Blog

Home Staging

…the preparation plan

I have it in my head…the saying…”if you fail to plan you plan to fail”, and that other one…”poor preparation leads to poor performance”.

These mottos ring true in whatever you do and never more so in being able to sell your property. It may or may not be your biggest asset – but its big! and if you’re selling then you need a plan of attack and to devote some time to preparation and thinking about how other people will live in your home.

I once had a client say that she didn’t care what other people thought of her home, and of course she reaped the poor rewards of that preparation. Her house did not sell swiftly and definitely not for the money she was after.

It’s true that everything will sell – but when you can take some control of the sales process, form a plan and improve the look then the rewards will come.

For those people who are wondering how to prepare I’ve put together guidelines to help with presale preparation – just to help with what can sometimes be a daunting task.

Let me know how you get on…

Quick-tips-for-styling-your-home-HSTDownload

Home Staging

rediscovering your home…

As we are all aware our lives over the last couple months have changed significantly, what we thought was normal… eating out, going out, shopping, holidaying with unlimited numbers of friends and family came to an abrupt halt.  Suddenly our home changed from being a place to pivot from wearing clean clothes and having a good night’s sleep to a place we had to stay.   The change was swift and sudden and took many of us by surprise – an unnerving event. 

But slowly our appreciation for what we were doing and how we wanted to live in our homes changed and the great home overhaul began.  Rooms are being painted, furniture is being polished, cupboards are being emptied, garages reordered and pride and comfort is being restored.  Our homes are being transformed, either by kitting out home offices, setting up home schooling stations, or attending to those household jobs we never get to. 

A short time ago, I went to a presentation given by a local entrepreneur, Aaron from Harolds Finishing Touches, and although I can’t quite remember the exact words he used the idea has stuck with me and that is that our homes should feel like our resort or our piece of paradise.  Meaning that our home should be enough to want to holiday in; when you step through your front door you immediately relax. The ambiance of the home gives you a warm hug and welcomes you. I love this!

So does your home welcome you?  Are you still looking at an item of furniture that has remained in the same annoying spot you put it when you moved in thats not quite right?  Do you need some ideas on how to make your home holiday worthy? Or have you given up and you are ready to sell? Do have items you do not need? If you do I’m here to help, contact me

I am also proudly associated with the Toowoomba Womens Collective-Protea Place and the Welcome Home Project. Sadly, there are people without homes and in homes that are not safe, please reach out to this group and if you have items of furniture to donate, please be in touch.

Home Staging

…not just furniture

It still amazes me the difference the addition of accessories and decor items make to a space with just furniture in it. 

I collected the styling items from this property recently, a partial stage in a low to mid-range property area where the owner had a very tight budget.  I thought I’d take a couple snaps of how “furniture only” looks and why, earlier in my styling journey, I had a strong sense of unease after the furniture has been delivered and placed but before the accessories were added. Everything didn’t look together, and the space was bare and sterile.

But all I had to do was trust in the process and know that once the numerous boxes of accessories had been emptied and the cushions, throws and artwork had been distributed the house would transform into a home.  The white couch wouldn’t look so stark, the walls wouldn’t look so blank and the coffee table wouldn’t look so out of place. The Styling, item placement, creation of vignettes and addition of layers is where the magic happens.  And that for me is the best part of the project.  Relief happens here and this is what I love about install days.

If you’re thinking about selling and are after some styling advice, let me know here

Home Staging

Tips to curating a gallery wall

Who would’ve thought that 3 months ago the world would be dealing with a pandemic as crippling to our everyday life as we could ever think, but I’m not going to dwell on the upheaval but focus on the little things that make our home spaces great places to stay. #stayhome

One of the many jobs I’ve managed to tackle is dealing with a collection of items that need hanging, kids’ art and smaller original pieces. I love putting together eclectic collections and all the items I’ve used are all similar in size and quite colourful. The wall I’ve hung them on is in the office and they form the backdrop of my daughters #homeschool Zoom meetings.

My 4 key tips for getting the right look and feel are:

  1. Make sure you have all your pieces and curate your collection on the floor first.
  2. Work from the inside out with a balance of colours
  3. keep the distances between the frames as similar as possible
  4. take a photo of what it looks like on the floor and then get busy hanging.

Have fun and enjoy the moment and send me some images of your newly curated gallery