Charlene Storozuk - Burlington Ontario Home Stager

Whether you are selling your home, or improving it for your own enjoyment, Feng Shui can play an important role.

The concept of Feng Shui involves 8 different aspects of your life:

• Wealth and Prosperity
• Fame and Reputation
• Love and Marriage
• Health and Family
• Creativity and Children
• Knowledge and Self-cultivation
• Career
• Helpful People and Travel

These 8 aspects are represented by geographical positioning in your home. Practitioners of Feng Shui use what is known as a Bagua Map. This map is basically a large rectangle divided into 9 smaller rectangles of equal size. The centre of this map is just that - the centre and doesn't represent any of the aspects. This is a sample Bagua Map for your reference:

To find out which part of your home represents each life aspect, simply lay this map over a floor plan of your home. The correct way to overlay it is to start by locating the front door on your floor plan. (If you use a side door as the entrance into your home, that is not considered the front door for this exercise. The front door is always the door facing the street.)

Once you have located the front door on your floor plan, lay your Bagua Map on top with the career area overlaying your front door. All of the other life aspects will fall into place according to your floor plan. Not every home is a perfectly shaped rectangle. Therefore, certain areas of your home may have a larger life aspect (extension) or be missing an aspect area. They are dealt with differently. A trained Feng Shui Design Professional will be able to assist you with that.

You will find if you have done any reading about Feng Shui, or are knowledgeable about it already, that I have really over-simplified this concept. What I am doing is just giving a general overview of some of its principles. There is much more to it than what I could write here - it would take a whole book. Please just consider this a crash course in the very basic fundamentals. Enough of the disclaimers, let's carry on...

In Part 1 of my Feng Shui It! series we will be taking a peak into the career area of your home. In today's economic climate, we can all use some assistance there. That's why I chose it as the first aspect to take a look at. Even if your career is moving full steam ahead, there are things you can do to keep it on track or even kick it up a notch.

You have now determined the approximate location of the career area of your home. So what can you do to improve it? Here are a few tips (of course there are more):

• Keep this area of your home free from clutter and well organized;

• Add a mirror (they add energy to a space and help the energy flow in a positive way) [make sure that the mirror doesn't reflect back at the door or the energy will flow right back out of your career area];

• Place some cheerful artwork on one of the walls - something that makes you feel good;

I'm going to stop here, but I hope you have found this to be of some help or at least, interesting and leaving you wanting to learn more about Feng Shui. Oh, one more thing before I end, remember, any "tips" you apply to your home must be applied with good intention. In other words, don't perform them if you are feeling doubtful about a positive outcome. You must have a very positive frame of mind if you want to experience the full effect of good Feng Shui.

** Stay Tuned ** : Part 2 - Tips to Improve the Love/Marriage Area of Your Life

Dezigner Digz does not guarantee any results from the implementation by readers of these suggestions. The Feng Shui It! series is provided for entertainment purposes and to offer a glimpse at the principles of Feng Shui.

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Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario and servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville, Milton and surrounding areas. The Owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves as RESA's Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

Feng Shui [pronounced Fung Shway]. The name keeps appearing throughout the design industry in both print and on television. Is it a trendy gimmick, or is there more to it?

Well, it certainly isn't the new kid on the block so to speak. Feng Shui has been around for several thousand years since the time of the Han Dynasty in China. It's definitely not a passing fad.

When I first signed up for training to become a Feng Shui Design Professional, I must admit that I was somewhat sceptical about all of this "Fung Shooey" stuff. That being said, I felt that it would make a great addition to the services I offer my clients. I couldn't be more pleased that in the process, I became a believer in how Feng Shui can enhance your life. My interest is, of course, in the design aspect of Feng Shui. Whether you are preparing your home for sale, or improving it for your own enjoyment, Feng Shui can play a role.

In this 8 part series, I will pass along some 'do-it-yourself' tips that you can try at home. Of course, these pointers will just be little teasers. If you want to know more, you'll have to contact me. After all, if you give the milk away for free ...

**Stay Tuned** - Part 1: A Tip For Improving the Career Area of Your LIfe.

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Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario and servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Stoney Creek, Oakville, Milton and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves as RESA's Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

[Photo from HGTV's website]

That's right. Your favourite home staging television show is returning for Season 2. Here are the tentative premiere dates:

HGTV Canada - Premiere airs April 1, 2009 at 10:30 p.m. PT / 8:30 p.m. ET

HGTV USA - Premier airs April 6, 2009 at 10:30 p. m. PT / 8:30 p.m. ET

I've heard through associates of mine that work with the show that there have been some major changes to this season. The producers have been listening to feedback and have incorporated some of the concerns and highlights from blogs on the Active Rain network to make it an even better show.

Here are a few of the changes that are in store for viewers:

• a more informative format;
• some new Stagers from different fields of design;
• less conflict, yet great drama.

I for one can't wait to watch Season 2 of The Stagers! How about you?

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Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario and servicing Ancaster, Hamilton, Burlington, Waterdown, Oakville, Milton and surrounding areas. The owner, Charlene Storozuk, is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves on RESA's Executive Committee as Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

Yesterday was Professional Trade Day at the Toronto Interior Design Show (IDS 09). The IDS is Canada's largest contemporary design event. I thought I'd just post a few photos of some of what I saw while there. I was like a kid in a candy store - "I'll take one of everything please!" [Oh well, it's nice to dream.]

There was everything there you could imagine. If you're into luxury streetwear designer Christian Audigier, believe it or not, the line can even be found in the way of furniture now - skulls and all. While there might be a more limited target market for this, I must admit it was pretty cool - although definitely not a piece you want to keep around when staging your home for sale. If money is not an issue and you've got some serious coin to drop, why not! I guess you just take it to the local thrift centre once it's worn out its welcome. I could have sworn I took a photo of one of the chairs, but obviously I didn't. The sales rep must have been sauntering over to find out how many I wanted to order - I guess I must have slipped away before he reached me :-)

I even had the pleasure of running into Debra Gould . She doesn't know me from Adam, but I went over and introduced myself to her. She was gracious enough to spend some time speaking with me - what a lovely lady!

The show runs until this Sunday. It's definitely worth checking out if contemporary design is your thing. I can't wait until next year's IDS!

Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario and servicing Halton, Hamilton-Wentworth 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. For more information about us, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com

[Photo from Starlight Canada's website.]

When I started up my business almost three years ago, I knew at some point I would want to find an organization to support - one that was special to me. I've been looking for quite some time for a charity that would just jump out and "speak to me".

There are SO many wonderful organizations out there so it became tough to choose one, but I finally came across a charity that just felt right for me. That organization is Starlight Children's Foundation. Starlight touches the lives of seriously ill children and their families by providing support and a little break from the pain and fear associated with serious illness while staying in the hospital. As a parent myself, I can't begin to imagine what these families must go through, but I imagine that just seeing their little one smile and forget their problems for an afternoon, is of some comfort.

One of the programs that Starlight offers is Starlight-in-a-Box which provides a fun activity for kids to participate in during their hospital stay. I recently purchased 15 Starlight-in-a-Box kits through their Teddy Bear Hugs Program. Each child will be given a teddy bear that requires some simple sewing skills in order to put him together. Also included in the kits are an activity book and markers. What I also really liked about this particular program was that I could choose the hospital that would receive these kits. That wasn't a hard decision as I wanted to support my local community, so I chose Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington, Ontario.

I'll be honest. When I started looking for a charity to support, part of my motivation was to help promote my business, but it became so much more. What I didn't count on was how it would make me feel in the process. When I picture those kids having a bit of fun and forgetting their troubles for a little while, it makes me feel so good.

The old cliche 'It's better to give than receive' couldn't be more true. I should have done this a long time ago. Will this help my business? Probably not, and quite honestly, that has become irrelevant. I just wish I could see the looks on those kids faces when they create their teddy bears. But then again, maybe its best I don't because I'm sure I'd cry :-).

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Dezigner Digz is a professional home staging and interior decorating company located in Burlington, Ontario. The Owner, Charlene Storozuk is a member of the Real Estate Staging Association and currently serves as RESA's Regional Vice-President, Canada. For more information on Dezigner Digz, visit our website at www.dezignerdigz.com