tips

How to Hang Art in a Home for Sale

March 18, 2019 by Naomi

Art is one of the greatest ways to give homebuyers a vision when they walk into a property!

They may visualise their existing home decorations, be inspired by new colours and consider how to improve their own style and ideas.

But the way you present your wall art can make or break the impact it has on the buyer – and as many of you know, attention to detail is of utmost importance when staging your house to be sold.

So what are the 4 key things to remember when you are hanging wall art?

1. Keep artwork in scale with the space

The biggest mistake most people make is hanging a picture that’s too small for the space. If you put a page-sized portrait on an expansive wall, it will be totally lost and ignored. To figure out how large a picture to hang on your wall, measure the width of the space (say, the area between two windows) and multiply that number by .57. The result is the ideal width of the painting you should centre in that space. This bit of arithmetic is based on decorators’ tried-and-true proportions, but you of course have a little leeway. You can also group smaller photos together to reach this number — just be sure to account for additional spacing between each.

2. Hang artwork at eye level

Many people hang their pictures too high on the wall, thinking that there’s a lot of space to fill toward the ceiling. Not so! The centre of your artwork should be at eye level of the average person — (roughly 175cm). The one exception is with lettered signs, which are typically designed to be seen from a distance and can therefore be hung higher than eye level if you like.

3. Make sure your art is lit correctly

Be conscious of the lighting around your artwork. Some art will only shine when light dances onto its surface in the correct way so ensure you investigate the light from windows and any artificial sources. Also be wary the beauty or detail of your favourite piece doesn’t get lost if it’s catching some rays.

4. Use art to accentuate the room

If you have beautiful tall ceilings, use art to draw your eyes upwards by hanging one piece on top of the other, rather than the more traditional way of side by side. Use ornate detail to embellish or highlight art pieces, and vice versa. Choose art that brings out the best of the room, and can help mask the less inspiring elements of a room.

If you stick to these four simple rules, you’re sure to be pleased with how your works of art transform the walls and ‘wow’ potential homebuyers.

Want to boost your career in home staging and learn from experts in your industry? Attend the BIGGEST home staging event in the country at the 2019 National Home Staging Symposium! Spots filling FAST – save your seat here!

Clutter and Your Mindset

July 5, 2018 by Naomi

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.

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.

4 Tips for Convincing Your Clients of the Value of Home Staging

May 20, 2018 by Naomi

So you want to increase your customer base and convince more clients about the value of home staging? A part of any professional home stagers job description is selling their services. Part of selling is showing how your services add value and create a win-win situation for your clients. So how do you show this value?

These are my Top 4 Tips for convincing your clients of the value of home staging:

Show them the stats

The majority of clients enjoy hearing and analysing the statistics around home staging and its results or return on investments for vendors. There is a lot of literature on the internet that is floating about to support the use of home staging and pre sale property styling – the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) has a yearly publication as do a few other American and Canadian Associations.

However presenting off shore data to clients that has been derived from what they may consider to be a completely unrelated market often results in objections and questions about the transferability of the data.

The best way to counter this is to collect your own data. When you collect your own rigorous and consistent statistics based on local sales and your workmanship, there can be little challenge to their relevancy.

2. Assess your business model

I constantly get asked how can I increase my customer base. Sometimes it is less about selling, and more about assessing your business model. The first thing you need to do is ask yourself the following questions!

Q1 – “Do you have a database, or a list of your customers?”

Q2 – “When was the last time you connected with your customers online and offline to re-build your relationship with them?”

Q3 – “Can you re-structure your payment options and make it more attractive for existing customers to pay upfront, in advance or on a monthly payment plan?”

Q4 – “Have you considered a low cost referral program that could reward your current customers who introduce their friends and family to your service?”

Q 5 “Are you testing and measuring your marketing efforts to gauge the best ROI on your marketing dollar?”

Armed with these five simple questions, you can now assess your current situation and take the appropriate action towards increasing the sales in your business.

Record your answers and have them ready for your next business planning meeting.

Network like a boss

Networking is a cost effective way to generate new business leads and make connections with other like-minded people. I strongly believe networking is an important part of having a successful business. Here are some tips I always follow:

Always have business cards with you. You can build your network anywhere! Waiting for the kids to finish school, at a birthday party or at the shops.
Listen! Even though networking is about you, it is important to listen to what somebody else is saying in case you can help them.
Be interested. Showing that you are interested in somebody is a vital part of networking.
When you have to speak, make sure you have a speech ready to go, introducing yourself smoothly and confidently.
Follow the top communication rule: giving eye contact!
Do not stay talking to the same person for hours at an event, make sure you make the rounds giving everyone a piece of your time, allowing you to meet new people and possible business associates.
Following up is essential – send everyone you met a card, email, Facebook message, tweet, text or even give them a call.
Make sure you stay in touch with people you felt like you could work with in the future because chances are, you probably will.

Following these tips will has countless benefits including greater exposure for your business and further opportunities.

Use social media

Facebook… one of the most popular social media outlets on the internet. Most of us carry it with us everyday on phone and tablet devices. Facebook is a great way to market and attract more traffic to your business in so many ways, no matter how you run your business or what type of work you do!

Promote your business by getting friends and family to support your work and like the page, and also liking and talking to other business owners in a similar area of interest to you. While creating a social stir you may find that your page gathers more attention from different people/businesses, more likes and comments, and more general interest for what your business is really all about! (Eventually leading up to larger numbers of clientele!)

Ask your social media audience questions and engage them in your work! This is always fun and puts the spotlight on the audience, rather than only talking about the business itself. You can gain insight into what your clientele like and dislike through this method by asking the questions and getting the feedback, ultimately building confidence for your business due to the market needs! Always keep in contact with your clients and audience by answering any questions that they may ask – do not ignore them!

These 4 tips will help you on your way to strengthening your business and legitimizing the value of home staging for clients.

Want more info? Get your FREE crash course in home staging below!

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4 Tips For Hanging The Perfect Wall Art

May 9, 2018 by Naomi

One aspect of decorating that many people struggle with is choosing and hanging wall art. If you’ve left the walls of your home blank because you’re afraid of making an error, or if you’ve hung photos and prints only to be disappointed by the results, keep reading! By following a few best practices, you can use your artwork to transform your space with these 4 simple tips.

Hang only what you love

Choosing artwork for your home is highly personal subject, and this is where we let go of any rules, save for one: You must love the works of art you hang on your walls. They should speak to you. Never choose a painting or print just because you think it matches your room — it’s a sure-fire way to be disappointed in the end.

Original paintings can be expensive, but if you have artistic friends or family, you can frame some of their original pieces for a really sharp, custom look. You can also purchase prints, enlarge favourite photos (black and white portraits are very chic), or find some incredible antique signs or other interesting objects to hang on your walls for interest. You just need to love it.

2. Don’t skimp on the frames

If you choose to hang traditional wall art, it’s worth it to spend a little more for professional framing. This will protect your investment, as framers use acid-free materials and UV-rated glass to make sure your artwork doesn’t deteriorate. Framing is also an opportunity to unify your look. For example, you could have several very different paintings in style or subject, but if they’re all in similar frames, you add instant cohesion to your room.

3. Keep artwork in scale with the space

The biggest mistake most people make is hanging a picture that’s too small for the space. If you put a beloved, page-sized portrait on an expansive wall, it will be totally lost and ignored. To figure out how large a picture to hang on your wall, measure the width of the space (say, the area between two windows) and multiply that number by .57. The result is the ideal width of the painting you should center in that space. This bit of arithmetic is based on decorators’ tried-and-true proportions, but you of course have a little leeway. You can also group smaller photos together to reach this number — just be sure to account for additional spacing between each.

4. Hang artwork at eye level

Many people hang their pictures too high on the wall, thinking that there’s a lot of space to fill toward the ceiling. This is not the case! The centre of your artwork should be at eye level of the average person — if you live with someone, split the difference. The one exception is with lettered signs, which are typically designed to be seen from a distance and can therefore be hung higher than eye level if you like.

If you stick to these four simple rules, you’re sure to be pleased with how your works of art transform your walls.

Want more tips? Get your FREE Crash Course in Home Staging below!

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How to transition from your corporate job to running a home staging business

January 12, 2018 by Naomi

If you have a passion for styling homes, building your own home staging business can be one of the most rewarding careers out there. There’s the creative freedom, working your own hours and dealing with the clients of your choice. In theory, it’s an easy decision to change your career overnight, but I know that the transition from full time work in a corporate setting to running your own business is a little more complicated than that.

To help make it a little easier, follow these 4 steps to ensure your transition from working a 9 – 5 to running a home staging business is a smooth and successful one:

Set your work hours

I’ve heard people say that the main reason that they want to run their own business from home is because they can work only when they want to work. It IS true that you can set your own work hours when you work at home but it does NOT mean that you don’t have to have set work hours.

When you have a job that you go to outside your home, you are required to be at that job at a specified time on specified days of the week. When you have a work at home job or business, you need that same kind of structure. You need to set regular working hours. The freedom that a work at home job provides is that you can choose the hours…but you do have to choose!

A ‘hit or miss’ work schedule…or rather, the lack of any work schedule at all, simply will not work. Time is of the Essence! YOUR time!

Let your friends and family know your work schedule

The benefits of running your own business means you can be at home to see the kids off to school and be at home when they get home. You can put a load of laundry in and it can run through the cycles while you are working. But you must enforce a work schedule for yourself and insist that your family and friends also adhere to it.

A job out in the brick and mortar world tells your family and friends that your time is spoken for during your working hours. When you work from home, expect your spouse to see you as being free to run errands. Your friends will see you as being available for long telephone conversations, lunch or for a coffee klatch.

You can see the problem. The best way to accomplish using your time to your own best advantage with your business is to make a schedule and tell your family and friends what that schedule is.

You don’t have to be rude but you do have to be firm. Make it clear to all. “I will be working between 9 AM and 3 PM Monday through Friday. On those days and during those hours, I am NOT available to run errands or take personal phone calls or entertain company.” Then stick to it!

Create your own brand

When running your own business, you need to work on creating your brand. A brand is more than a name or a physical feature, it is the perception that customers have about your product or service. It’s your promise to your audience. In general terms, it’s an idea or image of a specific product or service that consumers connect with.

Whilst in the order of things a logo usually comes first, the trick is to then grow your brand from there.

When establishing your brand first work out what the vision, values and personality of your company are. Consider your audience and define them. What’s their age, gender, occupation, location and personality traits? When doing these exercises, also remember that this is not about defining you or describing what you like, you need to put yourself in the shoes of your potential buyers to see what they desire.

Figure out your competition

In the age of technology, you can do a million and one things to switch up your business and create a unique element of interest that set you above other home stagers in your area. All that you have to decide is what ideas you are going to pursue!

This could be creating your own Youtube channel where you share advice or film the home staging process of a property. It could be starting a blog to engage your audience and direct traffic to your website. There’s even options like offering warehouse tours and creating an online op-shop for old furniture stock – get creative!

Are you ready to start your career in home staging? Click on the image below to claim your spot in the first course now!

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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

A Guide to Installing Plantation Shutters for your Client

August 22, 2017 by Naomi

Plantation shutters are a great way to add value to a property on the real estate market.

They allow for maximum light to enter a room while maintaining a high level of privacy.

Plantation shutters can be a costly investment for clients who are looking to put their property on the market.

Luckily, installing plantation shutters is more simple than you may have imagined.

DIYing plantation shutters means that you are only spending a fraction of the price it costs to have the shutters professionally installed.

Today I am bringing you my go-to guide for installing plantation shutters for your home staging client!

At DIYBlinds the USP for PolyLux Shutters have 20 years of manufacturing warranty and a lifetime guarantee to never bleach, blister or peel!

The blinds are ready within 2 weeks of ordering and can be shipped Australia wide with shipping prices depending on postcode.

Tools:

Stepladder
Pencil
Cordless drill with a 3mm drill bit and a Phillips head drill bit

Step 1: Constructing The Frame

Start with a clean surface. This will help you to avoid scratching any frames or panels
Your frame will come in 3 or 4 pieces depending on your selection. Each section will be labeled so you don’t get any of the sections mixed up.
Lay all of the frames on the floor. Clip each corner together with a hockman key provided in the pack.
Screw the corners together in the predrilled holes

Always construct the frame as close to the window as possible so you don’t have to move the frame too much!

Step 2: Mounting The Frames

Depending on the type of fit your client is after, there is different ways to you will be required to mount your frames.

Recess Fit –

A recess fit frame is when the frame fits inside the window panels.

When installing a recess fit frame, there are a few steps you must do.

Predrill a hole between each hinge on left and right.
Lift frame into place.
Screw shutter frames into window frame. It is important to remember that not every window is square, so you may need to adjust the size of the frame.

Face Fit –

A face fit frame is when the frame is when the frame fits outside the window frame.

When installing a face fit frame, there are a few steps you must do.

Predrill a hole in the back of the frame.
Lift frame into place.
Screw shutter frames into window frame. It is important to remember that not every window is square, so you may need to adjust the size of the frame.

Step 3: Mounting The Panels

Once your frame is secure, attach panels to the frame. Everything should line up correctly, however, if the hinges don’t line up, you may be using the wrong panel or the panel may be upside down.
Make sure the shutters open and close with ease.
Gap around the edges. If the gap is bigger, go over it twice. It is important to test this in direct sunlight.

Offering to install plantation shutters for your clients at a fraction of the price a professional charges is a great value add for your business!

Always use DIYBlinds custom Check Measure Service and a DIY guide to installing the blinds yourself!

It is always important to emphasise to the client that you are not a professional in blind installation and therefore do not offer any warranty for the blinds.

Always consult the instructions of the package to ensure you achieve the best possible blind installation for your client.

How To: Increase your Efficiency As a Work-At-Home Entrepreneur

June 11, 2017 by Naomi

For an entrepreneur, time is an extremely valuable asset.

Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but it is how you use those 24 hours that is the most important thing in the world for entrepreneurs. As humans, we can’t spend all of those 24 hours working, we have to eat, sleep, relax and spend time with our families. By the time all of that is done, we are only left with a limited amount of time to complete our mountains of work. We can’t waste time on unimportant details or on tasks that we can outsource.

As an entrepreneur, you understand the value of what a few minutes are, especially if you are working at home where it is very easy to become distracted. So, how do you become more productive as a work-at-home entrepreneur?

Have one email account

Sure, we all multiple email accounts for a variety of different things, but there are ways you can combine these accounts. It can be extremely time consuming to constantly be logging in and out of different email accounts. Using a single email account outlet such as Gmail allows you

to input all of your email accounts into the one account, and all you have to do is flick through a single screen to change what account you are looking at.

This way, you are able to filter through your business emails, personal emails and junk mail in a quick time frame.

Have a schedule

Having a timetable might make you feel like you are back in high school but it is one of the most effective ways to be productive at home. If you know that at 1pm you are meeting someone for lunch, having a list, or schedule, of what you want to complete before lunch will dramatically increase your efficiency.

Outsource

As an entrepreneur, chances are you have a mountain of things you need to get done, and, most of the time, these things you need to complete won’t lead anywhere. Don’t waste your time completing tedious tasks that someone else can do. The only way your business will thrive is if you spend your time focusing on what you need to focus on, not on the things you don’t.

Outsourcing can be done in countless ways such as hiring an assistant, outsourcing online or outsourcing overseas. You can outsource a single task or recurring tasks, it is completely up to you and the needs of your business.

Be productive

If you are spending 2pm-3pm everyday watching television, it is time to consider if you are really being as productive as you should be. Everyone needs to relax and to have down time, but as an entrepreneur it is important to try to keep as ‘normal’ a routine as possible. Working from around 9am-5pm is a great way to achieve this. Opt for spending your leisure time at night or on the weekends when everyone else is doing the same.

Entrepreneurs need time on their side to make their dream a reality. It is important to use the time you have, especially if you are working at home, to be the most productive and efficient as humanly possible to ensure your business is doing the best it can.

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

Must-Have Home Staging Stock

February 25, 2017 by Naomi

Depending on where you live, acquiring stock for your home staging business may be a necessary move. At first, purchasing stock might seem like a bit of a leap. However, if you are smart about what stock you purchase it could make all the difference to your home staging business.

When it comes to stock there are 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, 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 cheap and in bulk.

Cushions: sure, cushions can be expensive, but purchasing pillows that work well in a wide range of environments is a great way to get the most out of your money, and add texture in many spaces. Purchasing cushions in a few colours and designs is a great idea as they can be used on their own or grouped together.
Image Source: mcgee.com
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.
Image Source: tessaneustadt.com
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.
Image Source: ventandcover.com

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.
Image Source: adoremagazine.com
Dining chairs: not all dining chairs go with all 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.
Image Source: fionalynch.com.au.
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.

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.

Top Ten Interior Design Apps

February 6, 2017 by Naomi

It’s not an unknown fact that an interior designers best friend is their phone! And its no wonder! Our phones are great tools for our jobs and in more ways than one!

I have created a list of my top ten best design apps that are available for download on the Apple App Store. Please note, these apps are in no particular order!

Pinterest + Houzz

Pinterest is my favourite way of sourcing inspiration, connecting with clients and keeping up with trends! Just like Google, you can search anything interiors, follow other designers, interior blogs and magazines, create boards filled with interiors that you love, and create secret boards with clients based on their projects which is great as a reference tool!

Houzz is similar to Pinterest but on a much more professional platform. You can search design agencies and flick through photos of their projects, have your very own Houzz page if you are a designer, tradie or architect, or simply use it as a source of inspiration just like Pinterest!

PANTONE Studio

I love PANTONE Studio for creating my colour schemes! There are plenty of inspiration photos and the whole Pantone range of colours to build palettes from and save them. This app is great for when I’m on the go.

MagicPlan

The MagicPlan app, is literally that. I can take photos of rooms, import them into the app, then magically a floorplan is created! No drawing or measurements needed. These are great for staging projects especially when I need a floorplan that is easy to read for the whole team!

Canva

Canva is the perfect photo editing app. I can lighten, brighten, add text and contrast as well as filter my photos, making them perfect to go out on social media! (https://www.canva.com/)

Notes

The simple and trustworthy app that lets me record and download information from my head during and after I have been on a job site or met with clients.

Photo Measures

Photo Measures is an app that allows you to draw over your photos to record measurements. This app is so great for spaces like kitchens and bathrooms where lots of detail is needed that a floorplan sometimes cannot capture.

Camera/Photos

Of course, my phone’s camera is one of my favourite all time apps! Taking photos of products you like, job sites, colour palettes and client’s homes is super important. The photos app then allows me to make albums for each project where I can save the photos to!

Dropbox

Dropbox is a lifesaver. It is an online storage app in the cloud that allows me to save absolutely anything I like into it! I group my folders in the correct projects I am working on and it allows me to be super organised.

Instagram

Instagram is one of my favourite social media platforms to share images of my work, follow others and also find inspiration. Instagram is very visual so it gives clients a great opportunity to visualise my style and work ethic!

CamCard

CamCard is a great way to store all of the business cards that I collect. I take a photo each time I receive a business card and it stores all the information in the app. It’s my go-to app to contact my trades or suppliers.