International Institute Of Home Staging

Naomi

How to Network Like a Pro

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We all know about networking – but how exactly do you do it and why is it essential for running a successful business?

While technology has made networking easier, you still need to get outside of your comfort zone and meet people for success in your business.

Networking is a great way to get your name and business out into the world, find new clients and expand your affiliates.

networking for your business

Regardless of the type of business you run, networking is achieved in similar ways – here’s some ideas to get yourself out there!

Attend Events

Going to events is a great way to network. Not only can this lead to new clients but it also has the potential to lead to affiliates and possibly even partner brands. Being around like-minded people is great too as it allows you to meet other inspirational people, expand your knowledge and give you fresh ideas.

Business Cards

Carrying around business cards is still a great way to network, especially at events. You can even drop your business cards off at cafes and restaurants so you have the potential to reach a wide range of demographics! Putting your key social media handles, phone number and email on business cards is absolutely essential nowadays. People want to be able to research your business before directly contacting you.

Social Media

Networking through social media is another great way to network when you are time poor but still want to chat to people. Even if you have no time to post, comment or message in the moment, you can communicate via paid advertisements and using scheduling programs so you always have content going live across your platforms and live chats.

These techniques will allow you to connect with your audience and potential clients or partners – and you can mix it up with what’s going on in your biz calendar! Trial different ideas and techniques to figure out what works best for you, you never know who you’re going to meet and what opportunity could come your way!

An amazing way to network, support, bounce ideas and share is inside our Professional Member group.  Our membership has a huge variety of business owners, from those just starting out, to students of the Art of Home Staging to those running sucessful businesses with staff.  Check out if it’s for you here! 

Business Best Friends

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When you create your own business it is so important to ensure you surround yourself with your best business related friends. It is important that you have people around you who are supportive of you but will also tell you when you have done something wrong and keep your ego in check! Business best friends are different to personal best friends though. You might not have even met your business best friends had you not stepped foot into your industry. They’re people who share common goals and understandings but aren’t necessarily personal friends. So, who should these business best friends be?

A real best friend. Someone that you knew before your business venture and has come on the journey with you. They might work for you now or they might just be there as a drawing board for you to run ideas past

  • An entrepreneur from a related industry. As an entrepreneur yourself it is important that you have someone who is like you in their way of thinking and day to day necessities.
  • Someone in the real estate industry. This doesn’t necessarily have to be an agent but it certainly can be! Having someone that understands an industry that you are heavily involved with is of utmost importance. Make them your go-to person for any questions regarding their industry because they are the expert.
  • A legal expert. Running along the same lines as someone in the real estate industry, a legal expert is someone who you know will give your sound and quality advice without having anything malicious against your business.
  • Someone else in your industry. Becoming business best friends with someone who works in the same industry as you is a great way to keep up to date with industry issues and also allows for a great point of call if you can’t complete a project. Creating positive vibes throughout the industry is important due to the size of the industry. Ensuring that you have someone who knows exactly what you’re talking about is a great way to maintain a positive and sound mind frame.

Membership for Accelerate

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How To Create a Divine Dining Space

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Creating the perfect dining space is something we can all achieve and guess what?! It doesn’t need to be done with a big budget!

Many families or households don’t take the time to regularly use the dining table as a chance to get together and enjoy a good meal and great company.

Dining spaces can be designed to accommodate each household’s lifestyle and taste. From a small family breakfast table to a large formal dinner, there are no set rules as to what you can and cannot include in your dining space. As long as your end result is a space that feels inviting and comfortable.

Some examples of items you could include in different dining areas could be:

Something traditional or conservative…

  • a timeless timber table and chairs
  • timber buffet styled with simple candles and/or vases
  • Contemporary artwork or mirror

Something modern or eclectic…

  • a white timber table
  • colourful chairs
  • quirky console table styled with plenty of fun personal touches
  • modern artwork or unique wall feature

With the styling industry ever evolving and many of us wanting to keep up with these changes, we can be pleased to know that sourcing that ‘must have’ item is achievable. The current market caters for all budgets with less expensive items to very costly, it really depends on what you’re after and what you’re wanting to spend.

Either way knowing you can create a space that has been designed and styled specifically for you should mean plenty of enjoyable times will be spent around the dining table, in style!

Are you following me on Instagram? Check out my favourite designs @naomifindlayofficial 

Do you own your own home staging company? Why not check out our business resources like Standard Operating Procedure templates? They’re the perfect way to improve your processes and procedures! 

The Importance Of Our Mindset When Setting Goals

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Did you know that we all talk to ourselves about 50,000 times during each and every day?

Research has demonstrated that most of what we say to ourselves is about what we can or cannot do. So what that means is that each and every one of us has the potential to create and do something great.

With only a couple weeks left of 2021, it’s time to start framing up where your 2022 is going to go. The first step is by using the power of our mind!

It is vitally important when setting goals that we are mindful of what we say to ourselves and to other people. There is a part of your mind called your subconscious that is always listening and then acting on what you say to yourself. It also records things you see, hear, touch, taste, smell, think and do – and stores everything in your memory.

Remember back to when you learned to do something new – such as baking a cake. You might have told yourself or somebody else when taking on this new task that you can do this easily. Next time you go to bake a cake; you remember that you can bake easily, and you are confident that you can do it again. When you stand in the kitchen, your subconscious reminds you how to read the instructions, measure the right quantities, get the oven temperature right etc. – it helps you to do what you know you can do.

Importantly, your subconscious also remembers if you or other people say things like “I’m no good at cooking. There’s no way I can bake that banana bread.” Again, your subconscious will listen to you and encourage you to fail.

Your subconscious helps to bring you to whatever you are asking for. Positive or negative.

What does your mind say to you and how does it affect your goals?

SOP Templates

What Beds to Use in Home Staging

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One of the most frequently asked questions from our students and those getting started in the industry…..

We’re just starting up our home staging business and we really need to know about how you do your beds.

That’s an interesting question, isn’t it?

Let’s look at our options when we are deciding on beds to use for an installation of a property for sale.

The first option is, obviously, a traditional slatted timber bed that needs to be pretty much built on site. It has the side rails that has the header and the footer and the slats that the mattress would sit upon. There’s one option.

The next option is an ensemble bed.  So the traditional base and mattress.

The last option is a bit of a more temporary bed. It may be an inflatable bed, it may be a camp stretcher with an inflatable mattress on top or it may be a camp stretcher with a foam mattress on top.

These are all different sorts of options. That’s not all of them, but they are some of the different options that you have when you’re staging a property and you want to put in some beds.

What do we do? If I’m going to be dead honest about what we did when installing for my home staging business, we actually used a lot of ensemble beds.

We used to use the slatted headers and footers with the side rails, but the time it took to construct the beds on site meant that our productivity was greatly diminished.

And that meant that we needed more than one person to be on site installing every single house, even after the initial drop off of furniture was complete by the muscle, basically. That was a bit of a negative for us. It really did take some time.

The other thing we noticed is that the mechanisms that you’re adhering everything to did, over time and after multiple assembling and disassembling, wear. We steered away from that.

That pointed us to our ensemble beds.

We have, as well, used all varieties of camp stretchers and foam mattresses/camp stretches and air mattresses, but one of the big problems we found with air mattresses was that sometimes they do go down.

You often find that the time you get a call is 7:30/8:30/9:00/10:00 on a Saturday when, often, you’re busy doing other things, saying,

“I’ve just taken everyone into an open home and the mattress is deflated. I need something else here right now because the open home has pretty much been ruined by the fact that there’s a deflated mattresses and a slump-looking bed sitting in what might have been an amazing master suite before.”

One of the problems I have with inflatable beds is they certainly have their locations, but one of the things that you need to make sure you think about is they aren’t 100% reliable.

I can probably hear many people going, “What about those places where you can’t get an ensemble base into?” Absolutely right. It’s a huge, huge challenge.

There are many places, especially in the older parts of town, where the stairwells are too skinny and the lifts are too small and the landings at the top of stairs are too small to be able to work an ensemble base around.

In those cases, we actually have to use a mattress and we prop the mattress up on tubs.  The same tubs that we use to pack the bedroom accessories and linen etc.

There you go. There are our sneak peeks and our behind the scenes of what we did while staging a home for beds. I hope you’ve learned something from that; I hope that there’s something that you can take and integrate into your home staging business and into all the different situations that it may be applicable.

If you have really specific questions about your business, make sure you check out our memberships. Our Professional Membership has a closed Facebook forum where you can pretty much ask anything you want.

The members of the community and myself will be jumping in there to help. Pop over and check them out. They’re all on the website.

Faux or Real Plants in Home Staging?

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Today, as I always say, I’m going to give you my perspective and a little bit of the experience that I’ve undertaken in my years in home staging about a specific topic.

You can thread from that what works for you, what agrees with you and what strikes a chord in your business and then make decisions about how you want to move forward from there.

Today, I want to talk to you about faux or real when it comes to flowers and plants.

Faux or real plants

In my home, to be honest with you, I only allow real, living plants and flowers and tree and nature.

But, in home staging, it is a little different. The community is a little divided on it, whether to use faux or whether to use fresh.

There are obvious difficulties when it comes to using fresh flowers, especially if it’s a vacant property. I’ll give you a bit of an insight as to what we do here and you can take from that what you need for your business.

In all vacant properties, unless they’re in the prestige price bracket, we often use faux plants and faux flowers.

Purely for the reason that rarely does someone have the budget and is able to afford us continually going back to the property every week or every two weeks to refresh the flowers, to water the plants and make sure that everything’s in working order.

The reason that that is important is there is never a time when walking into a property to a dead plant or to smelling, moulding flower water is okay.

It actually is a bigger distraction than having a faux plant or faux flowers in the property.

Faux or real plants

Obviously, there are some markets where that just doesn’t work. There are some markets, even when it’s a vacant property, that we invest in having real and authentic plants and real and authentic flowers in there.

We come up with a pricing system and a process that allows for us to go in and interchange the plants and interchange the flowers during the time on market.

If you have a property that is occupied, you can actually negotiate with the owner if they’re there and if they’re happy to, around the concept of them topping up the flowers and them taking care of the plants.

But again, this takes some negotiation and it takes a little bit of work.

What I will say, though, is if you choose to use faux plants or flowers, you really need to make sure you maintain them well.

There’s nothing worse than dirty, dusty, musty smelling fake arrangements, fake plants or fake flowers. It’s essential that when you’re storing these items, if you choose to use them, in your warehouse, that they’re always bagged up so they don’t become a dust collection.

What you can do if you do find that happening is actually use feather dusters on them or, even in some cases, I have vacuumed our plants.

Another great tip is that you actually have a roster and a process where all of the fake plants and all of the fake flowers get cleaned. This can make a massive difference to how long they last and how good they look.

My biggest advice if you need to use fake plants or flowers is to invest in really good quality plants and flowers.

It will cost you quite a substantial amount, but there are some amazing products on the market internationally for this. There’s amazing freestyle arrangements that you can make and there’s also some amazing premades. You even have some really cool things like premade terrariums and all sorts of things.

My big tip is choose the price point of the property. The client and the type of installation, whether it be an occupied or a partial, before we make the decision about whether you’re going to use real or whether you’re going to use faux foliage.

There’s my take, guys. One thing is for sure, either way, you need to make sure that the faux flowers and foliage that you use is perfectly targeted for the property, for your brand and also for who you are selling to.

Choose wisely.

5 Tips to Create the Perfect Private Sanctuary

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It’s so easy to get caught up in the busy day-to-day routine…most of us forget to schedule time in for ourselves even though this results in more productivity and creativity when we get back to work.

This is why it’s a great idea to create a room just for you, a room where you can listen to music, write, read your favourite book – anything that helps you to relax!

Today I want to help you create your own personal sanctuary. You might think having an hour to yourself every few days isn’t important but it is! We need to revitalize our body by having rest days and making relaxation a priority – that way you can perform better in business and in life! So here’s my top 5 tips for creating a relaxing retreat for yourself.

Step 1.  Get Rid Of All That Clutter!

Have you ever noticed when you are surrounded by too much ‘stuff’ you feel lazy, confined and not to mention unclean? It’s a fact then when you are surrounded by clutter your energy is down! Take out everything you don’t use that is just getting covered in dust and keep only what you really need or really want in your special space.

Create a Sanctuary
Image via Style Curator

Step 2. Freshen UP!

What colour makes you smile? Consider what shades are in style this month and add a pop of it  into your space using paint or some removable wallpaper for that extra bit of style. If you don’t have time to do that, go out and purchase some colourful cushions, throws and artwork (or make your own) to liven up a bland room. Add some colourful flowers just to finish off.

Step 3. Turn off that phone!

You are in YOUR space, trying to forget about the rest of the world. A phone ringing will bring you out of that Zen state straight away! So no Telephones, Computers, TV’s or IPads! So what if one of your guilty pleasures is watching your soap operas? That’s okay,  just make sure you turn off the TV as soon as it’s over! It signals too much stimulation and not enough relaxation.

Outdoor Space Sanctuary
Image via Interiors Addict

Step 4. Smells too good to be true.

When you have your favourite candle burning, it immediately sends you to a happy place. An amazing scent can help you feel relaxed and pampered. So make sure you have a selection of candles, oils or incenses to aid in the indulging.

Step 5. It isn’t a cell!

Ever noticed when you sit out in the sun for 5 minutes you feel better? Bringing natural light into your space is important as nature has a relaxing effect on us, it’s also good to get some vitamin D!  So put an armchair under a window or even a sun bed and soak it all up!

Enjoy!

Do you love these style tips? Click here to check out my Pinterest board for more style inspiration!

The Key Consultants Every Small Business Owner Needs

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Let’s face it… Running a small business can seem overwhelming.

From finding funding to finding clients, creating effective marketing efforts to dealing with rules and regulations. Small business owners have a lot on their plates.

Fortunately, there are professionals who can help guide you through the ins and outs of small business ownership. Whether you’re considering starting a new business or want to grow your existing business, these key consultants can help.

Money Matters: The Accountant

Wait a minute, you may be asking yourself. Do I really need an accountant? Isn’t that what QuickBooks is for? While accounting software can certainly be a time-saver, it’s hard to discount the importance of financial integrity for any small business. In the long run, the money saved by using accountancy services will make the investment well worth it.

What can accountants do to help your business? If you’re in the start-up stage, an account can help you decide which type of business structure makes the most sense for your model. Will you operate as a sole trader or a company? Would a partnership or a trust offer more benefits to your business? Accountants can walk you through the pros and cons of each option so you can make a truly informed decision. After all, your structure will influence a number of other factors, such as how much tax you pay, your personal liability, which licenses you need, and more.

If your business is already operational, an accountant can ensure that your day-to-day transactions are recorded properly and remain within legal compliance, help oversee payroll, seek out cost savings with third parties and vendors, and even help you set up a financial safety net. If your business is in a growth stage, an accountant can help you plan cost-effective expansions, suggest ways to mitigate your tax burden, and create financial reports.

Staying Legal

The other indispensable consultant every small business owner needs is a solicitor. A good business solicitor will advise you in a number of basic (and complex) legal matters that may arise, from zoning to copyright compliance to liability issues.

When you’re shopping around for a solicitor, keep the following skill sets in mind:

  • Contracts: A solicitor can prepare contracts that you’ll need to use with customers, vendors, clients, or suppliers. They can also guide you through contracts that you need to sign.
  • Structure: You’ve already consulted your accountant about the right business structure for your needs; now it’s time to talk to your solicitor! They can help you determine which business model makes the most sense for you from a legal perspective.
  • Taxes and licenses: Your accountant can help you with your taxes, too, but your solicitor can help you register your business with the right government agencies and ensure you have the correct licenses and tax identification numbers for your specific needs.
  • Real estate: Unless you’re working from home, you’ll probably need to lease or rent real estate to house your business. A solicitor can help ensure that you exercise your rights as a tenant, and review any paperwork or contracts you’re asked to sign.
  • Intellectual property and copyright: If you create anything as part of your business, a solicitor can help you protect your thoughts, ideas, and creations.
  • Liability: Finally, and most importantly, a solicitor can help you protect yourself from liability.

By working with accountants and solicitors that specialise in small businesses, you’ll give yourself an advantage over the competition. Consider it an investment in your businesses’ future success!

Get access to the IIHS™ A Team of consultants through our Professional Membership!  Find out more below!

How to Create a Bidding War through Home Staging

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Despite the name, bidding wars aren’t a bad thing when selling your property. A bidding war is when two potential buyers keep upping their purchase price because they both want the property. Instead of settling for lower price, another potential purchaser could keep increasing their price until the other potential buyer drops out of the purchasing game. While it is impossible to predict what properties will have bidding wars when they are on the market there are a few steps that you as a home stager can take to ensure your client will sell their property for the highest price possible.

Staging for the market is a key step in home staging and can dramatically influence how much attention the property has on the market. If the property is in a family orientated area there is no point staging the property as if a bachelor is your target market. Taking key steps in researching the current market climate, researching the area the property is in and staging the property appropriately is of utmost importance in ensuring the property will receive the attention it deserves on the market.

Image Credit: Naomi Findlay Pty Ltd

It is super important that you as the stager do not over-stage the property you are working on. Over-staging will deter buyers and will also result in a price drop on the property due to a lack of interest. It is your job to allow potential buyers to pay their maximum price for the property. It is for this reason that knowing and having a clear target market is so important. Knowing your target market will give you a clear image in your mind of who the purchaser will be allows you as the home stager to ensure the property is staged for them. Knowing who the potential buyers are and what their possible purchase price range is will allow you to give your client the best possible chance at staging a property that will have two people fighting over who wants to purchase the property more.

Image Credit: Naomi Findlay Pty Ltd

Staging the property so countless potential buyers can see themselves living in the property is a great way to ensure multiple potential buyers. Do this by using neutral tones and avoid overusing any style trends. While you don’t want the property to stay on the market for years it is important to stage the property as if it will still look this year in years to come…is there anything that will go out of fashion? If so, get rid of it. Potential buyers have to be able to see themselves living in the property, not seeing it as if it is staged to look good for this current season.

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Why You Should Start Your Home Staging Career in 2021

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Who doesn’t love redecorating their bedroom? Imagine doing that as a career! Home staging is booming and it’s much more than just redecorating people’s bedrooms. Home staging is all about knowing the market, appealing to the demographic for the current market, while looking at what’s on trend, designing property aesthetics and then staging the property for the market that will sell at the best price possible. So, why should you start your home staging career in 2021?

  •  Home staging is a necessity: once home staging enters an area it will never leave! Gone are the days of poorly tidied homes for sale, full of kids toys and stray dog hairs. Home staging allows you to put the properties best face forward and give potential buyers the best view of what they are buying. Home staging is all about potential and discovering both the properties inner potential and your inner potential.
  • People finally get it: for years home stagers have struggled with the question of ‘so what do you do that I can’t do?’ but alas the rest of the world is finally starting to get it. Home staging is more than just what looks good. Home stagers are a mix of real estate analysis and design trends analysis, meeting somewhere in the middle.
  • You don’t have to be trained overseas: the rise in home staging institutions in Australia has meant that up and coming home stagers are learning content that is directly related to what they will experience in Australia.
  • There is a home staging community: because home stagers have set on the bench for so long waiting for their time to shine a strong community has been built on support, successes and failures. Without the Internet home staging would not be as popular as it is now and that is primarily due to home stagers coming together online to share their experiences and design skills.
  • Higher quality performances: more home stagers mean that more people are gaining home staging experience which in turn raises the level of home staging projects. This allows for the entire industry to be seen as its own entity compared to people without any formal accreditation who stage properties for their personal style rather than the needs of the market.

All in all, home staging is on the rise and getting into the industry now is a great opportunity to skyrocket any career.

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How to Create Vignettes

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Are you confused or scared of vignettes?

Or better yet, are you wondering: “what on earth IS a vignette?”

Never fear – I am here to de-myth the glorious vignette that is ever so simple and effective when styled well!

A vignette is just a story of styling elements on a side, dining or coffee table.

Here’s 7 tips to get you started:

Tip 1: Find the light

Always style your vignette around a light source.

Otherwise no one will see it!

Styling Vignettes

Tip 2: Be guided by your style

Let the items chosen for your vignette be guided by style of your room and home.

For example, if you have a traditional style, use even numbers.

If it’s a more relaxed vibe – mix it up with odd numbers.

Tip 3: Get colourful

Use pops of colour that you love or work with seasonal trends, you can change it up as your taste changes.

vignettes styling

Tip 4: Style in odd numbers

If you don’t have a traditional styled home, I always recommend creating vignettes in 3, 5 or 7’s for big spaces!

Tip 5: Tall and short

Vary the height of the items used in your vignette.

You can use a pedestal or stack of books to bring them up to height if needed.

vignettes styling

Tip 6: Create depth

Vary the depth of your vignette to create interest – there should be no straight lines!

Tip 7: Texture, texture, texture!

Incorporate different textures into your vignette.

Mix it up with natural materials, metallics, gold, glass and matte.

vignettes styling

There you have it! Everything you need to no longer be scared or confused by vignettes – enjoy!

5 Hacks to Help You Choose Your Cushions

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Have you ever struggled to find the right cushions for your couch?

Some stylists make it look so effortless – and it can be! That’s why I’ve put together my top 5 hacks for choosing the right cushions that will take your living space to the next level.

  1. Identify your colour palette

how to choose cushions

Have a look around your living space. Look at the walls, carpet, lounge and curtains – what colours are present?

Keep this close when you choose your scatter cushions – opt for 1 or 2 solid colours, then add ones with different textures and patterns.

2. Let your style dictate your cushions

how to choose cushions

What style is your home? If you have a traditional theme, opt for an even number of cushions with one large one at each end and a smaller one in front of it.

If you have a more casual, contemporary or eclectic vibe, incorporate an uneven number of cushions and none that are matching.

3. Mix up your shapes and sizes

how to choose cushions

Gone are the days when we have to have the same shape and size on our lounges.

It’s all about different sizes and shapes – matchy matchy is no longer the way to go.

4. Add some texture

how to choose cushions

Not keen for multiple coloured cushions? That’s okay, just stick with one specific colour way and then use different textures and patterns.

You’ll be blown away by the result!

5. Have a few variations for different seasons

how to choose cushions

Want a more relaxing feel in winter when you’re lounging around the house? But don’t want to give up some of your favourite cushions all year round?

Add some punches with pops of colour and patterns during the warmer seasons – then you can put out your more muted palettes when you make the switch in winter – or vice versa!