My First Staging job - 06/29/08 09:45 AM
Today I'm going threw all my oldphotos and cleaning out the duplicates etc.  I ran across the photos of the first staging job that I did for one of my attorneys.
The condo is right on the lake with a beautiful view.  
The job involved cleaning out many years of 'collectibles' and just stuff. We painted, organized and staged.  The owner had many items so it wasn't necessary to rent anything.
The creative window treatment in the office and bedroom was to hide the view of the garage.
The condo was sold to the 2nd buyer who walked in the door.   Other … (5 comments)

Beating a dead horse - 06/28/08 07:12 PM
Stagers are we beating a dead horse?   Are the reltors and home owners listening to us?
Today I met a realtor from another state.  She was so excited that we had something in common besides grandkids playing ball.
She talked about all the listings that she had.  How that were all taking price reductions and things were slow. 
 I talked about how happy I was that my staging is doing well. 
Well staging seemed to be something that she never heard of.  Why would anyone want to stage their home.  They should sell it like it is.
I looked up her … (23 comments)

Be Prepared to not believe - 06/25/08 04:37 PM
Be prepared to not believe this is the same house.  Marianne and I did a job in 5 (man hours) hours yesterday.  We used none of our supplies except two picture hooks.  We would have loved to use our art work to bright up and accent the walls. 
We left the owner with a honey do list to finish the job.  The teenage boys were ready to tackle the jobs.  They are ready to move.
The house has been listed for over 3 months.  The new listing agent brought us in.
 
Staging occupied homes brings different challenges than vacant staging.

… (10 comments)

How much is that doggy in the ................ - 06/24/08 09:16 PM
The MLS photo is the first impression that the potential buyers see..   Is the house for sale OR the dog in the cage.
This is a true MLS photo of a new listing.   Some buyers are afraid of dogs.  Some would be offended by the dog in the cage.
The first impression is the most important. 
How much is that doggy  in the ................
 
NEW group for these posts http://activerain.com/groups/MLSPhotosYouMustBeKidding
 

 
 
Staging Homes in Oakland and Macomb Counties     Michigan
… (26 comments)

Bloomfield Hills Stager recommends ...Tang that dishwasher - 06/23/08 08:26 AM
So many of the homes that we are staging are vacant.  Maybe they have been sitting there for awile and they don't quite smell fresh.
Open the dishwasher and poke your head in the sink :-)
Smell a little funky??
Try throwing at little Tang
or run some Country Time Lemonade in the dishwasher
 
This can't be the sugar free stuff.  The sugar is needed for the cleaning process.   The citric acid in both drinks will clean out the dishwasher and the drains in the sink.  Depending on the set up of the garbage disposal that will be … (13 comments)

Garage sale plus $1 tree equals 12 pieces of art - 06/19/08 08:25 AM
Garage sale season has started in Michigan now that the weather is nice. 
12 Note Cards were purchased for $2 and the 12 frames came from the Dollar Tree makes my investment $15.00
The dollar tree frames are matted already.  That's a real pleasure for me.
Garage sale plus $1 tree equals 12 pieces of art. 
I will post later where I'm using them.  Right now they are in storage waiting to be used.
 
 

… (17 comments)

What is doing it for the Karma? - 06/18/08 04:34 PM
What is doing it for the Karma?
I'm serious.
Does it mean that when I do something good and know what knows about it?   Example, putting a quarter in the parking meter for someone who's about to get a ticket and doesn't know it?
Or is it when the person knows what you are doing?  example,Someone drops something and you pick it up
… (4 comments)

These feet are made for walking #3 Virginia Luray Caverns - 06/16/08 06:32 PM
This link says so much more that I can
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luray_Caverns
 It's hard to believe that I've been home for almost a month and I haven't posted the whole trip.
Loosing power for 5 days last week didn't help !!
I was begining this post  when the light went out.
 
 

… (0 comments)

Most interesting fathers day - 06/16/08 05:10 PM
Our one son was busy with his son and baseball tournaments and we had the priviledge of having our grand daughter and dog for the weekend.
This was so much fun.   The dog loves long walks, swimming and playing with the hose
Our granddaughter loves art and is still developing her talents.
My husband is a retired designer from GM and has the talents.
We played we all medias that we could think of
This is our drawing experiments


This one would up being the fathers day gift to her dad

The only rule we had was "don't throw … (1 comments)

Time to bring up the subject again -- YouMail.com - 06/14/08 06:21 PM
What does this have to do with the art of staging?  Nothing.  What does this have to do with running our business more efficiently?  Everything.

Just think of this.   You are on the run (us never  :-)  )   your phone rings and it's your client.  You really don't have time to talk.   The phone picks up and the voice mail doesn't say ....... is unavailable right now .. leave a message.   Your voice mail says Hi  mr or mrs client I can't answer your call right now and I'll get back to you asap.  The phone recognizes who's calling.

… (8 comments)

How much is staging worth - 06/05/08 03:20 PM
I'm a little behind in my reading. A very intersting article (this is linked) came out last month on what's our staging is worth.
The stats are a little old and still interesting reading.
There was a link in the article about posting it to a blog !!  I couldn't figure it out :-)
Should you hire a pro -- and how much should you spend?
Now that you know some of the work and thought that goes into staging, perhaps you're considering hiring a professional stager instead. Professionals can offer a variety of levels of service, from consultations to … (2 comments)

We need a stainless steel sprinkler - 06/03/08 02:47 PM
My granddog is very happy, strong and energetic.  She has been with my kids for 2 years now.
It's in her genes that water is her friend.   She loved my pool, loves the lake and now loves the sprinklers
She's such a treat.


… (8 comments)