis and we think he may simply be uncomfortable. Anyone else had this with an old dog - could he be suffering from a little doggie senility? In the meantime I have taken to using earplugs which definitely helps me but isn't helping Zak:) Any ideas?

Stephanie

Have you tried this? Staging in a box.

2008-04-13T16:29:04Z

I thought I would share something that I have done a few times and am wondering if anyone else has done it. Sometimes, when I go to a vacant bid to meet a new listing agent, I take with me a Rubber-maid tub of staging goodies. Usually it is bathroom items - some neutral towels, a tassel or two, an orchid, a lightweight picture (thank you Ginger) and if the agent has time I 'perform' a mini staging in one of the bathrooms - sort of an instant before and after:)

Anyone else do this?

Stephanie

Dressing Rooms - Home Staging and Interior Redesign in Scottsdale and surrounding areas.

Making a difference on a budget

2008-01-21T22:19:15Z

I bid a vacant for clients before Christmas - they were keen on the idea of staging but tight on funds as most young families with two house payments are. I offered them the option of going with accessories only and they took me up on it. I Staged the property last week. Here are a couple of the rooms I did.

The home owners were thrilled with the results as was their Realtor and I love it when I can fit everything for a job in the back of my Expedition:)

Stephanie

Dressing Rooms - Home Staging and Interior Redesign serving Scottsdale and surrounding areas.

Are you getting your Jo-Ann coupons via e-mail?

2007-10-03T16:22:02Z

I got one today - 50% off any one regular-priced item this weekend only (Columbus Day). Here is the link if you need it

http://www.joann.com/joann/

just click on 'sign up for e-mail coupons'.

Stephanie

Have you been framed?

2007-08-13T18:21:57Z

I just watched the re-run of Oprah'sshow on preparing your home for Sale with her favorite designer Nate Berkus. Nate and his buddy from Australia did a great job with their $10,000 budget (who wouldn't with a $10k budget?) but I am sure all the Home Stagers watching gasped when he told the owners to return her family pictures to the walls of the dining room. Granted he photocopied them all in black and white to give the collage an 'arty' look but it reminded me of what I decided to do when I staged my own home to sell a while ago.

I, like everyone, had a collection on photos in my master bedroom (mainly of my honey and me) but they were shown as a collection because I loved the frames I had chosen for them. I wanted to keep the frames but ditch the photos. So I made a visit to my local paint store and asked if they had any wallpaper books they wanted to get rid of and they gave me about half a dozen. I went home and browsed my way through the hundreds of pages and picked out a few that matched my bedroom color scheme and replaced all the photos with my new 'art'. Actually the photos are still inside the frames so I don't lose them.

I also picked out several pages of wallpaper that I can use for larger pieces of art work when I need a quick fix for a frame. Sometimes wallpaper can be used in staging:)

Stephanie

Dressing Rooms - Staging and Interior Redesign serving Scottsdale, AZ and surrounding areas

Run, don't walk, to your nearest Pier One Outlet!

2007-06-14T20:32:24Z

I am feeling very pleased with myself today. We are fortunate enough to have a Pier One Outlet in Phoenix so I popped in on my way home from an appointment this afternoon. I noticed some side table bases and several feet away a small pile of glass tops but to my dismay they did not fit one another - the glass was too small. So I said to Wade, the young man behind the register - 'Wade, what's the glass for? He said he didn't know, they had just come in but he would check the price on them. We he told me the price I wondered how quickly I could get them out of the store and in to my SUV before Wade realized he had made a huge mistake. Pay cash - they will never find me:) These - still in their box, brand new, 18" x 18" glass tops were 1 penny each! I don't have a clue what I will use them for just yet but I imagine I can find something to make bases out of when the need arises:) Oh, they also had 18" x 41" oblong glass tops for $5. So I bought 3 square (all they had) and two oblongs for a total of $10.

There is a little bad news though - Wade told me that all the Outlets were reverting back to proper Pier Ones with the exception of San Diego. Shame - I love a bargain.

Stephanie