With a change in season I find myself scrolling images for inspiration. Sometimes people think when winter comes around, you can’t have fresh flowers – totally not the case!
I love a beautiful arrangements of flowers. They can be used to either make a statement or to just add a touch of greenery to a room. Adding a touch of flowers can add a different element to the space, for example, making an area more cheerful, adding a hint of fragrance, adding a pop of colour or to even compliment or enhance the current style/design within the space.
The beauty of it all is there are no hard rules on how or where you choose to incorporate flowers. You can add them in your kitchen, living, dining or even your bathroom. The look you want to create can differ depending on whether you choose long and thin flowers or short and rounded shaped ones. You may find yourself varying the look and feel as the flowers need changing to truly create your own personal touch knowing you haven’t spent a lot of money.
Image from Homemaking cottageImage from Savor Home BlogImage from Hgtv.comImage from Alison Royer
The images included are some of my inspiring shots where the use of flowers complimented the entire design of the room.
Want to find even more gorgeous things to add to your spaces? Come shopping with me in Bali for my Buying Tour in August 2019! Click here to find out more!
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
Image via House BeautifulImage via Theinspiredroom.netImage via Douglasfriedman.net
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!
Recently I have been working with a client that has given me no end of interesting blog topics to bring to you, this one is about how to choose the right “shade of grey”. Each time this client excitedly shows me a new home furnishing or interior element that is grey they often follow up by saying, “but it’s not the right shade of grey, why can I see brown in it?”.
That’s why I’m going to give you my five rules for choosing a shade of grey for my home or client – they are a simple and a great place to start.
1. Decide before you start whether you are wanting the coolness of a blue grey or the warm of a brown grey.
2. Be careful what light you are viewing the swatches under in the shop or showroom. Depending on whether the lighting is a warm yellow or a cool white light will greatly effect the way you see the colour.
3. Remember that the the human eye is not a machine and that the way you view colour is quite subjective. What is a perfect grey to you may be different for your partner.
4. Colour is also relative, when you are viewing what you think is your perfect shade of grey at the paint suppliers it is one of many colours on the paint swatch. The colours along side your choice will impact on how you view and perceive the colour you have chosen. Where possible use a neutral coloured view finder to isolate the one colour of interest to minimise the impact this can have.
5. Finally, consider the final resting place of the colour. All the elements of the room you intend to paint will effect the final product and result of your “shade of grey”. The lighting, the shadows and the colours and furniture around it. Make sure you test the paint on a large size card on the wall (A3 at least) and live with the colour test for a while before making the final decision.
With winter around the corner there is no excuse to put off updating the colour of your favourite space, maybe to a shade of gorgeous grey.
Do you want to come on the shopping trip of a lifetime? Join me for my Bali Buying Tour this August 2019! Click Here to find out more!
Moving house can be such a stressful experience, what with the packing, cleaning and then unpacking all over again!
But with some careful planning, you can make the process run a little smoother. Follow these simple tips to reduce your stress next time you move:
1. Create a simple record keeping system
Whether it’s computer-generated or hand written, be very specific when recording things on this list. What is in each box and where each box needs to go in the new property.
2. You’ll probably need more boxes than you think
Have plenty of boxes around, you’d be surprised how quickly they fill up. If you go through a moving company, keep in mind that any boxes you purchase but don’t use can often be returned for a credit or refund.
3. Last minute essentials
Have at least one box for each room set aside to use for last minute items on moving day, such as bedding, clothing, and cleaning supplies.
4. Protect your breakables
Use unprinted newsprint, packing paper or bubble wrap to wrap and cushion household goods.
5. Designate a colour for each room in the new home
You could use yellow for kitchen, orange for dining room and so forth. Apply coloured stickers on the box near the box number. In your new home, place a matching sticker on the door to each room. This is a simple way for the movers to know where to put everything when they arrive.
6. Keep things together when you or the movers are packing boxes
Keep bookends with books, light bulbs with lamps, and extension cords with appliances. Small, loose parts can be attached to the item they belong to with tape or placed in small envelopes — to keep picture hooks with pictures, shelf brackets with a bookcase, a special wrench and bolts with the wall unit.
7. Get excited!
For all the interiors lovers out there think of all the homewares shopping that will NEED to be done to make sure all your existing things blend with you new home once you have moved in. A great reward after a big job is well done.
Want to do your own homewares shopping? Click Here to come shop in Bali with me for my Buying Tour 2019!
Source gorgeous homewares in Bali for my Bali Buying Trip!
Lets face it, sometimes it’s easier to hide our mess behind closed doors – but I really do love open shelving, for so many reasons!
Luckily, open shelving does not have to look like a cluttered mess. When styled right, it can add so much character and interest to your space that you might want to do away with all your cupboard doors!
Check out these great options below.
Modern Desk Accessories design by West Elm
Don’t think of open shelves the same way you think of storage, it’s not about squeezing in everything you can!
Instead, make your open shelves the feature of your room.
By using simple floating open shelves you can create so many different looks depending on what you accessorise the shelves with.
They can totally be functional too, just a more presentable version of what you’d usually store away!
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Research into home buyer psychology tells us that we have just 30 seconds to make a first impression when selling our home.
So you need to nail the look and feel of your property if you want to sell faster and for more money!
If you want to get prepared before the property stylist comes to perfect your space, here are three things to avoid doing during the process:
Declutter
A lot of clients tell me that their homes feels comparatively empty when it goes to market. This is where the idea of cosy vs clutter comes in.
It’s often difficult to differentiate between the two when it’s your own home, however it’s essential not to get this one wrong. The best rule is to try to avoid the “cosy” look when selling your home. Having too many accessories, personal photographs and other items in an attempt to create “cosy” will actually make the property seem cluttered and lose its appeal to the broader market.
Stick to stylish, understated and sophisticated accessories. There’s a fine line though, you don’t want your property to feel cold – but the property stylist can help you bring in warmth with great styling choices.
Living area styled by Naomi Findlay
Not being able to look past your own personal style
This is an area of great concern when you are styling a property for sale. You have to remember that your personal taste is not necessarily that of the market. When selling, you need to appeal to as many people as possible so remember – when you have your home styled for sale it is not about you (I know that hurts but it will help you when you sell, trust me).
This is why bringing a professional in can be the best thing you could do to increase your chances of selling for more.
Keep your styling neutral
Choosing furniture that is the wrong size for your space
The use of furniture that is too big or the wrong shape can drastically affect the way a potential buyer sees your home. It’s all about scale and making the space feel light and airy. If your bedrooms are small, your choice of furniture could either emphasize the tiny space or completely transform the feeling for a potential buyer.
Your home stager can work with you to choose appropriate furniture if yours is the wrong fit.
Are you a home stager? Want to boost your career? Come to the National Home Staging Symposium! Click below!
Naomi here! I wanted to share this story with you to inspire you!
One day I was sitting in my office looking at the beautiful ‘standard flowering cherry blossom’ that has shed its last leaf and formed the buds that will soon turn into beautiful blossoms. I found myself thinking of all the great things I could use photographs of the such a beautiful tree for. Here are some photos I took and converted them to black and white.
Now imagine them framed and above your bed or at the end of your dining table, creating a stunning effect like in the image below.
Get out your camera or even use your phone and try it, it is a very affordable feature to add to any room!
I hope that inspires you to get creative!
All comments you leave below are read and appreciated so please let me know your thoughts.
Are you coming to the National Home Staging Symposium 2019?
Networking is absolutely essential in running a successful business. While technology has made networking easier, this does not mean that you don’t have to work for success in business. Networking is a great way to get your name and business name out into the world, find new clients and expand your affiliates. Regardless of the type of business you run, networking is achieved in similar ways.
Putting yourself out there and going to events is a great way to network. Not only does 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 as it allows you to meet other inspirational people, expand your knowledge and your ideas.
Carrying around business cards is still a great way to network, especially at events. Dropping business cards off at cafes and restaurants is another great way to network as it means you have the potential to reach a wide range of demographics! Putting your key social media site usernames, phone number and email on business cards are absolutely essential nowadays. People want to be able to research your business without having any direct contact with the business first, hence the importance of social media sites.
Networking through social media is another great way to network without spending excess time out of your day chatting to people. This can be achieved through paid advertisements, using scheduling programs so you always have content going live across all platforms and live chats. These techniques will allow you to seemingly directly connect with your audience without leaving the comfort of your home! Social media networking allows you to reach completely different audiences depending on what site you are using. This will result in you reaching a much larger audience than what you could when dropping business cards off at a coffee shop or going to an event. Having the flexibility with different audiences on social media also allows you to trial different ideas and techniques on different sites to figure out what works best!
I wanted to share something with you today that I was reading on my phone earlier, so you’ll see me looking at it a little bit. It’s about clutter and money.
There’s an amazing, good friend of mine, as well as an amazing business woman, called Denise Duffield-Thomas from LuckyBitch.com. Go over and check her out. You’ll find the stuff that she does absolutely amazing.
I was reading the morning about this really great piece she wrote about decluttering. I see a lot of home stagers doing some of the things that she talks about in her blog.
You’ll see in here that she talks about clutter and decluttering is great for money manifesting. She goes on to talk about all the different things that maybe we are doing with our clutter.
For example, in our office spaces, are we holding onto a desk someone gave us when we first started our businesses because we feel that we need to have more money or be a bigger business before we then give ourselves another desk?
A little like – and this is a phrase that Denise talks about, as interesting as it sounds – beggars can’t be choosers. “Someone gave me this when I first started business, so I’m going to keep using it.”
I really want you to head over and read this blog because this is absolutely amazing. It speaks about if we’re holding on to some of the things that we were gifted and we feel we have to be grateful for in our businesses, we aren’t opening up opportunities for new energy, new money and new abundance to come in.
I see this a fair bit in home staging. I see it with people’s stock. When I first started and I was getting stock in and I was like, “Wow! My business is growing!”
Then, as I got more and more stock and I wanted to turn it over, there was this ridiculous attachment to the stock that I had first because, “Oh, gosh. I need that. I need to be grateful. That’s where I can from.”
It wasn’t until I had the most epic garage sale that suddenly my business started to flourish. I got rid of all that old stock that was tying me down and that I wasn’t even really using. I was getting a warehouse full of clutter.
This is something that’s really important in home staging.
Look at your stock, look at your inventory and avoid it becoming clutter. It is the main commodity for many home stagers who have higher for making money.
Why do we allow a money making item to become a cluttered item?
Why don’t we cut it loose and allow more space in our warehouse, more space in our energy, more space in our business for abundant stock, customers, clients and agents coming in.
This is one way that I find a lot of the home stagers that I mentor and that are on our memberships are a bit attached to clutter. But I want to share with you from my phone here. I love reading Denise’s stuff.
She had some other great top tips and I wanted to read you some of my favorites about decluttering in the business because it’s so important; just as it’s important in life, it’s essential in business.
The first one is a really great one about unsubscribing to emails that you don’t want anymore. Deleting old contacts out of your phone.
Backing up and cleaning off your computer. If your desktop looks like a mad woman’s breakfast, clean that up. You’ll be amazed at how good it feels.
Shred old documents. Old documents that you don’t’ need, get rid of them. There is no need to have that clutter and store them.
This is a really interesting one: clean up your Facebook feed. It doesn’t mean you have to defriend people or unlike people, but if there’s someone that’s on your feed and you just don’t want to see their stuff anymore, make sure you remove that from your feed.
The other one that I love, which is really interesting is deleting websites and getting rid of the histories in your browsers. That can be really interesting.
Then, one of the last ones that I want to read to you – and this is a great one – is say no to networking groups that have become an obligation and not a joy.
I believe massively, guys, in the five people that we surround ourselves in are the people that we’re going to become and the people that we’re going to be the biggest reflection upon us.
That could also be said for networking groups. Many of us got involved in networking groups, which can become clutter in our calendar and clutter in our life.
Take Denise’s massive inspiration. Head over to LuckyBitch.com. I want you to get on and read this because it’s a really amazing blog.
I want you then to have a look in your warehouses for cluttered stock; I want you to look in your offices for all those things that you feel you should be entitled and that you’re really gifted to have and you need to keep and I want you to look in your computers and in your phones.
Rid yourself of that clutter and that will open up the energy for abundance and more business, more wealth and more opportunity to come your way.
Thanks so much for listening, guys. I’ll be back again soon.
In life we constantly question ourselves and if the decisions we make are the right decisions. Depending on your family and friend situation, the decisions we may can also influence their lives. We question everything from if we really had the best dinner we could have, if we exercised for as long as we could have, if we were as productive at work as we could have been. All these things are questions we ask ourselves all the time. Depending on our answers, we might try harder the next time, or we could have pushed ourselves to the end limit. Regardless, when we keep questioning ourselves over the same thing, at some stage, we will begin to see change.
When it comes to running a business, you question yourself and the decisions you make all that much more. Not only does the decisions you make influence yourself, but it also influences your family, your finances, your career and those you employ. Discovering an effective strategy and way of questioning yourself which always results in successful decision making and successful results is of utmost importance. So, what should you be asking yourself to better yourself as a business owner?
“What am I doing?” I know, this is a big question, but it needs to be asked. What is your business, what is its motto and what is it achieving? If these questions and answers aren’t what you want to hear then it is time to make some changes.
“What are my goals?” This is a great one as we enter the new year! What do you want your business to achieve in the next year, 5 years and 10 years? Where do you see your business going and what changes do you have to make to achieve your goals?
“Who are my competitors and what are they doing?” Knowing your competitor’s business inside out is just as important as knowing your own business. What do they do that is highly successful? Is this successful because of who they are or because of their demographic? How can you incorporate this into your business?
“Who is working for me?” Finding your A-team doesn’t happen over night! Don’t be afraid to reevaluate jobs and those you employ, if someone isn’t doing their job properly then find someone who can.
“What can I outsource?” As the business owner you don’t need to be doing tedious tasks that someone else can do! You can outsource locally or you can look for someone to outsource tasks to from elsewhere, this all depends on what you are comfortable with.
While it is important to constantly be asking yourself these questions, it is also important to sit down every three to six months and have a long think about these questions and what the answers actually are. Doing this regularly to ensure that your business will stay on top of its game and in front of all its competitors.
Hey, guys. I’m back again for another installment to answer some questions that have been emailed through to me.
I’ve had a few people email through their question and I’ll read it to you here.
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? I am going to answer that to the best of my ability and hopefully everyone will be able to take a snippet from that.
I’m assuming that this question is pertaining to what sorts of beds we use in our installs. Let’s look at our options.
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 and, obviously, 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 do here at Silk Home, which is my brick and mortar home staging business, we actually use 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.
There you go. There are our sneak peeks and our behind the scenes of what we do at Silk 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.
I’ll be back next week. Make sure if you have any questions that you jump onto our Facebook page and we can help you out.
If you have really specific questions about your business, make sure you pop over to our memberships. Our Shine 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. Jump on over and check them out. They’re all on the website.
Acquiring a variety of stock and accessories is a must for your home staging business. At first, purchasing stock might seem like a bit of a leap. However, if you are smart about what stock you purchase, you’ll find you can use it over and over again with great results.
When it comes to stock there is typically two categories, soft furnishings and hard furnishings.
Soft furnishings include pillows, linen, lamps and small accessories. Soft furnishings are those items that, if you needed to, you could pack them in a box and put them in your car. On the other hand, there are hard furnishings. Hard furnishings are big items such as lounges, armchairs, dining tables, coffee tables, and so on. These are the items that can’t be packed into a box and loaded into your car.
Logically, soft furnishings should be acquired first, and then later down the track hard furnishings can be acquired. However, as everyone is at different stages in their business, it is important to be able to look down the track and consider what sort of stock you should be acquiring.
SOFT FURNISHINGS
When it comes to soft furnishings, you can generally purchase these items cheap and in bulk. They should include:
Image Source: mcgee.com
Cushions: Purchasing pillows that work well in a wide range of environments is a great way to get the most out of your money. Try buying cushions in a few colours and designs as they can be used on their own or grouped together.
Faux flowers and plants: When the right ones are purchased, faux plants can look amazing and be used in a range of spaces and styles. The best part is how long they last!
Books: Books are a great way to add texture and a create ‘lived-in’ feeling to any space. These are the most cost-effective soft furnishings and can be used in any environment, from a study, bedroom or a lounge room. Just purchase a few books from your local op shop or you might even have some hanging around the house.
Knick-knack accessories: By this I mean small accessories that can be used in a variety of environments – anything from vessels, small bowls, candle holders, or any other small accessories.
Linen packs: This isn’t absolutely necessary, but I like to at least have a few coverlets and toppers as it can really transform a room from something dull to something amazing.
Image Source: tessaneustadt.com
HARD FURNISHINGS
Hard furnishings are more expensive so it’s usually beneficial to go for quality over quantity. The stock I recommend purchasing includes:
Image Source: ventandcover.com
Mattresses: Often clients do not have enough beds to show off the best of the space, or they have moved and have taken their mattresses with them.
Dining chairs: Not all dining chairs go with all tables, so having some neutral dining chairs that work with a range of colours is a great idea.
Bedside tables: Bedside tables have the potential to open up the bedroom and create a space for your soft furnishings. Tables that are unique, yet work well in a variety of environments is essential.
Lounges: When used everyday, lounges can easily begin to look old, worn and unpleasant. Having lounges in stock that are a neutral colour is a great idea as they can be used in a range of spaces in a range of different styled homes.
Coffee tables: Not everyone has a coffee table and if they do, it’s often old and worn. Investing in a few coffee tables can help you to transform and fill a living space amazingly.
Image Source: fionalynch.com.au
Purchasing stock doesn’t have to be a huge expense at first, in fact it shouldn’t be a huge expense when you first start accumulating inventory. As your business beings to flourish with the large amount of stock you accumulate, you will be able to stage more properties and further grow your business.
