Over the 7 years that I have taught home staging and redesign I have only ever had 2 men in my class. And those 2 men took the course the very same week!

In the class I am teaching this week I have 2 men again – but here’s the twist – one of them is one of the two men who took my class years ago (2007)! So now I can say I still have only ever had 2 men take my home staging and redesign course.

I wonder why this is? I know there are many men out there who are or would be excellent at home staging and redesign. I just wonder where they are….

Here’s the proof:

In an earlier post I mentioned that I was staging a vacant 2 bedroom condo. I found (I didn’t actually hire anyone) a painter to do some work, and cleaners to really clean the place so it would be ready for selling. All good.

I selected the inventory (look at my earlier post) and it all arrived on time for the staging. The movers were fantastic as they put your large furnishings exactly where you want them which saves you time and energy.

So far so good – right? My team arrived on time – Lisa Maddocks and Cheryl Grattan were my paid assistants and since I teach home staging two other PRES members were invited for a work experience – Tracy Johnson and Elin Ife.

* Well when I went to inspect the painting I found that through a MISCOMMUNICATION the painter had painted the white mantel over the fireplace BLACK and what I had requested was that he paint out the BRASS not the mantel. What to do, what to do… we just got busy and staged the condo as you see here, and I am going to see what the home owner thinks about the black mantel. It’s not that bad so the lesson is – make sure you have everything in writing and not just verbally as I did with my painter.

* When we went to open up the blinds in the breakfast nook one of the blinds went flying off and so, we were slowed down by having to fix it. In my follow up email to the client I let them know about that, and also 2 of the hallway light fixtures were not working. It’s a nice little ‘value added’ that you can give your client once the job is done.

I’ll keep you posted on whether or not we repaint the fireplace!

As part of my PRES staging course the PRES Gold and/or Platinum members are invited to do staging jobs with me. This time I was sourcing a job from a rental furnishing company for a vacant property. It’s great to have your own rentals and I do recommend having accessories and small items such as lamps, floral, art, cushions, etc. but the bigger pieces like sofas, chairs, beds (blow up or other), dressers, tables, etc. I prefer to source from a number of local suppliers.

This is what I do and have found it works quite well:

1. Take photos of each of the rooms I am going to stage
2. Make a rough floor plan of the layout of the property if I don’t have an original one
3. Print the photos – I get them done with a mat finish so I can write and draw on them
4. Glue them on 8 1/2 x 11 paper
5. I have a standard template of a List Of Rental Items that I would normally rent in a home so I just fill out the form. For example I would have LIVING ROOM and under that SOFA, CHAIR, LOVESEAT, LAMPS, AREA RUG, COFFEE TABLE, SIDE TABLE, ART, ACCESSORIES – I just check off what I need and how many items of each.
6. I take the photos and the List of Rental Items needed to the rental store. We are fortunate in Vancouver BC because we do have some very good stores to source from. I like Fluff Rentals for the selection and great staff!
7. Using the paint colours of the home I decide on my ‘Colour Story’ for the property.
8. I start with one room and pick the art first that works with the colour story and then my biggest items from here.
9. I don’t go on to the next room until I have finished (or almost) finished with everything I need in that one room – basically the same way we stage a property.
10. I have a cart to put all my small items on and I have a colour sticky that is for the larger items.
11. I review my order with the staff; they provide me a quote; I confirm it with my client; and I prefer to have my client pay directly and sign the insurance papers as well.

Here are a few shots from yesterday. I’ll do some ‘before and after’ photos once we are done next week. The rental costs for this 2 bedroom condo were about $2000. It is about 1100 square feet and I typically average the rentals to be about $2/square foot and this one falls into that category. Of course my charges for the consultation, report and staging are on top of this as is the moving company cost.

The sourcing took about 4 hours but there was also training going on!

Working From Photos and Inventory CheckList

The Final Colour Story

The Final Accessories after 4 hours...

Do you have what it takes to be a Solo-preneur?

Here are two facts:
1) The majority of home stagers in North America are solo-preneurs (single owner entrepreneurs).
2) 80% of women entrepreneurs in North America do not have any employees. (They will have contractors who they contract with)

Having taught home staging for many years now, as well as interior decorating, there is one question that I like to ask potential students inquiring about getting into either of these businesses.

This is it: “Do you like to work at home alone?”

If the answer is ‘YES’ then they have a better chance of succeeding in the long term with their business. However, if the answer is ‘NO’ that doesn’t entirely mean that being a successful solopreneur it unattainable. People like and need to feel connected to other people, often in the same industry. So here are a few suggestions so you don’t give up on the dream:

* join associations so you can connect with other home stagers – find out who you might be able to contract with or for
* consider taking a part-time job in an industry related field such as a paint store, lighting store, Home Depot, Home Sense, flooring store, etc. This way you get to interact with other people and may get some clients as well.
* get out to as many networking events as makes sense with your schedule
* follow up with people you connect with so you get out of the home as much as possible
* RESA has an annual conference in Las Vegas in January. Check it out and get connected with like-minded successful people to get inspired and learn some new ways of doing business

And most importantly keep connected because being isolated can feel devastating in the long term. Connect – get out there- read inspiring books – follow bloggers who inspire you – get that I CAN DO IT ATTITUDE!

For several years now the PRES Staging Resource Centre has had donations made on its behalf. Years ago when the training school needed training homes to bring the students in to stage and/or redesign client’s homes we used to charge $250. While it does amount to a significant amount of money over the years, PRES decided that a WIN-WIN for a charity and a client would be to have the client make a donation to their favourite charity instead of to the training school.

To date thousands of dollars and/or donations have gone to Children’s Hospital, Make a Wish Foundation, SPCA, Big Brothers, Salvation Army and Breast Cancer to name a few.

BIG THANK YOU FOR GIVING IS WHAT LIFE IS ALL ABOUT. HAPPY NEW YEAR!

For almost a decade now, I have been teaching either interior decorating, home redesign and/or home staging almost exclusively to women just like you who have a dream. My role is to educate you in these disciplines. Your role is take what you have learned and make your dream business a reality.

Interestingly enough over this time period, I would say over 50% of the students that I have taught let the dream die. Why? Why is it that some soar with their dream and create exciting businesses for themselves? I teach the same things to all the students so what happens?

This is what I think happens:

* you do not get the support in your home life that you need
* you lose your focus too quickly
* you did not realize that you would be a solo-preneur and that means working on your own most of the time – you may need to be part of a team or with people on a regular basis
* you give up too quickly
* you have negative self-talk that takes you down
* you don’t get out and market yourself enough
* you think because you have a website and your business cards that is all you need
* you lack faith in your ability and you do not trust that the Universe is supporting you

Well ladies, this is what I know to be true about you:

* you have the talent and skills to create a successful business
* you came to me with your dream – it is your dream and only you can live it
* you can find a part time industry-related job that keeps you connected with other people and can be a way to find clients WHILE you are building your business
* you are smart enough to know that you need to get help when you need it – whether this means more education, signing up for inspiring newsletters or daily inspirational quotes, working part time in your field, hiring a coach, etc.
* you can change your negative self-talk by consciously saying ‘STOP’ when those thoughts come in – immediately recite a positive affirmation
* you can start hanging around and connecting with positive successful women (in any business) find out what makes them tick
* you can remind yourself of WHY you wanted to do this in the first place
* you can set some realistic goals in the new year – keep them short term goals by starting with 3 month goals
* you can find out HOW you can achieve those goals
* you can START BELIEVING IN YOURSELF because I know the Universe wants you to have what you want

These are some of the home stagers and redesigners I have been blessed to have come into my life this year – see yourself SUCCESSFUL AND YOU WILL BE!

PS My new book Start & Run a Home Staging Business is ready to be preordered due date February 2011. I wrote the book for people like you in mind – to get inspired and remember what you already know.

A savvy homeowner looking to stage their vacant condo in Richmond BC did extensive research to find Enjy Fouad of Envious Design. They interviewed a panel of a few other reputable stagers, but hired Envious Design. What made them stand out was their services package tailored for each individual project. It includes project coordination, contractor referral, color consultation, and of course Enjy’s favourite – home staging. The client was SOLD on Envious Design’s tailored services package.

Envious Design decided to use Fluff Rentals to source from their warehouse of contemporary furnishings. The staff at Fluff are great and it’s always great fun to shop for the client’s property. The best part of all is staging the property with all the handpicked furniture, accessories, and decor pieces from Fluff. The realtor that this was the best staged property he had seen, and that it showcased the client’s property to its best potential and made it the best looking unit within the building.
After the completion of the colour consultation, project coordination on time and staging his property, both my client and his realtor were so pleased with the dramatic shabby to Envious results! The client was very happy that he was able to hire a home staging company that help him with all his project needs from A to Z.

Living Room (Before)

Living Room (After)

Dining Room (Before)

Dining Room (After)

Bedroom (Before)

Bedroom (After)