PRES® Staging Training & Business Support

Are you ready to expand your marketing to include group talks to realtors and home owners but lack the confidence to try it? Dana J. Smithers, Canada’s Staging Guru has done 100s of professional presentations and knows that most people are naturally uncomfortable making presentations but, they can be taught!

Mark your calendars! Early Bird Special ends January 31st!
February 15th Vancouver BC and February 23rd Victoria BC

Dana knows that if you are properly trained and have excellent materials to work from, presenting can actually be a lot of fun! Some of the highlights of this course will be her tried-and-true templates and tips on creating lasting connections with your audience. If you are not using the ‘funnel system’ of selling and you are not consciously building your ‘list’ you need to be! Lots of handouts for you to plan and create your own memorable presentations.

Course Outline:
• Steps to Creating your ‘FREE’ Presentation
• Understanding the ‘Funnel System’ and why you need to have one
• The Process — Presenting to small or large groups
• Determining the best ‘hooky’ topic title to attract attention
• Creating your ‘Signature Talk’ a short and long version ready to go
• Fantastic form templates and use of props to demonstrate your skills
• Role Plays that are easy-peasy to follow and help you gain confidence

Read what previous students had to say about this course:

Thank you so much for offering a course on creating presentations. The timing was perfect, as I had just been asked to give a presentation to a group of 25 business people. As I have never spoken publically to a group this large, your course definitely gave me the pertinent information I needed to pull it off with confidence! Aside from providing the class with practical presentation topics, helpful hints, and tips like the “funnel system”, offering your own personal props for me to use for my presentation was above and beyond, and I really appreciate it! ~ Tamara McDonald of Tweak Home Staging

I found all the resource material of huge value. It’s significant because I do not have to spend time having to reinvent the wheel (other than logo and business information amendments). I found nuggets of invaluable information from Dana’s own experiences. For the silent auction coming up (and all realtor presentations) I will make certain the paperwork clearly states “this is for using their existing furnishings and not for any rentals”. That was a gem! ~ Lena Pereira of WestSide Staging Solutions

Space is limited and you don’t want to miss out! Click on this link to Register. Early Bird Special ends JANUARY 31ST, 2013 for PRES Graduates $247 (after 1/31/13 it is $297) and Other Amazing Industry Professionals $297 (after 1/31/13 it is $347).

‘The way you live in your home, is not the way you sell your house’ has been a PRES staging mantra for over 10 years now. We were staging this gorgeous heritage home in Vancouver and wanted to highlight the best architectural features. Currently you don’t really notice them.

The home seller was using this room as their family room. The furniture is not well placed and quite frankly it just doesn’t work as a family room. After trying a few different furniture configurations we decided that this room was not going to be a family room after all

As home stagers we often ‘think outside the box’ and see what we can do to enhance the look of each room making each room’s beauty stand on its own. So…

The wrong furniture in the wrong room in this Vancouver heritage home.

We took the existing dining room furniture from another room where it did not work either, and positioned it so that the architectural features of this gorgeous fireplace and baseboards were highlighted.

This room is an absolute delight now – sophisticated and gorgeous.

The home sellers loved the PRES home staging ‘new look’ throughout the home so much that they decided not to put ‘their home’ on the market until the following year. It had never looked so good and flowed so well as it did when we were finished. High praise for us… not so good for the realtor (although he did make the sale the next year)

The cat got let out of the bag on a recent Canadian television show where Fanny Kiefer interviewed a well known garden designer Carson Arthur.She asked him about his up-and-coming show Critical Listing and whoops, it hasn’t even started filming yet for HGTV. Carson specializes in eco-friendly landscape designs.

What was interesting from a home staging perspective is that Carson revealed some research done by TD Canada Trust & Century 21 and the results showed that LANDSCAPING your property will bring you a 12% ROI (return on investment) when selling. The study indicated this ROI was ahead of what bathrooms & kitchens renos can bring you. So that means paying attention to what your ideal buyer would like to see in terms of your outdoor space.

Decks and patios need to be ‘glammed up’ so they offer an oasis from the busyness of life. Create a sanctuary in your back yard or even if you only have a small balcony. Play it up – decorate with more than just a plant – think relaxing – add attractive, modern looking table & chairs, an umbrella if enough space, sculpture, tray with a pitcher of lemonade and glasses, calm Buddha statue and don’t forget to add lots of colourful healthy plants!

There are many new eco-friendly products for the surface of your patio or backyard. You can do an internet keyword search for: eco-friendly outdoor flooring. This site of Squidoo has lots to offer so you might want to check it out for ideas.

At a recent Home & Garden Show in Western Canada the focus was on the 3 Rs – Renovate – Rejuvenate – Revitalize to get your property ready for selling, or to live better in your existing home before you sell.

And the 3 Best Renovation ROIs for selling:

1) If you install a fireplace you will get 94% of the money you spent back!

2) If you renovate your bathroom you will get 69% of the money you spent back!

3) If you renovate your kitchen you will get 79% of the money you spent back!

While most home staging studies (such as National Home Improvements Survey conducted Home Gain) will concur with this, if you are making a big investment it’s a good idea to make other big investments in your home as well. For example if you are renovating your bathroom, you most likely will have to do your kitchen, and if you do your kitchen take a look at your flooring and while you are at it do the walls need a new updated colour? Keep the level of renovations or home improvements equal so that the entire house looks like it works together…otherwise some good home improvements might be better than renovations!

As a home staging trainer it’s important to stay current with decorating & design trends, especially colour. Personally I am a big fan of Benjamin Moore products and was delighted to see that Meme Brooks who works at the Yaletown BM store was doing a Colour Trends presentation at the March Fluff Rental breakfast meeting.

Meme Brooks at Fluff Breakfast Meeting

Meme introduced the latest ‘Colour Stories’ collection. The colours that I have seen in home decor stores are definitely lending themselves to the greys, neutrals and earthy tones. While I was at Home Sense I noticed how well their furniture, rugs, art & lamps would go with these BM colours: use darker for drama or a feature wall – like Gotham CSP 385 or Coachman’s Cape CSP 90 – then for a more neutral pallete try Upper West Side CSP 70, Evening Gown CSP 375 and lighter yet Sea Salt CSP 95 or Skipping Stone CSP 155. Many of the Designer Classic collections and the Affinity collection have very similar colours so be sure to check them out.

Gorgeous neutral rug - right on trend!

Gorgeous neutral art - right on trend!

Trendy natural woods & greys

After Meme’s presentation I went out to one of my favourite BM stores in Kerrisdale and learned more from Scott Howard the store manager. The BM people do love their products and are so knowledgeable! Fluff Rentals being leading edge in their decor rentals had the perfect compliments to the new trendy colour palette!

Trending in greys....

Neutral accessories work with the new BM Colour Stories collection

If you want to know how to conduct a Client Colour Consultation with confidence be sure to attend my May 20th workshop! Gain confidence & learn a proven step-by-step colour scheme process. Limited seating so sign up now.

Okay I admit that’s a little dramatic saying that ‘you could potentially lose your home sale because of your personal collections’ but, it is a proven fact that potential buyers can be distracted and put off by some of the personal collections that people have in their homes. Could be they don’t like what they see on the MLS since 90% of buyers look there first!

Now for living in your home, it is a very good thing to surround ourselves with reminders and personal mementos of special places that you have traveled to.I get that. I really like to see people make their space their own – personalizing with their own individual likes and dislikes.

These collections are fantastic for living, and very interesting for the owners…

Swords & Snakeskins not for everyone!

Animal hides & travel photos great for memories for the owner!

For selling though, it’s a different story that we want to see in your home. We want to see the architectural features of your home – like that gorgeous fireplace – as soon as we walk in. Remember that potential buyers make up their minds fairly quickly whether or not they want to spend time seeing all of your home. if the first room they walk into is full of personal collections like these snake skin swords…well, a buyer might just turn around and go on to the next home. Why chance it! Be smart like this home seller who ‘got it’ and prepacked all their personal collections so that the rooms opened up with better furniture placement and no distractions!

Living Room & Dining Room Expanded Now - Collections Packed Up!

Client Testimonial says it all: You and your students did a great job. Moving the living room furniture around made it a much nicer flow and made the space appear larger. As for the solarium we weren’t sure what to fill the space with. You did a fantastic job using our existing furniture from throughout our home. I love how you featured my elephants as they have sentimental value to me. The pictures that were taken the next made our home look like a show home! We were very impressed! We appreciated all you have done as we had a overwhelming amount of potential buyers come through over the weekend. We have already had two offers! Thank you again.
Deanna & Gary.

Grouping art can be quite a challenging job for many people. This is a grouping we did for a client who wanted to set up a workshop instead of a dining room. This example is for ‘living’ as you would take this down for staging because it’s too personal. The space would also need to be converted back to a dining room for selling!

After hanging 1000s of pieces of art, photos, sculptures, baskets, fabric wall hangings, swordfish (yes swordfish, several of them) I’d like to share some of my ‘hanging art’ guidelines. These are guidelines so there will be variations on the theme, but these work pretty well in any home or office. A few years ago I wrote an ebook ‘Trade Secrets of Hanging Art Like a PRO!‘ and you can find some You Tube videos I recently created for hanging single pieces of art.

This is the method I use and you may find it works for you.
- select pieces of art that work together i.e. find a common element that allows you to form this grouping – in this case it was a mixture of art that she loved with sayings and she had some emotional attachment to the pieces
lay my grouping of art on the floor

Place Grouping On Floor

- leave about 2″ between all the art pieces (this can vary on the size of art you are using e.g. for a small grouping space about 1″ apart.
- find center on your wall, find center on your art and stick a piece of sticky tack at both centers
- measure up from the bottom of your wire to the top of the frame to determine how far down your hanger needs to be
- hang your first piece on the bottom – see You Tube video – using the floating art guideline of 56 – 60″ as the height of the middle of the art grouping; level it
- place your next bottom piece 2″ apart and hang it; level it

Start with lining up the center; measure 2" apart and level

- continue to build the grouping up using your levels to keep the measurements accurate

Grouping Completed - whimsical & fun!

- She now has a whole new look in her home where she can host her workshops!

A truly personal space!

TIP: for more detailed information check out my You Tube videos, my ebook and previous blog posts on Home Staging Tips – Hanging Floating or Gallery art.

This is Part 2 of ‘home staging tips for hanging art – ‘floating or gallery’ art which means there is nothing underneath it. After hanging 1000s of pieces of art, photos, sculptures, baskets, fabric wall hangings, swordfish (yes swordfish, several of them) I’d like to share some of my ‘hanging art’ guidelines. These are guidelines so there will be variations on the theme, but these work pretty well in any home or office.

A few years ago I wrote an ebook ‘Trade Secrets of Hanging Art Like a PRO!‘ and I just recently produced two You Tube videos to demonstrate my process.

Here are my quick tips for hanging art that is ‘floating or gallery’ art…

FLOATING ART

1) HANGING ‘FLOATING or GALLERY ART’ (click here for You Tube Video)
- determine where you want to hang the art – in this example I chose to hang it just to the left of center
- mark that spot with pencil or sticky tack
- find the center of your art – mark it with sticky tack
- if it is over 30″ wide I suggest using 2 hooks/hangers, (f not then one is fine in this example as shown in the You Tube Video I use 2 hangers)
- if using 2 hooks then make 2 measures from the center to the ends of the frame – mark center with tack which you place on the art- this becomes the mid-point from center
- now you need to measure up from the floor to a height of 56 – 60” – use a piece of sticky tack to mark that on the wall
- find the side halfway point of your art – mark it with sticky tack
- match up the side art tack with the 56 – 60″ measure on the wall (the larger the piece of art the closer to 56″ you hang it)
- at the same time line up the center and line up the mid-points that you have marked with sticky tack
- make a mark with the pencil for the two mid-points
- if your picture has wire on the back then measure the wire from the top to the bottom for the two mid-points (if over 30″)
- take that measurement and measure down from the top/center of where you are hanging your art and mark it on the wall with a pencil (like an inverted T)
- the intersecting point is where you put the bottom of your hanger
- nail in your hangers and use a level to make sure it is even

It takes a lot of practice to make it perfect but these guidelines should help a bit! Next post will be ‘floating or gallery wall art’ tips…

TIP- the best measuring tape for this is the Lufkin Self-Centering found at Home Depot; buy sticky tack at Home Depot or office supply store; levels can be purchased at Home Depot.

This is Part 1 of ‘home staging tips for hanging art over an object’. After hanging 1000s of pieces of art, photos, sculptures, baskets, fabric wall hangings, swordfish (yes swordfish, several of them) I’d like to share some of my ‘hanging art’ guidelines. These are guidelines so there will be variations on the theme, but these work pretty well in any home or office.

A few years ago I wrote an ebook ‘Trade Secrets of Hanging Art Like a PRO!‘ and I just recently produced two You Tube videos to demonstrate my process.

Here are my quick tips for hanging art over an object like a fireplace…

Art over an object

1) HANGING ART OVER AN OBJECT (click here for You Tube Video)
- perfection is to find a piece of art 2/3 the length of the object you are hanging it above
- find center of your wall – mark with pencil or sticky tack
- find the center of your art – mark it with sticky tack
- measure 4 – 10″ above the object you are placing the art
- line up the centers – put a pencil mark at center at the top of the piece of art
- measure the wire from the top to the bottom
- take that measurement and measure down from the top/center of where you are hanging your art and mark it on the wall with a pencil (like an inverted T)
- the intersecting point is where you put the bottom of your hanger
- nail in your hanger and use a level to make sure it is even

It takes a lot of practice to make it perfect but these guidelines should help a bit! Next post will be ‘floating or gallery wall art’ tips…

In the last PRES 5 day training course we had the opportunity to do a home makeover for a client who said her home was very bland, and seemed to lack personality. (A home makeover for living is all about bringing in the home owner’s personal taste unlike staging where you want to create broad buyer appeal to the seller’s target market)

When I did my initial consultation and tour of the home I noticed they had a lot of very nice bigger furnishings and some attractive accessories scattered throughout the home. But it was true – everything was quite bland UNTIL … I sat down with Maureen, the home owner, and asked her if there was anything in storage that she might like me to incorporate in the home. BINGO! She said she and her husband had just come back from Africa, where he was born, and they had brought back some African art and even a canvas painting of the house he was born in.

African art taken out of storage for us to use

When we arrived, myself and my students, we were delighted to see more African art and accessories on the kitchen table. Now we had more to work with. So using the PRES 10 step secret success formula we got to work by emptying the room and then building it back up.

We did our ‘walk about’ in the home and discovered some African masks and some gorgeous African vases that would fit in perfectly with the new personality of the home.

Bland Personality in Living Room Before

We were able to incorporate some new furnishings and removed the curio cabinets.

A created ‘art wall’ of more of their African collection!

African Art Collection Showcased!