We now have two newly minted certified Dewey Color Consultants in the San Francisco Bay Area: Cindy Lin of Staged4More in South San Francisco and Suzy Davis of Interiology in Campbell. Both are trained and experienced Real Estate Stagers and Interior ReDesigners. Cindy is a Certified Staging Professional and IRIS trained redesigner, not to mention one of our star staging members here at active rain. Suzy has a degree in Interior Design as well as being IRIS trained in staging and redesign and we have invited her to join the community.
The ladies finished the two day class on Tuesday - just in time to end the year with this new tool in their arsenal. They are now ready and fully able to provide professional Color Consults. Congrats, ladies!
Our next Dewey Color Consultant class will be in the San Francisco Bay Area will be in February. For a preview of the class, click here: We Make Color Easy. Just tell me in your comments here or send me an email if you want more info on the class - joanne
@chichomeinteriors.com
My friend, Chris Fisher, told me about the Beatles blog yesterday and so here I am... Just had to tell my story since it is one of my most vivid childhood memories. The Beatles came to the USA for the first time when I had just turned 13 years old and my very fabulous big sister took me to see them at White Sox's Park in Chicago. I lived on the North Side and, frankly, had only been to the South Side to go to the Museum of Science and Industry. We were a Cubs family, my Mom watched every game and idolized Ernie Banks, my best friend and I used to sell parking spaces during games, one of my close friends lived in the house with WGN on the roof - I was a North Side girl... in a family without a car... This was a big excursion, a cultural event beyond anything I had ever imagined, a pivotal event in my life. And there they were... the Fab Four, Beatlemania in my home town... Hmmm... I was in heaven - a preteen girl with her dreamboats about to become real. But then I got there and it was so far away, they were like dots in the middle of the field and all the young girls around me (probably my age or older but I thought they were idiots...) were screaming so loud I couldn't hear anything but a roar... I was so disappointed. It didn't dampen my enthusiasm for the Beatles but it did completely squash my interest in music concerts. I only went to a few in my whole life after that. My second one, same sister took me to a few years later, Joe Cocker. Fabulous. But, I never in my life went to one on my own, where I decided to make the effort to get the tickets, etc. That event set me up to be disappointed, so I chose not to go... Not that I don't love music, just not big events... Luckily, as an adult I became more entranced with Jazz and Classical and those shows often are in smaller venues, so I have always enjoyed live music. The Beatles were my first musical love and they started a lifelong affair, just always more intimate than it began...
By Joanne O'Donnell
A properly staged home can make the difference between no sale and multiple offers! Now you can train to become a Certified Staging Professional! Getting a home ready for sale is a precise process that takes a professional's expertise to get right. A pro-fessional stager can look at your home through the buyers' spectacles instead of the rose-colored ones through which we tend to view our own home. As an objective outsider, a home stager can look past how we live to see how potential buyers would view your home and make the changes, additions and deletions that will bring in multiple offers. A common misconception is that staging is simply decorating your home. Staging is not decorating. Staging is a marketing tool used to broaden the home's appeal to the largest possible buying demographic. Decorating is a reflection of your personal taste, while staging creates broad appeal. Nor is staging as simple as de-cluttering, adding some flowers and turning on lights.
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Staging has become the norm here in the Bay Area, the nation's most expensive real estate market, where bidding wars are a common part of the landscape. Eager to get top dollar, homeowners are paying $1500 to $10,000+ to stagers who use lifestyle-selling techniques to bring multiple buyers to the table. A potential buyer is more likely to make an offer on a home that they can envision themselves living in. Staging makes your home attractive and memorable to a larger percentage of buyers, giving your home the upper hand in the market.
Nowadays most buyers begin their search on the internet and beautiful staged photos will put your home on the list of "must sees." However, if your home doesn't have curb appeal all you will get is a drive-by and we all know that isn't good. That is why the staging process begins outside, across the street, and works its way through the house, room by room, following the path your real estate agent would use while showing your home. First impressions are key. If your house is not beckoning from the outside, your beautifully staged, warm and inviting interior will not have a chance to shine. Your home should stand out as one of the nicest on the street. A tidy garden, clean windows with lighted interiors showing through, freshly painted front door, polished door hardware and an attractive, clean welcome mat will invite buyers to "step inside.''
Once inside you must keep the buyer's interest that began on the internet throughout the viewing. Remember the typical buyer walks through in a matter of minutes. They will move on to the next property if every part of the home does not continue to build their interest and feeling of home. That is what Certified Staging ProfessionalsTM are trained to create - memorable moments around every corner. They use lifestyle-selling techniques to create the emotional attachment necessary to move buyers to make solid offers.
People who attend the CSPTM home staging training program learn how to start and build a home staging business - they already have an eye for design - usually they have been doing it for years - they just need a vehicle to turn their skills into a business. Professional stagers who know exactly what it takes to make your dream of making a living as a stager a reality developed the program. The growth of the CSPTM network (almost 500 in one year) necessitated the evolution of standards, policies and procedures, which will pave the way for the industry as a whole to follow. Graduates of the CSPTM program have attended an intensive immersion program, studied extensively and passed examinations with 75% or more and as they build their own business they agree to adhere to a professional code of conduct. Therefore, whether you are looking for someone to stage your home or seeking a great new career, Certified Staging ProfessionalsTM will take you where you want to go.
Chic Home Interiors does Home Staging, Interior Redesign and Training in Staging, Color and Green Build Science. Our training arena is all of North America, while our design and staging is in the San Francisco Bay Area only.
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Chic Home Interiors does Home Staging, Interior Redesign and Training in Staging, Color and Green Build Science. Our training arena is all of North America, while our design and staging is in the San
HOME INTERIORS
Joanne entered the staging industry in early 2002 with a bang. Leveraging her 25 years of business and corporate training experience she opened her own staging firm, HomeStaging.Biz, and also began training both Realtors and professional Home Stagers. In 2006, Joanne changed her business name to Chic Home Interiors and became affiliated with the highly acclaimed Certified Staging Professional Course. In 2009 Joanne and Chic are Going Green! We are greening our internal processes, our design and staging services and recommendations to clients and will be teaching the Live Green, Live Smart Certified Professional program throughout North America. We are very excited about these changes and the exciting road ahead.
Joanne's work recently was prominently featured in "Home Staging for Dummies", published by Wiley Press and available in bookstores and on Amazon. We had more of our work featured than any other stager! Very exciting!
Training includes: Certified Staging Professional program and Train the Trainer, Dewey Certified Color Instructor Course, Live Green, Live Smart Certified Trainer, One Day Staging Professional Course, House Doctor Property Presentation Seminar, Accredited Staging Professional Master program and Train the Trainer. Joanne attended the University of Illinois studying sociology, criminal justice and psychology for both undergraduate and graduate school.
Before Staged
Home Staging for Vacant and Occupied Properties: From a simple consultation to full blown staging of the entire property; we can do as much or as little as you want.
Interior Redesign: Whether you simply want a plan for placement of your furniture in your new home or a revamping of your current home using mostly what you already own to create a whole new, fresh look - we will help you create that "Wow" factor!
Personal Shopper for the Home: We can provide catalogs, do scouting trips to narrow down options, and/or accompany you when looking for new items to enhance your home.
Color Consultation: Paint is one of the most dramatic and affordable ways to enhance your space. We can help you make decisions you will love to live with!
Training in Home Staging and Color: Check the www.stagingtraining.com and www.wemakecoloreasy.com for my classes.
New in 2009: Live GreenLive Smart Certified Professional Training throughout North America and Realtor Elite One Day Staging Program
Chic offers home staging, design and color consultation services in the following areas: San Francisco, Oakland, Walnut Creek, Danville, Pleasanton, Orinda, Lafayette, Moraga, Concord, San Leandro, Castro Valley, Alamo, Berkeley, Albany, Hayward, Emeryville, Alameda, El Cerrito, San Pablo, El Sobrante, Richmond, San Ramon, Contra Costa County, Alameda County, San Francisco East Bay, Marin County.
Training courses available throughout North America
Located In: San Francisco Bay Area, CA
Phone: (510) STAGING
In 2003, I was referred by a local design firm to Joanne O'Donnell. Along with the reference, they gave her rave reviews about her interior design work. I called her, and we met. Since that day in May 2003, I have worked with Joanne on four design projects including our current and previous home as well as two residential income properties. Joanne is an excellent listener and quick to understand a client's preferences and taste. I find if very easy to discuss personal design ideas and then together choose the best design plan. She can work totally independently or involve a client at any preferred level. Shopping with her is efficient in time and cost. She knows quality, and she knows how to stay within budget. I am completely satisfied with her professionalism. I recommend her unconditionally to anyone in need of creative, professional interior design work. My husband and I love our surroundings. We owe that creativity to Joanne's trained eye and expert design skills.
Mrs. Naomi Applebaum Castro Valley, CA
We have good news -- we are in contract! Is this a record for you? You handled the whole process so quickly and professionally, it really was amazing. We called you on Wednesday January 5th and you went that day to review the property and meet our agent. Since we no longer live in the area, you emailed us a proposal that evening and had the staging complete by Sunday, January 9th in time for the Open House! Thank you for doing this so quickly and professionally! Our home had been on the market for over three months and then you staged the house and we received an offer that we accepted in less than 10 days! So please feel free to use us as a reference, as we are very happy with the result of the staging. Again, we really appreciate all your effort and fast timing on this house.
Katherine Wittenberg
Mill Valley, CA
How can I say thank you enough (again)! The home you used for your staging class last weekend looks spectacular. It was on the market since late September and I was really beginning to worry if it would sell. Even though we had plenty of traffic through to tour the home all of the feedback was pretty negative. Most people felt the home was dark and crowded. I got a lot of people who felt that the rooms would not work for the layout of their furniture and many people felt that the downstairs bedroom was useless and too small. We did get one offer but my clients rejected it. It was a very low offer and they were treating the home like a fixer upper even though there was nothing wrong with it. Homes all around us had sold; I have it advertised in many magazines and on the internet but it was just sitting there and both I and my clients were beginning to panic. And then you and your class worked your magic.... After your class I took a client out that had seen the home a month prior just to have another look - she kept assuring me that she had never seen the home before - she was wrong, I had record of it. She loved the layout of the second floor loft / game room; the reason she didn't like the home before is that the second floor loft was "set-up awkward and wasted space" and she didn't think the layout would work for her. One agent who had brought clients through before told me how great the new paint job looked and how it opened up the whole house - I still don't think I convinced him that the house was not re-painted it was just staged. We had seven showings over the weekend after your class and not one person used words like "small", "crowded" or "dark". Both the agents and their clients were complimentary of the home and the feedback consisted of word like "bright and open", "great downstairs bedroom" , "good size rooms" and "great floor plan". The residents of the house were amazed, even they did not realize what great space they had and they loved the changes. I kept meaning to call you and give you big THANKS on Monday but I was busy presenting an offer on the property you staged! That's right...We had a great offer in by Monday and I know that we owe it all to you and your students! My clients only regret is that they will not get to enjoy the new look of their home longer, they will be moving out in mid February and are starting to pack as we speak.
Lydia Clark
Las Vegas, NV
I want to express my profound gratitude for the expert decorating you provided at my sale property in Berkeley. I am confident that your installation was responsible to a large degree for the multiple offers I received, all of which were above asking price, one 0) which was "way" above asking. I noticed that you and your crew worked very efficiently both in installing and removing the decor and; that your decorating concepts and decorative items were in excellent taste. I recommend you very highly.
Peter Husman
Berkeley, CA
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