I just wrote a post for the National Association of Realtors on the "2018 Outdoor Trends" and I had to share it on my blog as well because it's my own project!  I learned a lot about outdoor trends and I have a whole new respect for my design clients who go through large-scale remodel projects like I did!

>>Click Here to see my NAR article, "2018 Outdoor Trends: Jaw-Dropping Transformations"

Here's the behind the scenes scoop on my project, as well as some lessons learned...

My goals for the project were to create an extension of my living space seamlessly.  I chose finishes, fixtures and furnishings that all have an indoor look. 

Below is the before photo looking out of my kitchen dutch door into my side yard...

We knocked down the kitchen wall and opened up the space...

Home Staging Resource After Photo

I have 3 sports fanatics (my husband and 2 teenage sons) living under one roof and we always argue over the remote, so an additional living space and outdoor dining area was essential!

Before Photo

I also like to entertain and cook outside, so an outdoor kitchen area became another focal point.  To give the outdoor space more of an "indoor feel" I enclosed the back wall around the outside kitchen area.

After Photo - Home Staging Resource

Home Stagers Need to Know that...

Outdoor living spaces are increasingly becoming more valuable to a buyers perspective.  In fact, in a January, 2018 FreshHome Article entitled, "Which Home Improvements Have the Best ROI in 2018" Outdoor Living Space was #2!

"According to a recent survey, 51% of home buyers find outdoor living space the most attractive quality when searching for their perfect home, more so than open floor plans and curb appeal.

Having recently completed my own outdoor remodel design job, I can say it has absolutely changed the way we live!

I never get tired of hearing and sharing staging success stories from my members all over the world! 

I'm going to be doing a series of "jaw dropping" stories not just for my blog but for the NAR staging blog, so look for these in the coming months!  Today's post is a Manhattan staging story about a beautiful apartment made MUCH more beautiful (and relevant) by professional staging. 

Today's success story is brought to you by HSR Grad, Donna Dazzo of Designed to Appeal who is a Manhattan staging expert and frankly, one of the best in the biz!  Her "jaw dropping transformation" helped a $3.995 million home sell in a record 45 days (which is tough to do for a multi-million dollar home!)

She recognized right away the "return on investment" potential in this home and was able to earn her client's thousands more, as well as a quick sale...Here is Donna's story...

When we first viewed this apartment, it was filled with the deceased owner's outdated furniture and personal effects. Some of the rooms were painted dark colors and had built-in shelving, making them feel smaller than they actually were.

Living Room BEFORE

Living Room AFTER

Can you believe this is the same room?!  Donna had the floors refinished, the room painted and used her staging magic to bring in just the right furnishings to highlight and architectural elements of the space.

Bedroom BEFORE

Because it was a 3 bedroom apartment, we figured it would most likely be sold to a young family with children, so it was important that it didn't feel like "grandma's apartment". We set up two of the bedrooms as children's rooms.

Bedroom AFTER

The expertly trained home stager researches the "buyer demographic" so they know exactly WHO they are designing for...the is important knowledge the stager should possess.  In the HSR Certification training, I use a 6-Step Demographic Research process to identify the most ideal buyers for each home.   HSR stagers talk to the agents, research the neighborhood and even deep dive into the culture of the area since every area is different.

Donna not only identified a family but knew the ages of their children from 8-17 years vs. a young family with toddlers.  Below she stages more of a teen-room.

Bedroom BEFORE

Bedroom AFTER

While we don't recommend renovations before an apartment goes on the market, we DO recommend updating, which will go a long way to getting the apartment sold quickly and for top dollar.  Painting, removing old and worn carpeting, refinishing wood floors, and replacing light fixtures can make all of the difference!

Formal Dining BEFORE

Formal Dining AFTER

Don't you LOVE the replaced light fixtures Donna chose for this space?

Manhattan staging is different than San Diego or Cincinnati staging but the concepts remain the same...understanding the staging ROI potential of a home and staging it to it's maximum sales price potential.  The HSR Certified Home Stager's goal is to make sure the home seller never leaves money on the table in the sale of their home!

HSR Certified Stagers homes statistically average 10% more than the unstaged home!

Here are more fantastic photo transformations of Donna's Manhattan staging project...

Master Bedroom BEFORE

Master Bedroom AFTER

Kitchen BEFORE

Kitchen AFTER

Bedroom BEFORE

Now a cleverly staged office!

Donna is working miracles in Manhattan as an HSR Certified Professional Home Stager and Designer...what will your story look like?

Could “ Home Staging" be a Career for You?

---

Don’t miss this..!!

• 7 Key Questions to Ask Yourself
  
• What the Cost is to Starting this Business
  
• Do You Have the Personality for This Industry?
  
• How You Know If You Have the Design Talent?
  

Watch it Now »

Do you ever run out of ideas for posting on social media for your business?  Do you feel like no one even sees what you carefully post?  You're not alone!

This is why at the Home Staging Resource, we've added a large section in our training called the "Social Media Library" which supplies videos for stagers.  In this new training section, our HSR Certified Members will get to download over 35+ videos to use for their own social media funnels, plans and posts!  How cool is that?   One of my New Year's Resolutions was to provide even more, relevant resources to my peeps, so I'm happy to get a jump on it early:).

Video is one of 2018's hottest business trends and Facebook is more likely to display video posts than anything else, so now is the time to add video to your business!

Watch This Video to See the Videos We Provide Our Members:

2018 promises to be a GREAT Year for stagers, so if you're looking at training companies to join...ask yourself this:  Does your training offer this kind of resource? 

Cheers to 2018!

I love hearing and sharing stories of personal and professional success from my HSR Grads!   Today I'm sharing  a story and gorgeous photos from Dina Ferguson, a Scottsdale home stager who not only rebounded her business when the economy tanked but also overcame the odds of moving to a different state!  Here's her full story and amazing work from four months ago to today...enjoy!

Dina sent me this letter last June...

Hi Audra - I worked as an Interior Designer for 7 years, but switched to being a special education teacher (my original degree) when the economy tanked.  As much as I have enjoyed working in education, my focus has been to find a way back into the design trade.

Once I decided that staging was the best fit for me, I began researching local stagers, websites and training companies.  I was reluctant to spend the money for another training or certification (I have 60 units of design coursework already)

Currently, I am in Week Two of your training and WOW!  Your training is worth every penny and more.  Staging is not rocket science, but being an entrepreneur and knowing how to market your business and build a brand is! I would NEVER have been able to do this on my own.

Flash forward to today, I sent Dina an email just "checking in" and got this very cool response... 

Hi Audra, I moved to a new area where I know no one two months ago.  I began working the marketing tips your provide in the training and got my first vacant staging job! 

How cool is that?  Not only did Dina start a brand new business, she moved to another state and already is getting calls for work!  These photos are from that vacant job and I would absolutely say she is in the RIGHT INDUSTRY....what do you think?

Wow! That is the only way to describe this training. As an entrepreneur and design professional wanting to shift gears into the staging platform, I found this training invaluable for the business and marketing expertise. I can't thank HSR enough for sharing this information and motivating me to expand into this next phase.

Dina Ferguson Debut Home Staging

Here's A Video of another Interior Designer Turned, Award Winning RESA Stager of the Year...

What will your story be?

Could “ Home Staging" be a Career for You?

---

Don’t miss this..!!

• 7 Key Questions to Ask Yourself
  
• What the Cost is to Starting this Business
  
• Do You Have the Personality for This Industry?
  
• How You Know If You Have the Design Talent?
  

Watch it Now »

Enter your text here...

Are you ready for the holidays?  Do you love to decorate for Christmas?

I know many of you LOVE holiday design, so I've put together "7 Reasons You Should Add Holiday Design to Your Business"...

Let's face it...the holidays can be EXHAUSTING for most of us!  Between the gift shopping, parties, wrapping and vacation planning it's hard to carve out time to sift through our massive amounts of holiday decorations. Most people would love a service that works with them to dial in their holiday home while saving them time.

The very nature of holiday design is to save clients time by doing the design for them, so typically the folks who don't have that kind of time but do have the money are in a higher-end, income bracket.

What do this mean for the designer?  It means you've just created a wonderful referral source for multiple design projects!

The great thing about a offering a holiday design service is that those client's whom you did an excellent job for the previous year, will invariably have you come back every year!  That's right...you only need to cultivate a handful of client's to have regular, steady business every year.  In fact, a stager friend of mine says that she earns almost 15% of her business yearly on only a few, holiday design client's that LOVE her.

Sometimes I hear stager's complain that their staging business really dips during the holidays, so having a steady, holiday design clientele that keeps you busy, year after year, makes perfect sense!

Home Stagers and Designers have the uncanny ability to "see" interiors in creative ways and part of that skill-set goes toward Re-purposing items to their best showing. Why pack all of your current decor away before decorating for the holidays when you can easily to the gorgeous decor you already have and "holiday, bling it up!"

Not only is this kind of service highly referral based...it's easy to market using Facebook Ads, post cards and online directory key words...

HOT TIP!

Simply add the term "Holiday Design Services" to your Yelp listing and you're already ahead of the game!  Look how few providers come up in the entire San Diego area...

I've put together an hour long video training that walks you through the process, pricing and marketing of offering a Holiday Design service to your clients...