105,750 Points

Name

Heather Cook

Company

Rooms in Bloom Staging & Design ~ www.homestagingdesign.ca

E-mail

Contact Heather Cook (Rooms in Bloom Staging & Design ~ www.homestagingdesign.ca)

Website

http://www.homestagingdesign.ca

Office Phone

(519) 502-3185

Alt. Phone

(519) 404-1088

Address

39 Saddlewood Drive, Kitchener, ON

Description

RESA 2012 Canadian Home Staging Company of the Year - Rooms in Bloom Home Staging & Design, Kitchener-Waterloo

About Us:

Our Passion for Staging & Design

Rooms in Bloom Home Staging & Design Inc.  is an award winning professional Home Staging company based out of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. Rooms in Bloom is now one of the most sought after home staging companies in our area and has been chosen by RESA as 2012 Canadian Home Staging Company of the Year.

Rooms in Bloom is co-owned by Alana Merritt and Heather Cook. Together, they have over eight years experience professionally staging homes and have consulted on hundreds of properties. Prior to starting Rooms in Bloom, Alana worked for years for a home decor company, decorating and re-designing client's spaces. Additionally, she has over twelve years of retail visual merchandising experience and is well known for her superb taste in home decor merchandise. She is the driving force behind Rooms in Bloom's stunning inventory of home decor accessories which range from art work, florals, bedding, table centerpieces, contemporary accents and more. Her innate sense of style is reflected in the details of all Rooms in Bloom's designs. Alana is also a proud graduate of Debra Gould's Staging Diva program and an accredited home stager.

Heather Cook complements Alana's interior decorating experience working both professionally and privately for many years with clients, decorating and redesigning spaces in their home. From a very early age, her passion for all aspects of decorating & design was fuelled and encouraged by friends and family.  Inspired by a close friend of the family who was also an Interior Decorator, she began taking courses and workshops at the age of sixteen in colour and interior decorating, floral design, room layout & design, wallpaper applications and techniques as well as tiling & backsplashes. Additionally, she is a graduate of Debra Gould's Staging Diva program and is currently enrolled in an Interior Design program to complete her design certification. Heather has an innate sense of design, balance and style which is reflected in Rooms in Bloom's designs as well as in the 3D Virtual Designs she creates for their clients. She is extremely computer savvy and is the driving force behind the monthly staging newsletter, Rooms in Bloom's Facebook Fan Page, and Blog as well as the creative design behind the website.

Company stats for 2011:  89% of the homes we have staged this year sold within the first 8 days on market for between 92 - 122% of their list price. Nearly all of our staged homes sold in a multiple offer situation!

In regards to the vacant homes we have staged over the past year and a half, 82% of them sold, on average, within the first 21 days after staging. One of the properties had sat on the market prior to staging for almost a year and then sold in 9 days after being staged. As the national average shows unstaged vacant homes sitting on the market for longer than 9 months, our staging efforts have ensured that our clients can move onto their next adventure in life much faster!

Our DIY clients this year have raved about the recommendations we gave them (and that they followed) because it meant that they sold their homes faster than their competition and had practically a stress-free selling experience. Things like that are hard to put a price tag on but they have real value for our clients.

Rooms in Bloom has recently expanded their services to include designing and furnishing model homes. From design conception to completion, Rooms in Bloom has the experience and skill to ensure a builder's models are showcased to perfection!

If you are interested in having your home staged or re-designed, please give Rooms in Bloom a call so that they can help you with all of your design projects.

Our Passion for Family

Both Heather & Alana share another mutual passion - for their families. Alana is devoted to her husband, Kyle, and they have been together for over seventeen years. Being an entrepreneur must run in the family as Kyle owns Merritt Metals and is a commodities broker. Alana and Kyle have both a wonderful daughter and son who keep them hopping between sports and design classes (we both feel her daughter will one day take over Rooms in Bloom), the family cottage and regular family events. In her spare time, Alana loves to shop, watch Storage Wars and the Bachelor and spend time with close friends.

Heather has been married to her husband, Gord, for over seven years. They have been blessed with two wonderful boys who are polar opposites - their elder son LOVES sports and dreams of becoming a chef one day while their younger son has an artistic gift and love of design. Their extended family lives out of town which necessitates road trips to Burlington - and soon Texas - to visit everyone. When she isn't working, Heather spends time reading, playing the Sims and trying out new gourmet recipes.

If we aren't staging a home or designing a space, you can trust that we'll be thoroughly enjoying our families and enjoying all the amenities and activities which Kitchener-Waterloo has to offer!

Areas of Expertise

Our area of expertise is getting homes ready for sale through home staging. We work with clients to get their homes ready for sale on their timeline. We focus on:

• De-cluttering/Organization/Packing
• Furniture arrangement (or removal)
• Accentuating focal points and minimizing a home's weaknesses
• Accessorizing and polishing a home
• Furniture/Accessory rentals and purchase for vacant or model homes
• VIRTUAL 3D Renderings

We also specialize in offering a wide range of renovation services through the great team we work with. For our client's convenience, once we have been contracted for the staging aspect, we offer the talents of our team which includes:

• flooring
• painting/wallpaper removal
• landscaping
• organization/de-cluttering
• cleaning
• general repairs and upgrades

Testimonials

"Thanks to Rooms in Bloom my property sold for 99.4% of the asking price within 4 days of being listed! With 2 small children getting a house ready for sale seemed like such an overwhelming task.  I was also dreading weeks or months on the market.  I decided to call Heather and Alana for a staging consultation.  They were friendly, enthusiastic and full of great ideas and suggestions.  The next day I got a detailed report outlining exactly what I should do to present my house at it's best and sell it quickly for top dollar.  I followed their report like a checklist, de-cluttering and depersonalizing, having some painting done and doing a thorough spring cleaning.  Then it was time for the girls to come and work their magic.  They staged the house with beautiful accessories and some rental furniture for the few empty rooms we had just never gotten around to furnishing for ourselves.   The place looked so great we decided to list for more than our real estate agent suggested.  And we got it!  I  couldn't have been more pleased with the results and so was our agent.  Even my husband, who was a little skeptical at first, had to admit that our investment in hiring Rooms in Bloom to stage our house really paid off.   I can't wait to have a new home design consultation with Heather and Alana to help with decorating and personalizing our new house!"

Sandy Rutter  Branchton, ON

" As a Realtor, Heather and Alana are my secret weapon to make sure my clients homes sell fast and quick. I had  been disappointed by three separate home staging companies before finding Rooms in Bloom and now I wouldn't consider hiring anyone else for my clients. I've had nothing but positive feedback from my sellers and the ones who follow through with Heather and Alana's staging suggestions are rewarded with fast, top dollar sales. Thanks for being true professionals in your field. Your service is top notch and I look forward to working together many more times in the future. "

"Rooms in Bloom did a great job staging my listed property.  They spent several hours at the home re-arranging furniture and installing props.  The home looked very neat, clean, uncluttered and the props really accentuated the style of the existing furniture.  The home sold within 3 weeks (it had been on the market for 3 months prior to staging).  Thank you for a job well done!"

Kathi Dick, ReMax Twin City Realty Inc., Brokerage

"Heather and Alana are an important part of my team in offering exceptional, Professional Home Staging advice and services to my Clients.,and constanlly exceed my expectations. These ladies are dynamite, and I recommend them every time to my clients...."

Ian Inglis, ReMax Solid Gold Realty Inc, Brokerage

"I have worked with Heather numerous times over the past 2 years. Rooms in Bloom has worked with my sellers to prepare their homes for the market. They have helped my sellers not only sell their homes faster, but for more money. Whether it be help with decluttering, furniture placement, adding accessories or renting an entire house of furniture, Rooms in Blooms impact on my sellers homes has been outstanding. Always professional, cutting edge creative and accessible. I am happy to have them as part of my team!"

Marian DeWever, Coldwell Banker All Points Festival City Realty, Brokerage

Alana and Heather at Rooms in Bloom were super! I called them to see my clients and within 10 days they had their team of professionals in to have all the work completed. The end result was a beautiful home which sold within 2 weeks for 98% of the asking price. A job well done!! I will definitely use their services again.  -

Linda Loughran, RE/MAX Twin City Realty Inc, Brokerage - Kitchener, ON

We worked with Rooms in Bloom from the end of June until the end of August. In between, they orchestrated a massive make-over on our home, and it sold within a week on the market; in fact - we had an offer for our asking price - the evening of our first open house! Heather & Alana were a huge part of this success: they made recommendations, co-ordinated and oversaw a small army of amazing contractors and trades people to make it all happen on schedule. All the details were taken care of: they bought flowers and doorknobs, fixtures and toilets, chose paint colours and linens, printed and distributed open house invitations to our neighbours ... and on and on. They helped transform our home from a place where we lived to a place where everyone wanted to live! Their expertise showed off the "bones" of the house and allowed potential buyers to imagine themselves living there. We were inmpressed with Heather & Alana's can-do attitude, their flexibility, attention to detail, and openness to feedback. They were reliable and professional throughout the process, from their initial assessment to co-ordinating the open house and touring potential buyers through the home. This young company is well on it's way - they certainly met their company goals on our project! We have been recommending Rooms in Bloom without hesitation!  -

 Jeanette & Scott, Waterloo ON

"Heather and Alana are truly an asset, that I am fortunate enough to be able to add to my clients selling process! They are both knowledgeable, informative, trustworthy and creative in the staging process of selling a home. They have helped a number of my clients obtain above market value for their homes as a result of their services! Worth everypenny!!!"

 - Dave Steinbach, ReMax Solid Gold Realty, Brokerage

 “Heather has a spectacular gift. Her ability to envision the potential in spaces, as well as deliver difficult assessments of property condition sets her apart in an industry filled with mediocrity. There are many individuals who claim to be "home stagers," but few with the level of professionalism, talent, and tact as Heather. I am pushing all of my listing clients to employ Rooms in Bloom home staging services to help their houses show to their potential, and therefore help them achieve a fair sale price, after a reasonable amount of exposure on the market. Thanks Heather, for all of your help!” 

Ben Sage, ReMax a-b Realty, Brokerage

“I wouldn't hesitate to hire Rooms in Bloom again as a home stager for my clients. Their attention to detail is exceptional and it is represented in the work they does. There is a reason why Alana and her partner Heather, from Rooms in Blooms, have won so many awards."

Deborah Duiker, ReMax Twin City Realty, Brokerage