Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

Winter will soon be upon us, but that doesn't mean you should neglect the outside of your home if you are selling. Even though you are somewhat limited in what you can do over the winter months to enhance curb appeal to your home, it's still very important to make that first impression a good one.

A couple of months ago, I was interviewed by one of the Editors of REALTOR® Magazine for an upcoming article she was writing on winter curb appeal. She asked me to provide her with some helpful tips for their readers.

The article was published in their November/December hardcopy edition. If you'd like to read the online version, click here to learn more about how you can make an impact on your home or listing at this time of year.

-------

Dezigner Digz is Burlington Ontario's premier home staging, styling and redesign firm servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. Her work has been featured in the book FabJob Guide to Become a Home Stager, 2009 edition. Charlene has written several articles on home staging, some of which have been published by the International Business Times and the Women's Council of Realtors. She is also a Contributing Blogger for REALTOR Magazine. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

Dezigner Digz was called in last week by a repeat client for a redesign/styling appointment on a 2 bedroom condo. (We were there before to do a colour consultation.) The main focus of this visit was the living room area of the combined living room/dining room space. Our client was very unhappy with the layout and felt that the furniture looked dated. We were told that the dining room would have to stay as is since our client's husband was very partial to it.

Before we were contacted, our client had tried moving things around on her own, but she didn't like any of the alternate layouts that she tried. This was when she decided that it must be the furniture and that she would have to buy new. She talked her husband into buying new furniture, but before doing that, they decided to have us in to see if there were any other options first. We were definitely up to the challenge. This is something that we LOVE doing.

Here are a couple of 'before' shots:

BEFORE BEFORE

Even though this was a large room, in the before pictures above, you'll see that the room looked quite small. This was due to the positioning of the furniture. The oversized armchair was angled right at the entrance into the room which really cut off flow for starters. As well, the couch was being used as a divider between the living and dining room areas. This placement looked awkward and gave the room a very narrow look (especially since the living room extends off the long hallway). You will also notice that the wall area opposite the couch was bare except for one small chair and table. The furniture was definitely off balance with all visual weight extending over to the dining room area.

Here's what we did:

AFTER AFTER

You'll see from the 'after' photos that furniture placement is key in a room's design. Once we moved the large armchair away from the entry way, it opened up the space. Since this was a very large chair, it needed to be positioned further into the room. The new placement worked well against the large windows. The chair became somewhat dwarfed against this space and didn't look as clumsy. The couch was moved to the opposite wall to open up flow through the room. With this layout plan, the room no longer looked small and narrow.

We wanted to maintain a slight divide between the dining and living room since both of those areas serve a separate function. To achieve that, we placed a glass sofa table in the spot where the couch previously sat. This created the division we were after without chopping up the room too much.

After we settled on the layout, we styled our client's room by accessorizing with her existing pieces. We then gave her some advice on other accessories that should be added to finish off the room. Once our client buys a large piece of artwork for above the couch, some new throw pillows (preferably in reds and blacks), a blanket throw and a few tall, colourful vases this room will be pulled together.

All of this was done in approximately one hour. Our client was thrilled with the outcome. In fact, she said that she wouldn't be buying new furniture after all. She found that the new layout took care of the issues she had and that buying new furniture was no longer a top priority. At some point in the future, I'm sure they will want to do that, but for now, she's very happy.

Our client's husband was away on a golfing vacation when we visited, but he was thrilled with the results when he got home. We hit a hole in one in his eyes. After all, he doesn't have to buy new living room furniture now! Paying for one hour of our time was definitely money well spent.

Don't forget that these same principles can also be applied if you are selling your home. It's important to make the best first impression possible on potential buyers. We can help you with that too.

The proof is in the pictures. With just a few adjustments and some re-styling, a trained eye can bring an instant transformation to your room by using what you already have. Sure, you might need to buy a few little accessories to pull the look together, but that's the fun part for most people and certainly a less expensive alternative. And if you don't like shopping for accessories, we'll even do that for you!

For more information on how we can help bring 'wow factor' on a budget to your home or listing, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com. We offer gift certificates as well. If you're not sure what to buy over the holiday season for that special someone in your life, a redesign consultation may be just the thing.

-------

Dezigner Digz is Burlington Ontario's premier home staging, styling and redesign firm servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. Her work has been featured in the book FabJob Guide to Become a Home Stager, 2009 edition. Charlene has written several articles on home staging, some of which have been published by the International Business Times and the Women's Council of Realtors. She is also a Contributing Blogger for REALTOR Magazine. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

Hamilton, Ontario - the next tourist "mecca" for the world's cultural set? Seems a bit far-fetched, but perhaps it's not. The Toronto Star reported recently that talks are underway with world renowned, award winning, and, might I add, Toronto born architect Frank Gehry to design a building for none other than Steeltown. Gehry's works include the Art Gallery of Ontario and numerous international projects such as the infamous, titanium-clad Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. If you're not familiar with Bilbao's museum, check it out here. It's absolutely amazing.

Prior to the construction of the Guggenheim, Bilbao was an industrial port city whose main industries were steel and shipbuilding; an interesting parallel to Hamilton. Once Gehry's masterpiece was opened, the city received world-wide recognition and today it's one of Europe's most visited cities. In fact, there was a name given to this: "The Bilbao Effect".

If these discussions become a reality, Gehry's next work of art would be located in downtown Hamilton at the site previously projected for the Pan American Games stadium.

If Steeltown is lucky enough to be the chosen one for another Gehry project, could there be a "Hamilton Effect"? Only time will tell since talks are in the very early stages, but Hamilton could sure use a break. Stay tuned...

-------

Dezigner Digz is Burlington Ontario's premier home staging, styling and redesign firm servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. Her work is featured in the book Fabjob Guide to Become a Home Stager, 2009 edition. Charlene has also written several articles on home staging, some of which have been published by the International Business Times and the Women's Council of Realtors. She is also a Contributing Blogger for REALTOR Magazine. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

I recently sent an article that I wrote to REALTOR® Magazine. It dealt with the issue of what to look for when choosing a Home Stager to work with. The article provided some useful information for both REALTORs® and consumers on things to keep in mind and watch for when making their choice. It was posted last week on REALTOR® Magazine's blog Styled, Staged & Sold.

Just found out today that the article has been picked up by The International Business Times. The more exposure our industry gets, the better right? In fact, all it takes is for a few people to have a bad experience with a Stager to make an entire profession look bad. You know how powerful word of mouth is, so if the public knows what to look for, that's good for all of us!!!

If you haven't read it and would like to, the link is here: What To Look For When Choosing a Home Stager.

-------

Dezigner Digz is Burlington Ontario's premier home staging, styling and redesign firm servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. Her work has been featured in the book FabJob Guide to Become a Home Stager, 2009 edition. Charlene has written several articles on home staging, some of which have been published by the International Business Times and the Women's Council of Realtors. She is also a Contributing Blogger for REALTOR Magazine. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.

Last year I wrote an article for my Active Rain blog that provided information on things to look for when choosing a Home Stager to work with. It actually got featured on AR at the time. It's such an important topic, that I felt it was time for the subject to be addressed again. That's why recently, I submitted the article to REALTOR® Magazine for their blog Styled, Staged & Sold.

You can read the article here: What To Look For When Choosing a Home Stager. I hope you find it helpful if you're thinking about adding the services of a Home Stager to your marketing program. If you're a consumer, you'll find it of assistance too.

-------

Dezigner Digz is Burlington Ontario's premier home staging, styling and redesign firm serving Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on the Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. Her work has been featured in the book FabJob Guide to Become a Home Stager, 2009 edition. Charlene has written several articles on home staging, some of which have been published by the International Business Times and the Women's Council of Realtors. She is also a Contributing Blogger for REALTOR Magazine. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com.