Abby Reilly, Staten Island Home Stager

"...Start spreading the news, Im leaving today I want to be a part of it - new york, new york These vagabond shoes, are longing to stray Right through the very heart of it - new york, new york..."

New York New York, FrankSinatra

(thanks to LyricFreak for providing me with the correct song lyrics)

OK, I'm not a singer, but Frank Sinatra sure new how to knock out a tune, especially the quintessential 'New York New York'. It's a fitting tune for me these days, in many ways, primarily since I've said good bye to Atlanta and hello to New York. As of July this year, I'm officially a New York City resident again and am looking to get my home staging business back up and running sometime in the near future, along with some other new adventures. I'm hopeful that my existing connections and my experience over the last few years will provide me with a sturdy platform from which to launch from...again.

As I begin the process of getting reacquainted with my old stomping grounds of Staten Island, and the surrounding areas of New York City and New Jersey, I'm hopeful that it will be an seamless transition. I know nothing is ever that easy, but one can hope, right? The difference in lifestyle and real estate market between Atlanta and New York are enough to make it a challenge, but luckily for me, I've returned to where I left 3 years ago and not much has changed in that time...other than some extra potholes and traffic signals. <<smiling...sort of>>

Again, special thanks to all my Atlanta friends and associates. I miss you all and look forward to seeing you again. Please keep in touch!

In December, we announced the change in leadership for our Metro Atlanta ASHSR chapter from myself to Annette Burnett of Sellers Advantage Home Staging from Johns Creek. Our first meeting of the new year was also Annette's first official meeting as our new leader---and she rocks! Special thanks to Brook Furniture Rental for hosting our meeting, AGAIN. =) They've been very supportive of our chapter from the beginning.

Our agenda for the meeting included ideas for projects for the chapter to do together, in an effort to EDUCATE the consumer about what we do as home stagers but to also market our businesses and our chapter. We are working on two projects for the Spring: one is a community-service project for our 'friends' at the Georgia Cancer Foundation and the other is Before and After event to physically show the difference between a plain old vacant home and a staged home.

The Georgia Cancer Foundation holds an annual Fashion Show event. The models for the show are friends of GCF and are Breast cancer patients and/or survivors. The clothing, the hair, the makeup...it's all donated. We're donating our time and talent to help create the centerpieces for the show on March 28 at the Intercontintental in Buckhead. Tickets are still available!

The 'Big Reveal': our Before and After event, is a two day event. We are scheduling the walk through of the Vacant home in St Ives Country Club and an introduction to what we going to do on March 3 as the 'Before' event. Then we're inviting our guests to come back, and hopefully bring a friend, or two, for the Staged walk through on March 10 as the 'After' event and join us for lunch, staging education and networking opportunities at the site. All Atlanta-area real estate professionals are invited to join us...contact us if you want more information about the event.

All in all, Spring 2009 is going to be a busy season for our ASHSR chapter. We expect it to be a sign of more to come for the balance of the year for all of our businesses.

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UPDATE!!!!!

Due to certain circumstances, the Big Reveal event has been put on hold indefinitely. It was decided at the last minute (and unfortunately about 3 hours after I posted this) that things are not 100% aligned as needed to make this a successful event for all involved. So, at this point the executive decision was made and we're going to continue planning and announce the new location and date sometime in the near future.

It's hard to think that far ahead, while at the end of January and after an arctic blast that covered most of our nation. But yes, Spring will be here before you know it and this is the perfect time for a proactive seller to start preparing their house for sale, especially if they are going to take advantage of the Spring market. The buds are already forming on the trees around Atlanta while some of the early spring blooms are beginning to peak out of the ground! Don't wait until the last minute.

An agent friend of mine recently shared with me that existing homes for sale are in fact moving and predominantly in the lower price points. A lower priced home will benefit from home staging services as much as, if not more than, homes in higher price points. How?

• By strategically placing furniture, smaller rooms may appear more roomy.
• By defining focal points and traffic flow within rooms, which is especially important in smaller spaces.
• By obtaining guidance to update according to the most current ROI.
• By neutralizing the interior and decor to make the living space more appealing.

Staging an occupied home can be done for as little as the cost of a professional home staging consultation and then the cost of any additional items that are suggested to be done, if needed. Looking for someone to come and take care of it for you? Hire a home stager! Some home stagers charge hourly and others charge daily, while others may provide a flat rate for service. How ever they charge, it's still a minimal investment in comparison to allowing the home sit on the market longer.

To find a home stager in your area, visit the list of home stagers here on Active Rain, or visit RESA's directory of home stagers. A professional home stager awaits your call to do business with you!

My daughter had been bugging me for months about joining Brownies and finally when we inquired it was only to find that there wasn't an available troop. Actually, they had a waiting list of girls and needed parents to volunteer as leaders.

Yep...I must have had SUCKER written all over my forehead!

I tried to weasle my way out of it, hoping that some other "Sucker-Mom" would step forward...but no, I've earned that title along with another Sucker-Mom...my new friend Mary. The two of us felt bad for our girls and figured if we didn't do it, our girls would never get the experience.

So, here we are...Brownie Leaders.

Sooo, we're a little over a month now into our meetings and we finally got our new Brownie Troop number, just in time to sell those Girl Scout Cookies! OK, I admit I knew almost nothing about this. I sold them way back when as a Brownie, myself, but it was mostly to family. After attending Cookie Training, I felt like I'd just attended a corporate board meeting or something! jeez! This is serious stuff!

Now try translating product information, goals, rewards, procedures, dates, etc to a bunch of 8 and 9 years olds who only want to giggle, laugh and be silly! Not an easy task! {Thank goodness for email...}

Being the good Brownie Leaders we are striving to be, we decided to hook up with our girls and take them around our neighborhood to sell cookies door to door.

Now, at our previous meeting, I tried to do some cookie sale role playing with them...we accomplished pretty much nothing other than a whole lotta giggling and laughter, but I guess that was OK too. I knew whole heartedly that in the actual situation they wouldn't be doing or saying what they were so I let them have their silly fun. (truth be told, I hate role playing anyway...it is effective when done correctly, but who really likes doing that stuff?)

Well, my daughter, Kate, and Mary's daughter, Allison, were all equipped with their Girl Scout cookie order forms and were sporting their new Brownie sashes! With Mary and I following them, they went from one house to another knocking on doors, ringing doorbells and assessing homes for whether people were really home or not. Some people were really good and bought one box from each of them and others apologized stating they'd already purchased their cookies from someone else. BTW, we were out on Day 9 of cookie sales as they began on Jan 1, so it's easy to see that we're late meanwhile the sale practically just began!

Each and everytime, the girls introduced themselves, stating what troop they were from and what their purpose was. They both often mentioned their sales goal!

Each and everytime, no matter what the outcome, they both said 'Thank you for supporting Girl Scouts!'. They both walked away with smile and carried on to the next prospect.

At one house, the lady said 'We're on a diet!' and then Allison came back with 'But we have sugar-free chocolate chip cookies!'...don't you know it, the lady went for it and bought a box of the sugar-free cookies from each of them! She wasn't taking NO for an answer that easily.

So, what I learned from these two little girls was:

• No matter the outcome, keep your head up and keep pressing on for the next opportunity!
• Persistance pays off...my daughter bugged my neighbor so many times that she bought 18 boxes from her! =)
• Always thank your customers and prospective customers!
• Know your product!
• Know your goal!
• Smile and have fun!

We were very proud of the girls...they only sold 14 boxes collectively but that's OK as it was an additional 7 boxes each that they wouldn't have sold had they just stayed home. It was a good experience and they both want to go out and do it again!

My husband, Tim, currently does home improvement/handyman work around Atlanta. He's done various jobs for some of my home staging clients. He also been referred by a real estate agent friend of ours who has given his name out to her clients who need quick repairs done from inspection reports. He's also done quite a bit of work for our friend who is a contractor.

One day, while working at one house, he was called upon to stop by a neighbor's house on that same cul-de-sac to see if he could fix a few loose tiles in the shower of the master bathroom. He said "no problem" and ran over later in the day to check it out.

Well, there was a reason those tiles were loose.

The shower was built out of sheetrock not concrete board---bad move. The leak must have existed for sometime because the sheetrock was saturated and crumbled when touched and the tiles fell off like dominoes...the woodframe started to mold and there was a colony of teeny-tiny ants, as well. {eww, I don't do bugs!}

So, the homeowner asked him to give him an estimate to fix it all and thankfully he was hired for the job! Having assisted on this job, from the tile design, to demolition, to cutting, laying and grouting the tiles, I had the pleasure of meeting the homeowner and she said she was confident that he'd do it right! The job took a few days longer than projected but he fixed all the unexpecteds so the job was done right. =)

Ain't no lipstick on this pig!

The homeowner selected stone-looking porcelain tiles along with a few decorative, accent tiles. She opted for a darker 1"x1" mosaic tile for the floor and to be used as an additional accent. Part of her updating included replacing the old brass shower head with an affordable bronze fixture.

He custom built the shelves and the bench in the shower. The rest of the shower will be enclosed with a frameless glass enclosure, with installation scheduled for later this week, by another vendor.

The problem?

It was going to cost over $600 to purchase bronze Jacuzzi brand fixtures for their Jacuzzi tub! The existing fixtures were brass and in rough shape.

The Solution?

He told her he'd paint them and for less than $10.00, so she was able to get updated fixtures for her tub for a deal! She was thrilled with the end result!

What he did: after sanding them down (the waterfall and the faucets), he used Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint on them and finished it with 3 clear top coats.

He also taped off the trim on the bottom of the mirror and painted that the same color because it was previously brass as well.

If you caught my other blog post, Take 90's Brass into the New Millenium, we used this technique on a brass dining room light fixture and it came out great! If you have a homeowner that can't afford, or isn't willing to spend, the money on new fixtures, spray paint can be your friend.

Please also note that we have had trouble finding the Rust Oleum brand Oil Rubbed Bronze color but used the Krylon brand in that color this time around and it looked just as good.

*****I don't have any Before pictures of this project. But, it was all plain white builder-grade tiles with brass fixtures.

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ALR Home Staging and Showcasing provides interior Re-design consultations for Atlanta area homeowners looking to make a few changes without breaking the bank.

Affordable home improvement and handy man services available by Tim Reilly of ATR Home Improvement.

Special discounts are available for home improvement/handy man services by ATR Home Improvement for clients of ALR Home Staging and Showcasing. Contact us for more information.