Bricks are generally kilned fired at high heat so the process is energy intensive. There are a number of manufacturers who now offer recycled bricks & paving stones for sale.

The majority are manufacturers however I'm sure there are some gardening or landscaping companies who accept and sell used pavers in your local area...you may have to expend some energy of your own to find them!

Below are some companies you can donate or purchase from and some who produce bricks from recycled content using alternate methods from kiln drying:

www.cunninghambrick.com

www.greenestbrick.com

www.bricksalvage.com

www.historicalbricks.com

Locally in Durham Region here in Ontario there is Holman Landscape Restoration. Holman Landscape understands the importance of staging the exterior of your home prior to lising for sale. Don't waste time, book Holman for their lift and relay service now to prepare for the fall real estate season!

Please add in the comments any firms you know of locally and hopefully this blog will be a resource for others!

If you are looking for something that others may offer recycled make sure you check out this site: http://www.recycle.net/ you can search in your area!

A confession: I've never owned a new fridge. To be expected the apartments I lived in for years had older fridges but each house I've bought has had ancient fridges as well.

I knew they were costing me more for electricity but to put out a grand or two for a new one was never on the list let alone near the top of the list.

Well, for the first time in my life I bought a new fridge. I have found over the last few weeks just how much the old fridges have been costing me over the years beyond the electricity.

Produce: Sam's Club has the 200% refund on fresh produce. For the last 5 years I've been returning my box of Mescalin Mix Organic Lettuce a couple of days before expiry. This whole time I thought the lettuce was just delicate. With what Sam's Club has paid me in lettuce they should have just offered to buy me a new fridge.

With a new fridge your produce will last a good 2 weeks longer. Amazing!

Water: We have been buying bottled water for years. We've never been happy about it but the places we live have always had foul smelling and or bad tasting water.

With a water dispenser cold water is always at hand and you don't have to ever deal with 'there's none left'. No more guilt seeing the recycling bins full of plastic bottles and no more worrying about the carcinogens in them.

With the ice option you never have to open your freezer to find shrunken old ice cubes and the crushed is perfect for margaritas in the summer!

I wish I had never waited so long. Figures, I'm selling this house so I get a new fridge to entice offers. My next house will have a new one immediately!

As a consumer considering hiring an interior decorator or home stager you need to do a little homework also know as due diligence. Many of these questions are generic to any service provider.

To help you I've provided a list of 10 Questions...and many follow-up questions:

1. How long have you been working professionally as a decorator/stager?

• This question is important to determine if you are speaking to a professional or a hobbyist. A hobbyist will tell you they've been 'staging' for years for themselves, friends and family. How nice for them, however, this does not tell you if the friends and family would feel the quality of their work was good enough that they would pay for this person's services.
• If they are just starting out, and they tell you that up front, great, you are ready to move on to the next question.

2. Do you have a portfolio I can see?

• Of course you have to get a 'yes' but there is more to the question than just getting a look at the persons portfolio. Follow up questions:
• Are the photos in your portfolio your own or are they 'examples' or photos provided by your trainer?
• Did you select the accessories, furniture, paint, etc. or was it a collaboration with others? (HINT: you want to hear that they made the selections).

3. What formal training have you received and are you certified or accredited?

• There is no such thing as a certified or accredited stager. Currently to be certified or accredited the designations are awarded by an independent (from the trainers) institution. There is no such independent institution for home staging.
• There are many fabulous decorators and stagers who are naturals with little to no training as well as those who have taking training. The point of the question is to help you find the needle in the haystack. You are placing one of your largest investments in the hands of a stranger at the very least you what to know the person you are hiring doesn't mislead consumers by claiming false certifications.
• The point of the question above is to see if you are going to be told the truth and not meant to bash those who have taken the training. Training is a good thing...false claims of certification and accreditations is NOT.

Assuming you've gotten the desired responses you can continue with the questions.

3. Is your business covered by insurance?

• If the answer is yes, then request to see a copy of the 'certificate of insurance'. If insured, they will be happy to provide it. Obviously, if the answer is 'no' you need to end the conversation and move on to another decorator/stager.

4. Have you worked on condo's, lofts, houses like mine?

5. Are you familiar with the market in my area?

• A stager who lives outside of your area may not be familiar with the various buyers who will be looking for properties in your area. In the downtown core of a city it is extremely important you hire someone who specializes in the downtown as there are very many diverse niche markets with even within a single condo building. You want a professional who can market your property to each niche, not just one type of buyer.

6. Are you familiar with the expectations of buyers in my price range?

• You want someone who knows the buyers and what is expected in various price ranges. An example would be a multi-million dollar property without top of the line appliances. Buyers who are shopping for a home in this price range will not be impressed with standard appliances. They are expecting to find Sub-Zero, WOLF etc in the kitchen as well as in any other room (butler's pantry, bar, master suite etc) with appliances.
• Another example in today's downtown Toronto real estate market buyers expect to see upgraded counter-tops in entry level condos but not necessarily in entry level homes. You need a professional who is experienced in these details.

7. Do you have insured resources to draw on for trades people if required as well as trade discounts you could pass on to me?

• While you are not entitled to the trade discounts, some decorator's who stage may be willing to pass on a portion of their discount to you. This could save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

8. Are you insured to act as a contractor/project manager?

• If you are not able to or willing to take on the work to be completed to prepare your property for sale you need to know your decorator/stager is insured to do this. Yes, this insurance is above and beyond the insurance discussed above. Again, you would be requesting to view the certificate of insurance.

If you've made it this far you are doing well and are most likely talking to a professional who is running a business not a hobbyist. The last couple of questions are about working with the professional.

9. What is your availability if you were to be awarded my project?

10. What are your rates?

• Rates vary by area but if someone offers to work for you for peanuts...well you've been warned here: you get what you pay for.
• If someone you don't know offers to stage your property for free...run!
• Or as world famous Home Stager Debra Gould says, 'When hiring a stager don't be penny wise and pound foolish!'

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Dane Caldwell is the primary and founder of Toronto's 2 Hounds Design.

Contact 2 Hounds Design by calling 416-418-5919 to get your project moving!

This is the condo I did last month. I updated the kitchen with new counter-tops, backsplash, faucet, sink, flooring, lighting and appliances as well as having the cabinets painted.

AFTER

The bedroom needed to be rearranged, painted and then was decorated.

Before

AFTER - Sorry...taken from other side of the room. What you can't tell is that I've moved the bed to the opposite wall.

Den - Before

AFTER - room for a desk and a chair to sit back with a drink and read. HMMM seems I need to review my befores prior to staging day to ensure I get photos from the same angles. (Funny, cus' I thought I took from each corner...oh...that's for the befores. OK! From now on I'll take afters from all four corners as well...not just from the best views.) I feel so much better having talked to you all about this!

Livingroom Before

Livingroom AFTER

Bathroom Before

Bathroom AFTER

Foyer Before

Foyer AFTER -- loook for the 2 Hounds...

This property sold for over asking. Not just that but it blew through the roof and sold for only $15,000 less than the recent 2 bdroom condos that sold the same month in the building!

If you look closely to the after photo of the den...on the floor are two slate plaques. One says 'CAVE CANEM'...which translates to 'BEWARE THE DOG'! I swear I didn't know this till after the staging...;)

OK...now here's my favorite shot:

Whether buying a car or a house, people shop with logic then buy on emotion.

If you are selling your home or condo in downtown Toronto, your property needs to have both logic and emotion. If your home only has logic to offer (that would be the features - 3 or 4 bedrooms, 2 & ½ baths, etc.) it will be a tough sale in the hot downtown Toronto real estate market.

It isn't easy selling a house when it has exactly the same features as the rest of the properties up for sale in the neighbourhood. Buyers come to see your home because of its features, staging the benefits, or potential, of your home gives buyers good emotional reasons to buy.

Don't let your property get ruled out! Call us today to get started. 2 Hounds Design is a full service Decorating Firm specializing in Renovating/updating and staging vacant properties in the Downtown Toronto Market.

2 Hounds Design 416-418-5919

Contact 2 Hounds Design + Home Staging Licensed & Insured Decorator/Home Stager in Downtown Toronto at 416-418-5919 to prepare your property for sale.

Visit our profile on Active Rain or visit our website to find out more about our services.

Call us today at 416-418-5919. Contact us by email if you prefer simply click on 'email me' to the right of this article below our profile link.

Copyright © 2008 By Dane Caldwell, All Rights Reserved. *Downtown Toronto Real Estate Decorator + Home Stager - 2 Hounds Design* Contact Dane Caldwell for a Consultation today.