Check out this 4 Part Series of Home Staging Tips written for the National Post by Dana J. Smithers.

PART 4 Why You Want to Catch The Woman’s Eye When Selling

It’s a fact that women make 85% of the buying decisions in North America, so it makes sense to appeal to women when you are selling a home. Professional home stagers know just how to do this.

It starts with creating a great first impression, whether a potential female buyer first views your home on the internet or on a drive-by. Your home needs to look spacious, beautiful and contemporary — inside and out. It might seem trivial to say a home needs to be aesthetically appealing to the female buyer, but it is true, and maybe it sounds even more trivial to say it’s all about the accessories – but this is true!

Here are some great insider secrets women look for when they shop for a new home. Let’s look at each room as if it was a department in a store:

Bathrooms and Ensuites — Many women spend a lot of time in their bathroom and want it to have a spa look. Paint in a neutral, warm beige or a soft green; update light fixtures (pink lights makes skin look softer); put in new flooring; change the faucets. Bathroom accessories may include white fluffy towels, florals (faux orchids are great here) and a piece of calming art, a few candles. Use a bath mat only if you have a really large bathroom.

Kitchens – Women want them to be functional, clean, tidy and contemporary. Clear away all small appliances such as toaster and coffeemaker. Clear the counters and make sure the floor and appliances are spotless. Kitchen accessories may include some green plants or faux floral, a bowl of fruit (green apples are popular), a piece of food art, three bottles of sparkling water — and you’re done.

Dining Rooms – A dining room table, no more than four chairs and an area rug (if the flooring is hardwood or tile) will give a clean, inviting look to this room. Use a side table or buffet only if you have a large dining room. You want every room to look spacious. Chandeliers are the trend right now. Dining room accessories may include a table runner, a large centrepiece on the table, a piece of themed art, a vase with flowers.

Living Rooms/Family Rooms — many newer homes in Canada have eliminated the formal living room. However, if you are going to stage your living room and you have a family room, then please, no television in the formal living room. Create an inviting, calm space and, if possible, place your furniture in a parallel grouping in front of a fireplace. You don’t need more than a sofa and two chairs, end and coffee tables, area rug (only on hardwood/tiles; never over carpet) and some lamps. Living/family room accessories may include one or two pieces of landscape or abstract art, florals or large green plants, some candles and some contemporary vases or bowls. Mirrors are great for expanding a room size.

Master Bedrooms – What appeals to women in this room is great-looking bedding. Go for the hotel look and include luxurious fabrics with touch-me textures, lots of pillows for a pampered feeling, and a faux-fur throw to wrap it up. Two bedside tables with two lamps create a feng-shui equality in the room for the man and woman. Master bedroom accessories may include some contemporary art, trendy mirror and florals.

Other Bedrooms – Follow the same guidelines as you would a master bedroom but these rooms do not need to have the same level of luxury

I hope you have enjoyed learning “Home Staging Tips’ by Dana J. Smithers. If you apply them your home will stand out in the market which means a quicker sale for you and at the best price! Happy Selling!

Understanding how to create the WOW factor in home staging can be achieved by using the PRES no-fail 10 Step Formula. In the PRES staging and redesign training program every student knows how to work quickly and efficiently in a room. Using this blueprint they entice prospective buyers into falling in love with the home.

In this training home on first glance it doesn’t appear that we have much to work with. However every trained professional stager knows they can get the WOW look regardless of what they have to work with. Yes it’s great to be able to bring in trendy inventory but when the seller doesn’t want to do that, well this is where we create our magic!

BEST STAGING TIP
1. Determine your FUNCTION in each room
2. Determine the FOCAL POINT

from here everything falls into place. The way you live in your home is not the way you sell your house.

The function in this room appears to be watching television and not about enjoying talking or relaxing. Think about what the seller wants. What would you do here? Even though the home owner has the television and the fireplace as the focal point it just doesn’t work – there is no balance in this living room.

Before – the huge television distracts from the inviting fireplace and oh, this is so not balanced nor inviting…

After – A gorgeous fireplace with trendy accessories and it is clearly the focal point!

No More COLD CALLING – Learn The Art of Relationship Selling! Let go of the FEAR of sales calls and learn a step-by-step approach to gaining your confidence by turning a prospect into a client!

FIRST 5 TO SIGN UP RECEIVE A ‘FREE’ COACHING CALL with Dana J. Smithers author of Start & Run a Home Staging Business.

I really don’t know anyone who just loves to make ‘cold calls’. The very nature of the words leave many people frozen. So, why not take another approach to connecting with your ideal client – relationship selling! Networking plays a key role in relationship selling so I have combined this webinar with ‘Networking Made Easy’ so you get the benefit of two webinars in one since they go hand in hand.

Over the last 5 years marketing strategies have changed significantly. People do not like to be ‘sold to’ but they do like to buy! No one likes a pushy, aggressive sales person who doesn’t even understand their needs. Now that we are so much a high-tech low-touch society, relationship selling is more important than ever.

In this informative webinar you will learn a step-by-step approach to networking to gain confidence in using this new skill as one of your building blocks for relationship selling. Once people ‘KNOW YOU – LIKE YOU – TRUST YOU’ there will be a sale at some point in the relationship, even if it is a much-appreciated referral form them!
These are some more juicy outcomes for you:

* Gain insight into why ‘cold calling’ does not work
* Learn how to write an infomercial aka elevator speech
* Gain clarity on which networking events are right for you
* Learn how to turn a prospect into a client
* Understand how to set your ‘intention’ before connecting with someone
* Learn easy, low cost methods to ‘the fortune in the follow up’

Course Cost: PRES Members $97; Non-PRES Members $117 plus tax
Date: Tuesday April 26th
Time: 3 – 4:30pm Pacific Standard Time

All you need is your computer and a phone or headset and you can sit in the comfort of your home!

Contact: Janice@PresStaging.com to REGISTER!

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...

This year Lois Interiors was invited to participate in the Sutton Place Hotel “Home for the Holidays” fundraiser for Canuck Place Children’s Hospice by decorating one of nine trees on display in the beautiful Sutton Place Hotel lobby.

You are invited, to take some time this season, to stop by the hotel to view the wonderful trees and to vote for your favourite (no pressure!). Each vote requires a $5.00 donation to Canuck Place Children’s Hospice.

All the best to you this season,
Lois

Lois North, CID, PRES
ph: 778.388.4518

We had an unusually large class for the November PRES staging and redesign course so, as the instructor, I knew I needed a really large property to use for training purposes. We had a fantastic training home for the home makeover redesign for living, but needed something large for our staging practicum.

Coming to the rescue was Lois North of Lois Interiors! She had met a realtor at her BNI and ‘talked him into’ letting the PRES students come and restage a listing he had that was not moving. Lois graciously offered her fabulous inventory and WOW the homeowner was ecstatic. This property has been on the market for quite awhile with very little interest. The new photos have gone up on the MLS listing now and the home looks fantastic.

CLICK HERE for a virtual tour of this home.

Home Owner’s Testimonial: – Ann of West Vancouver, BC

“Our home now looks amazing after the staging ‘magic’ was done. Having our home staged after having been on the market for such a long time has breathed new life into it. There is more interest in our home and it looks fabulous. I’m proud and excited to have the realtor show our ‘renewed’ home to prospective buyers.

PS. The only thing I might add is what a pleasure it was to meet the students and their instructor, how professional they were and how much I enjoyed their enthusiasm at the reveal.”
and from Lois North:
“ Just a quick note to let you know how thrilled the home owner is with the work your PRES Staging class did in their home – they truly appreciate all the effort and think it’s beautiful.

Appreciation also comes from me and the great job done by the class. Interesting for me to see my inventory used in different ways – through fresh eyes. Thank you to all for a job well done.

Living Room - BEFORE

Living Room - AFTER

Guest Bedroom - BEFORE

Guest Bedroom - AFTER

Want to get rid of some of that overwhelming stress you feel when you are getting your property ready for selling? Consider having a charity come and pick up your household items and other items that you do not want to take with you when you move.

If you have any goods that you want to donate, Helping Families In Need in the Lower Mainland area of BC will come and pick your things up. It is a win-win situation because, as a seller or a home stager, you are helping your client make a difference in someone else’s life. And, This way, you can move forward and hopefully just keep the things you really love and need!

Just give them a call. You will make some family, less fortunate, very happy!

Other non-profit organizations that accept goods as charitable donations:
Big Brothers of Greater Vancouver
Union Gospel Mission
Salvation Army

I know November may be a wee bit early to decorate for the holidays but Saturday, November 20th was a perfect day in Vancouver BC , the sun was shining, it was warm out and being the organized person that I am I had already planned out my scheme and had everything that I needed to so I thought, why not?

I use the same major pieces each year but change the scheme. This year I took my inspiration from all the plaid and gold in fashion. All I did was change the bows on my wreaths, create some live urns with fresh cedar and birch poles, and spray paint the stars from the silver of last year to gold. I purchased a few yards of plaid and covered my deck chairs for that finishing detail. And….TA-DA! Now all I need to do is wait for December 1st to flick the light switch.

I hope this is an inspiration to you and will spark the flame of your Christmas spirit.

By Zsuzsi Abramson of Plum Creative -a recent PRES Graduate

Ellie Hanson of NexTrend Design presented a fantastic slide show, of Colour Trends 2010 – 2012, at a recent PRES member meeting. Ellie Hanson is the founder & creative expert behind NexTrend Design, specializing in Real Estate Staging, Interior ReDesign, and Colour Marketing Intelligence.

She trained in the USA as a Colour Marketing Consultant under one of the world’s most renowned experts on Colour, Leatrice Eiseman. Her professional training is in Real Estate Staging & Interior ReDesign and Colour Consulting.

As a colour & design professional, Ellie is living her dream of helping people beautify their homes while helping realtors, builders, & home owners market their homes more successfully.

Ellie presented her Colour Trends, empowering the PRES Members with the knowledge of colour trends to make savvy decisions to enhance their clients’ life, home, and business success. She says “Why choose “yesterday’s” colours that are on their way out when you can choose directional colours facing a long & secure future!” Whether you’re staging or redesigning home interiors or retail space, reviewing your company logo & branding colors, revising product & packaging colors, you have a distinct advantage by being on the forefront of the trends.

PRES members were inspired by the range and choices of the new colours thanks to Ellie! Packed full of gorgeous images, this presentation is a visual delight and a real eye-opener into the future…a must-see!

The PRES students had transformed most of Gill’s home during their staging training course. However, we didn’t get to the master bedroom and the ensuite so Lisa Mackie of Footsteps Home Staging, went back and did the rest of the home with Gill! This is what Gill had to say about Lisa:

“Lisa looked at our master bedroom and en-suite bathroom and asked questions about various pieces of furniture and items in the rooms. She wanted to know how attached we were to them, if there was a particular item that had a special to us and checked with us that it was OK to move stuff around. We also talked about colour and what kind of atmosphere we’d like to create. Lisa made some notes as we chatted and from our conversation it was clear that we needed to go shopping!

Thank you Lisa and we wish you every success in your business!

Gill, Coquitlam

Bedroom #1 - BEFORE

Bedroom #1 - AFTER

Bedroom #2 - BEFORE

Bedroom #2 - AFTER

Bedroom #3 - BEFORE

Bedroom #3 - AFTER