home styling

How to use Home Stagers Effectively

June 20, 2018 by Naomi

When you are preparing to your put property on the market, chances are you want the best price possible. Often times, this means hiring a stager to give you the best chance at getting the highest return. If your budget is tight and you have furniture space, the best option in home staging is to have your property partially staged. This means that when a home stager comes into your property to have a consultation and quote your property, they will inform you of what furniture can stay and what furniture can go. However, if you want to best use home stagers to your fullest advantage there are a few things you should do before having the consultation.

De-clutter

De-cluttering your property is a must before it goes on sale and before you have a consultation with a home stager. Remove the stacks of DVD’s, CD’s, bookshelves stacked high with odds and ends, piles of things you have been meaning to clear out and anything that doesn’t have a spot. Not only will this help in the moving process but it will make your property seem a lot nicer and bigger instantly.

b363605415be4c504ab6c930559cc457 — Image via apartment34.com

Remove valuables and images

The reason for this is simple, you don’t want your valuables to be damaged in the sale process. If something is special to you but it does not go with the theme of the property, removing it prior to a home stager coming in is a good idea so someone else doesn’t have to tell you to remove it. Similarly, removing images is a must! Potential buyers don’t want to feel like they are walking through someone else’s property so family photos are unnecessary.

Remove toys

Even if you are living in the property during the sale process, limiting the amount of toys used to a small box that can easily be packed away in the car during open homes is a great idea. Toys are not necessary when displaying a home as a family home. Not only that but toys in the home during open houses make the property feel as if it is someone else’s and potential buyers cannot fully imagine themselves living in the space.

2b6488ed9394703e9e765d7a8c9218cc — Image via mydomainehome.com.au

Yard cleanliness

Keeping your yard in immaculate condition during the sale process is of utmost importance! Street appeal is the first thing that draws a buyer in so ensuring that the yard is looking amazing, with trimmed hedges, cut grass and clean footpaths is absolutely essential!

af6f6323ff2fc3883b5f95223dc1abd2 — Image via homestolove.co.nz

5. Be open

There is no point hiring a stager if you are going to shut down every idea they have. Home stagers are experts in design and the real estate market, which means they know what sells and what doesn’t. If you hire a stager but then rearrange everything as soon as they leave, then the whole process was a waste of your time and money. Chances are you are not an expert in the market, and the property design does not have to be to your personal taste, or even to the personal taste of the stager, it just has to be that of the market.

Must-Have Home Staging Stock

June 15, 2018 by Naomi

When you reach a certain point in your home staging business, acquiring stock and inventory is an essential step up. At first purchasing this stock might seem like a bit of a leap, and depending on what stock you purchase it might be. However, if you are smart about what stock you purchase and how much of it you purchase it could make all the difference to your home staging business.

When it comes to stock there is typically two types of stock, soft furnishings and hard furnishings. Soft furnishings include items such as pillows, linen, lamps and small accessories. The way I like to think about soft furnishings is that, if I needed to, I could pack them in a box and put them in my car. On the other hand, there are hard furnishings. Hard furnishings are big items such as lounges, arm chairs, dining tables, coffee tables, and so on. These are the items that can’t be packed into a box and loaded into your car.

Depending on what level of your business you are in you could be thinking about acquiring one of these two types of stock. 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, these items can be purchased relatively cheaply and in bulk.

Pillows: sure, pillows can be expensive, but purchasing pillows that work well in a wide range of environment is a great way to get the most out of your money, and add texture in a range of environments. Purchasing pillows in a few colours and designs is a great idea as they can be used on their own or grouped together.
Faux flowers and plants: Faux flowers and plants are great as, when the right ones are purchased, they can look amazing, can be used in a range of spaces and styles, and can last a long time.
Books: there doesn’t have to be a theme to this, and they can be purchased from a op shop, but books are a great way to add texture and a lived in feeling to any space. These are the most cost-effective soft furnishings and can be used in any environment, from a study, a bedroom to a lounge room or even an outdoor setting.
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 having at least coverlets and toppers is necessary as it can transform a room from something dull to something amazing.

229f1da3e9e8b569b0beceee69dce779 — Image via immyandindi.com.au

HARD FURNISHINGS

As for hard furnishings, these items are more expensive, and it is beneficial to go for quality over quantity.

Mattresses: often times clients do not have enough beds for how a property can be staged 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 tables, or look good with them, so having some neutral dining chairs that work with a range of colours is a great idea so you can use the clients dining table and your businesses chairs.
Bedside tables: bedside tables have the potential to open up the bedroom and transform the space into something amazing. Having bedside 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: Coffee tables are great ways to show off the space in a lounge room and add an element of homeliness into the space. Not everyone has a coffee table, and if they do it might be old and worn, having new, amazing coffee tables as part of your stock can transform and fill a space amazingly.

5512a478c1edcd04581dc6e05593f575 — Image via southernliving.com

Faux or Real Plants

June 10, 2018 by Naomi

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.

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, molding flower water is okay.

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

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.

What Beds to Use in Home Staging

June 5, 2018 by Naomi

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.

I’ll see you guys again soon. See you.

Our Favourite Rugs!

February 9, 2018 by Naomi

1. Kenza Rug – Freedom

2. Madras Rug – Freedom

3. Nomad Grey Rectangle Rug – wholesale supplier

4. Gold Black and White Rectangle Rug – wholesale supplier

5. Gold Navy Rectangle Rug – wholesale supplier

6. Atrium Pilu Natural Rug – wholesale supplier

7. Eco Herringbone Marble Rectangle Rug

8. Stockholm Rug – Ikea

9. Colca Wool Rug – West Elm

10. Atrium Wish Gold Round Rug – wholesale supplier

Perth Style Co. | Home Stager of the Month

November 9, 2017 by Naomi

At IIHS we love having the opportunity to showcase the work of our Shine members as one of our many membership perks! This month, our Home Stager of the Month is the lovely Sara James from Perth Style Co.

Running her own business for three years, Sara absolutely loves her new home staging career. Since changing her career in 2014, Sara has seen clear improvements in her attitude to work because she loves her job and is able to have an adaptable schedule, something that is near impossible in the corporate world.

What made you want to get into the industry?

With a history in property finance, I have an extensive insight into real estate transactions and how to influence the value of a property.

With this in mind, I recognised a niche opportunity in Perth to bring something completely different to our home staging market, that being a powerful combination of visual differentiation and property marketability.

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

Working with an extensive variety of agents and homeowners to get them excited about their new listings with innovative, on-trend design concepts and marketing initiatives.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter the industry?

It’s important to recognise that being successful in the home staging industry is not just about creative flair and good visuals, but about having the ability to understand the needs of an agent, their client and how you can impact the property transaction.

To get in contact with Sara, check out her website!

IIHS Success Story: Jaculin Dodson

November 2, 2017 by Naomi

Here at IIHS, we strive to make a difference in the lives of our students that goes beyond the course content. It could be through giving you the tools you need to succeed, or the confidence you need to make positive changes in your lives. Each year, we are so proud of the growth and determination we see in our students and we’re over the moon to share some amazing success stories of some of the best home stagers and stylists from the IIHS community!

So without further ado, we would like to introduce…

Jaculin Dodson – Peony Property Staging

How has your business grown since studying with IIHS?

“I’ve always had a passion for interiors and for property. While on maternity break with my children, I knew that I didn’t want to get back into the corporate world and I wanted something that would give me the freedom to be around for my growing family and that also fuelled my passion.

I came across the International Institute of Home Staging, as being a Newcastle based girl, had followed the growth of Naomi’s Silk Home business with much interest.

I took my leap of faith and bought my ticket to attend the first Home Staging Symposium in 2015. My business was a dream at this time and after attending the Symposium in Sydney, I was inspired and fired up to make this a reality”.

Home stager success — Image from Peony Property Staging

What has been one of the best parts of becoming a member of the IIHS community?

“I signed up as a Shine/Professional Member at the Symposium and also enrolled in Course 1, The Art of Home Staging and to be honest, I haven’t looked back. I completed my studies in the Art of Home Staging and then enrolled in Advanced Home Staging and Business Development.

My business growth has been incredible since I studied and I took on Home Staging as a full time job. I have moved from being home based, to storage sheds and a desk in a collective office, to recently taking on my own warehouse and office in Newcastle where I now operate all facets of my business. I’ve taken on staff and the plan is to bring my husband into the business next year!

I will not ever look back and I’m so glad that I took that leap and went along to the IIHS Symposium and studied with IIHS”.

What are the goals you have for your business and how did studying with IIHS help you achieve these?

“I am wanting to continue to grow and increase my capacity to service more agents and clients in the local area.

I am a believer in investing in myself and in my business and aside from the IIHS Course, I have also attended a number of other events organised by IIHS including travelling to Bali for Business & Balance Retreat!”

We are so proud of you Jacci!

You can find out more about Peony Property Staging here: http://www.peonystaging.com.au/

If you would like to follow in Jacci’s footsteps and take a step closer to getting your dream job, you can enroll in our last home staging course of the year here.

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Chanelrae Property Styling | Home Stager of the Month

October 12, 2017 by Naomi

At IIHS we love having the opportunity to showcase the work of our Shine members as one of our many membership perks! This month, our Home Stager of the Month is the lovely Chanel Williams from Chanelrae Propety Styling.

Staging properties in Perth, Western Australia, Chanel has been running her own home staging business since 2016.

According to Chanel, “I wanted to have more flexibility so I could spend more time with my young daughter”.

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

The joy of making spaces beautiful – using a mix of trends and classic pieces to make something stylish and unique.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter the industry?

Stay true to yourself, work hard and don’t give up on your dreams and passions.

To get in touch with Chanel, head over to Chanelrae Property Styling

Styling By Jackie | Home Stager of the Month

September 14, 2017 by Naomi

At IIHS we love having the opportunity to showcase the work of our Shine members as one of our many membership perks! This month, our Home Stager of the Month is the lovely Jackie Fyfe from Styling by Jackie.

Staging properties in the south eastern suburbs of Victoria, Jackie has been running her own home staging business since 2013.

According to Jackie, “with a background in graphic design, fashion and furniture retail, interior styling was a natural progression”.

What made you get into the industry?

I wanted to unleash my creative side and in return, empower and help others to successfully sell their homes for a premium rate.

It all started with a friend in real estate who know I had a ‘flair’ in the interior sector. I was asked to help a neighbour prepare her house for sale.

With some tweaking and practical advice, the neighbour’s house sold within a week for a substantial amount more than expected!

Now consulting and styling, on average, four to five properties a week, the rest is history!

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

Being able to look back at before and after photos, witnessing the incredible transformations that are made in bringing out the best in properties.

I also love working with homes that are unique, such as mud brick, farm and art deco.

These different styles of homes challenge my creative boundaries in selecting appropriate furniture and accessories to compliment their individual styles.

It’s about creating a unique and tailored look, not simply a one style fits all.

What advice would you give someone wanting to enter the industry?

My advice would be to definitely research the industry thoroughly before diving in.

Although this career is completely rewarding and totally creative, styling properties is hard work.

It involves an innate ability , patience, real estate and vendor understanding, and, of course, a love for all things interior.

A sense of humour is also essential!

To get in touch with Jackie, head over to her instagram @stylingbyjackie

Why is Defining the Function of a Space Important?

March 15, 2017 by Naomi

When someone moves into a new property, one of the first things they tend to think of is ‘what will I use this space for?’. Some spaces are obvious…the kitchen is for cooking, the bedroom is for sleeping, the lounge room is for watching television. But we all know this isn’t true!

More often than not, especially if you have kids, the kitchen becomes a place for homework to be done. The master bedroom, your bedroom, becomes a communal meeting point in the morning where all the kids come to you with their issues for the day and permission slips that should have been signed at the start of the week and, of course, the room you had designated as the play room has been relocated to the lounge room. This is just part of life, and it is something that we adapt to.

However, as home stagers, the spaces we create don’t have to be practical for day to day living. It is important that we hold onto the hopeful ‘what will I use this space for?’ mentality that buyers have before they enter the space. The spaces we create contain an in an ideal world this is what the space would be used for.

So, why is it important to define the function of a space as a home stager?

Image via amberinteriordesign.com

When a property is put on the market empty, potential buyers are likely to become overwhelmed over the prospect of what they will use each space for. What room is better for a teenager and what one for a preteen? Should there be two living spaces? Is there enough room for a study space or home office?

Similarly, when a property is put on the market in the same design as what the seller had when they were living in the space, the property won’t fell like it is for sale. Doing this will create elements of clutter and uncertainty about what space is to be used for what. This is because, as mentioned above, we adapt to how our families use a space and often times don’t notice that there is anything out of the ordinary about this.

This is where the magic of home stagers come in.

When staging a property, it is up to the home stager to determine what a space is best used for. If there is an awkward space between two bedrooms, a home stager may place a study desk there. This is something potential buyers might not have thought of doing, but seeing the desk there allows for the space to seem larger, and like the desk was always supposed to go there.

Image via cocolapinedesign.com

The accessories and furniture home stagers use allow for a space to have a clear and obvious activity attached to it. The items in the bedroom show that the space is used for sleeping, and the same goes for the lounge room, study space and kitchen. Doing this allows for potential buyers to see the size of the space, as well as the ideal activity to be done in the space, creating a homely and ‘I could live here’ atmosphere for all potential buyers.

Image via myscandinavianhome.com

Design Trends: A Need-To-Know for Home Stagers

September 26, 2016 by Naomi

When it comes to common stereotypes around people who become home stagers there are two main ideas: home stagers are interior designers who know nothing about real estate or home stagers are real estate agents who know nothing about design. But, unsurprisingly, neither of these stereotypes are true. Yes, home stagers come from a variety of different backgrounds, and these backgrounds may very well be design or real estate. In saying this though, it is of utmost importance for home stagers to know about both design and the real estate industry. In this article though, we will be discussing why design trends are on the need-to-know list for home stagers.

For home stagers, knowing design trends, what is in and what is out and knowing what will sell in what areas to who is of utmost importance.

Knowing how to implement design trends in your home staging projects is of utmost importance. There’s no point covering a home in metallics if you don’t think that will sell the home to the biggest range of potential buyers.

Some current interior design trends include marble, greenery, mattes and greys, natural (wooden) ornaments, minimalist designs and industrial inspired spaces. Now, it is important to know how to use these trends and what trends go together to create a space that possible buyers adore. While it is impossible to know exactly what everyone likes it is important to be able to create a space that is targeted to a specific type of buyer while still creating a general appeal for everyone viewing the home.

What I’m getting at here is that in home staging it is important to dilute design trends. The purpose of home staging is to make the most amount of people like the property through design, and the home isn’t a showpiece. Using little bits of specific trends throughout a property is the best way to make a property still look modern and trendy without going overboard with the trends.

So, how do you implement design trends into a project?

Scattering plants throughout the home is a simple, cheap and easy way to implement the current trend of greenery into a space. The beauty of this trend is that you can get fake plants if you want! This brings a no-fuss breath of fresh air into space.

Marble can be bought into the home in countless ways. Be it a marble benchtop, marble tiles in the bathroom, a marble clock or a marble centrepiece. Not only does marble look awesome with greenery but it can be paired with any colour under the sun!

Similar to marble, metallic accessories are a great way to add a little something area to a space without having to put in any extra effort. Metallic serving bowls, lamp bases and dressers are a great way to create a space that is modern, chic and bright!

Using greys and mattes, particularly in the kitchen and accessories is an easy way to make a space look uber modern and chic! Grey isn’t as harsh as black but creates a homely feeling to any space.

The combination of natural elements with industrial and minimalist design is a great way to make any space look clean, spacious and modern. When paired with greenery, marble, metallic and grey elements the space can look awesome if it is styled correctly. Knowing what trends work together and what don’t is an easy way to determine what will sell certain spaces. As mentioned previously, it is of utmost importance to dilute design trends, so using all the trends at once is most likely not the best idea as at the end of the day, it is the home stagers job to sell the space.

Home Stager of the Month – Shelley Nedev from Amari Property Styling

June 4, 2016 by Naomi

I am a proud long time resident of beautiful tropical Darwin, I have a young family with my wonderful husband, we have a 3 year old son, with another baby on the way! I absolutely love my job as a home stager/property stylist and I plan to keep on growing my business here at home in Darwin.

Shelly Nedev from Amari Property Styling

How long have you been in the industry?

Since I started my business 2 years and 8 months ago.

Do you run your own business? If so for how long?

Yes I run everything on my own, with the help and support of my husband.

What made you get into the industry?

I wanted to work for myself and create a flexible lifestyle for my family, of course the idea of decorating and creating beautiful interiors was what got me at the start. But oh my goodness, the actual decorating/styling seems like such a small part of it all in the scheme of things!

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

Being my own boss, having pride and passion in my work and the finished product. And achieving amazing sales results for my clients, it’s a great feeling making people happy.

What advice would you give someone wanting to enter the industry?

Just to be realistic and aware that it is not all about just decorating, styling or ‘fluffing cushions’, like a lot of people seem to think… there are many different aspects to being a home stager; and it is always hard work running your own business.

It is ok to start small, do your research on starting up your business and have a business plan and structure from the beginning, it will make things run so much more smoothly for you. (I was a slow learner at this one!)

It is so important to have some processes and procedures in place, as uninspiring as that sounds being a creative person. It will save your time, energy and money! By cutting down on removalists or staff expenses.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and you will get there; passion for your job and perseverance will win every time!

Check out Amari Property Styling here!

home styling

What made you want to get into the industry?

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

What advice would you give to someone wanting to enter the industry?

Jaculin Dodson – Peony Property Staging

How has your business grown since studying with IIHS?

What has been one of the best parts of becoming a member of the IIHS community?

What are the goals you have for your business and how did studying with IIHS help you achieve these?

Staging properties in the south eastern suburbs of Victoria, Jackie has been running her own home staging business since 2013.

What made you get into the industry?

What is your favourite part of working in home staging?

What advice would you give someone wanting to enter the industry?

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