My Super Awesome bBedroom Makeover/b. It’s been so long since I last updated this blog. I suppose writing everyday for almost a month tired me out. Anyway, there hasn’t been much to report (and anything worth noting I’ve vlogged about). …

Tags: Awe, Bb, Bedroom Makeover, Blog, Ff, Hasn, Makeover, Room Makeover, Yd, Yt

Last week we delivered two orders for our Mission style bedroom furniture. The orders were identical for a master bedroom set; an 8-drawer dresser, a.

Tags: Awe, Bb, Bedroom Furniture, Bedroom Makeover, Bedroom Set, Cabinets, Drawer Dresser, Furniture, Kitchen Cabinets, Makeover, Master Bed, Master Bedroom, Mission Furniture, Mission Style, Room Makeover

Newsflash regarding the bWENGE/b INVASION. bWenge/b has gone mainstream. bWenge/b has hit Argos! This is the crossover, mass-market breakthrough our favourite wood-based variant of brown deserves. Next stop: iPod bWenge/b. bwenge/b-argos-malibu-drawer …

Tags: Argos, Awe, Br, Break, Breakthrough, Bro, Crossover, Ew, Extra, Flash, Ins, Invasion, Ipod, Mainstream, Malibu, Mass Market, Rv, Weng, Wenge

table border=0 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial, sans-serif;/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial, sans-serif;br /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1//divdiv class=lha rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://news.google.com/news/url?fd=Ramp;sa=Tamp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.retrotogo.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fsteven-edrich-creation-de-meubles-art-deco-inspired-console-table.htmlamp;usg=AFQjCNFa90_sBgXeRunEis2gJaw07vq1ygbSteven Edrich Creation de Meubles Art Deco inspired console table/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fRetro To Go/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Made by Steven Edrich’s Creation de Meuble the elegant design is made using solid bwenge/b, with the stainless steel detailing on the three drawers adding to b…/b/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a rel=nofollow class=p target=_blank href=http://news.google.com/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=usamp;ncl=dB3qvUdBPVxcv8Mb/b/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

Tags: 1a, 1made, 2f, 3a, Amp, Awe, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Bs, Cellspacing, Center Valign, Creation, Div, Div Style, Drawers, Ec, Eco, Edrich, Elegant Design, Ell, Ew, Font Size, Font Style, Google, Img, Ins, Meuble, Ncl, Pi, Pv, Ramp, Sans Serif Font, Spa, Stainless Steel, Style Font, Table Border, Target, Td, Url, Usamp, Usg, Weng, Wenge, Wit

Trendy StagingNational Post, CanadaWe wanted to avoid an overstaged model home appearance. [Instead, the stager] pulled together a very trendy and affordable staging. Many people commented on how…br/br/
[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
pa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udWo1TEwfytuqwdnjtpXUVX2t1M/0/daimg src=http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udWo1TEwfytuqwdnjtpXUVX2t1M/0/di border=0 ismap/abr/a rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udWo1TEwfytuqwdnjtpXUVX2t1M/1/daimg src=http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/udWo1TEwfytuqwdnjtpXUVX2t1M/1/di border=0 ismap/a/pdiv class=feedflarea rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:V_sGLiPBpWUimg src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?i=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:V_sGLiPBpWU border=0/aa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:qj6IDK7rITsimg src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?d=qj6IDK7rITs border=0/aa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:gIN9vFwOqvQimg src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?i=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:gIN9vFwOqvQ border=0/aa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:TzevzKxY174img src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?d=TzevzKxY174 border=0/aa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:yIl2AUoC8zAimg src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?d=yIl2AUoC8zA border=0/aa rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?a=nUbO5U7OtHs:N6Wp6pNZxGo:l6gmwiTKsz0img src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~ff/homestagingschool?d=l6gmwiTKsz0 border=0/a/divimg src=http://feeds2.feedburner.com/~r/homestagingschool/~4/nUbO5U7OtHs height=1 width=1/

Tags: Aa, Ads, Appearance, Ara, Awe, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Bs, Canada, Content Summary, Div, Dk, Doubleclick, Dy, Eb, Ec, Ew, Feedburner, Ff, Flare, Home Appearance, Img, Img Src, Ins, Ismap, Many People, Model Home, Pear, People, Rel Nofollow, Stager, Staging, Target, Trend, Wit, Yt

a rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hr_IDHKlvc0/R0xRgNGROxI/AAAAAAAAAY4/3eBRRcwgh_w/s1600-h/stagingstuck.jpgimg id=BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5137570888636513042 style=FLOAT:left;MARGIN:0px 10px 10px 0px;CURSOR:hand; alt= src=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_hr_IDHKlvc0/R0xRgNGROxI/AAAAAAAAAY4/3eBRRcwgh_w/s320/stagingstuck.jpg border=0//aDuring a cold winter’s drive over this past holiday weekend I had a chance to reflect on all that I see going on span style=font-size:85%;(or NOT going on)/span in the home staging industry. As I look at WHO we are and WHERE we are… the more strongI am sure the real estate staging industry is not quite YET ready to handle the BIGGER vision of unity so many in this industry say they want./strong Don’t get me wrong, this is not a BAD thing; this is just an IS thing.br /br /I recently commented in another stager’s blog that I thought home strongstagers could learn from the Realtor community who benefit from working together and learning together as a unified group in the association known as the National Association of Realtors/strong.br /br /strongHaving as an END GOAL within industry to have own NAR like organization/association is an AWESOME goal… which I embrace 100%./strong But, with the “results” and lack of response we are getting to the idea so far, I wonder if maybe we are trying to hard to make this end goal happen. If this IS the case, what can we do? Well, without loosing site of the END GOAL, maybe what is more important is that we define smaller goals and take smaller steps that start moving us to that big associated END GOAL.br /br /Right now there are many thoughts, ideas, concepts and strategies being discussed by a VERY vocal minority. strongBut are the stagers that comprise the industry actions REALLY equal to what the vocal minority are shouting for as the BIG picture?/strong I am not sure sure it is. But, if you think it is, then strongwhy does it feel like we are still stuck?br /br /Why isn’t there this vast tidal force of stagers joining together as a unified association?/strongbr /br /Well, I believe part of the reason strongwe are a bit “stuck” is the fact that our industry is riddled with misunderstanding, distrust, conflicting philosophies, and big egos./strong Plus, it doesn’t help that real estate market is the worst it has been in decades. But even though we are obviously not experiencing ideal conditions, this should NOT stop those of us who are committed to creating something more for ALL in this industry.br /br /So as a loose industry strongwhat can we do to get ourselves tightened up and unstuck?/strong Well, maybe, strongwithout realizing it we are getting ourselves out of this rut by starting with a rock and roll motion… kind of like what one does to get a car unstuck out of a snow bank. /strongI have come to notice an interesting phenomena that happens when someone tries to “rock” this industry forward with an idea or concept. Immediately following a rock forward there tends to be a counter “roll” back by someone else.br /br /Case in point… the group of stagers organized under the banner called a rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://www.stageitforward.com/Stage It Forward/a (SIF) currently have scheduled a rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://stageitforwardblogazine.blogspot.com/2007/11/stagers-now-you-can-attend-sif-round.htmlover 25 industry RoundTable discussion meetings planned /afor all over the USA and Canada. Even though SIF has rocked forward there are some who feels it is necessary to roll with their own independent roundtable gatherings. This is the rock amp; roll I am talking about that takes place daily in this industry. strongSo while different interpretations of a similar thing will happen, what is more important is who we are as individuals and how we respond to these differences… respectful professionalism is essential!/strongbr /strongFor those on the outside looking in the rock a with a roll response can seem a little negative./strong But like the motion necessary to get a car unstuck out of a snowbank, I am beginning to see how this forward and back (counter) motion is necessary to create the momentum that will get us unstuck so that we can trust in and fully embrace bigger united goals… like creating an NAR for home staging.br /br /strongSo while I have hoped we would already be traveling along in unity… I’ve come to see that the rock amp; and roll motion is not all that bad./strong What is most important is that the home staging industry is in motion and soon to be more unstuck.br /br /Just my thoughts as I rock and roll…br /Mediv class=blogger-post-footerimg width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/31544353-6145094710611140323?l=realestaging.blogspot.com’//div

Tags: Aa, Act, Amp, Association Of Realtors, Awe, Big Picture, Blog, Blogger, Blogs, Blogspot, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Canada, Case In Point, Cold Winter, Current, Decades, Dh, Distrust, Div, Dy, Eb, Ec, Egos, Ell, Ff, Fit, Goals, Google, Hey, Holiday Weekend, Home Staging, Hot, Ideal, Img, Independent, Industry Actions, Jpg, Love, Met, Misunderstanding, Mom, Moving, Nar, National Association Of Realtors, Pg, Pgi, Philosophies, Photo, Photo Id, Pi, Pot, Profession, Real Estate, Real Estate Market, Real Estate Staging, Realtor, Realtors, Reason, Rel Nofollow, S1600, S320, Smaller Steps, Sophie, Spa, Span Style, Stager, Stagers, Staging, Sting, Style Font, Sun, Target, Tidal Force, Unified Group, United, Unity, Vision Of Unity, Vocal Minority, Wit

pFor those who are looking to sell a strongVacant/strongor strongNewly Constructed House/strong, here in strongNew York/strong and on strongLong Island/strong, here is some pertinent information regarding strongHome Staging/strong and strongRental furniture/strongnbsp;vs. Purchased home furnishings:/ppWhen I visit a newly constructed or vacant house for the purpose of providing a proposal for staging with rented furniture, I begin by touring the house and taking pictures of the rooms that need to be staged.nbsp; Normally, only the impact rooms (Entry, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen and Great Room or Family Room) need to be furnished in order for buyers to see the purpose and potential of each room and have a point of reference as to what size furnishings the room can hold.nbsp; In the case of older houses, however, many times the bedrooms are very small and it is difficult to visualize the size and amount of furniture that the room can hold.nbsp; In those cases, I always suggest that at least the Master Bedroom be staged with a Queen-sized bed and dresser or chest of drawers.nbsp; As you can see in the photo below of a house that I staged in strongOyster Bay, LI,/strong a staged room actually shows larger than if left empty!/ppimg title=Master Bedroom Oyster Bay Cove Long Island before staging by Staged 2 Sell NY src=http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/5/7/3/3/5/ar122088468653375.jpg height=600 alt=Master Bedroom before staging in Oyster Bay Cove Long Island New York by Staged 2 Sell New York width=800 style=vertical-align:middle;//ppimg title=After staging by Staged 2 Sell New York amp; Long Island src=http://activerain.com/image_store/uploads/7/3/5/6/2/ar122088511226537.jpg height=600 alt=Oyster Bay Cove, Long Island, Master Bedroom after staging by Staged 2 Sell NY width=800 style=vertical-align:middle;//ppOnce I return to the office, I download the photos and begin planning what each room will require in order to highlight the architecture and focal points of the space.nbsp;nbsp; A lot of care and thought go into this process; not only do I need to choose unique and appropriate furnishings, but I need to be mindful of the cost for each.nbsp; I am able to lsquo;shop’ for the most competitive pricing because I work with all three big rental companies in the tri-state area./ppWhen all the necessary furnishings have been chosen, I present the client with a written proposal which details each piece of furniture and the monthly rental cost per item.nbsp; State tax and Damage Waiver fees are added to the overall monthly fee, as well as a one-time delivery/set up/pick up fee.nbsp; The total monthly cost to rent furniture is usually a bit of a jolt for most clients because they find it hard to believe how all those small lsquo;per item’ monthly rental fees can add up!/ppI realize that the monthly furniture rental fees mightnbsp;have a little bit of ’sticker shock’nbsp;for some people, and that is understandable.nbsp;The good news is that the rental fees are paid on a monthly basis and can be charged to a major credit card. What I ask my clients to take into consideration is what the overall investment will be and then to think about how much the first, or next price reduction on the house will be (not to mention that after the first few weeks on the market, a house becomes ‘market worn’ and will receive fewer showings by other agents)./ppThen I ask them to consider this:nbsp; More than 80% of today’s home buyers start their search online and if the photos depict empty rooms, or even worse show only exterior pictures of a house, chances are that the viewer will move on to the next listing.nbsp; The most memorable houses are those that make an eye-catching impression which entices buyers’ interest. Staged roomsnbsp;help buyers to visualize the true potential ofnbsp;the house.nbsp; When buyers tour the house,nbsp;rooms that are strategically furnishednbsp;help them to connectnbsp;to the home on a personal and emotional level; they will remember thatnbsp;house throughout the home searching process.nbsp; Remember that once a potential buyer has toured a home and has not made the necessary connection to it, you have lost that ‘audience’….they will not come back again because they have already formed a negative opinion./ppThe strongnewly constructed houses/strongnbsp;of today’s market offer all kinds of amenities and quality craftsmanship and yetnbsp;they are difficult to sell…just look at how many there are on strongMLS/strong in strongNassau and/strongstrongSuffolk Counties/strong here on strongLong Island/strong!nbsp;/ppWhen a vacant, newly constructed house is strongstaged/strong, potential buyers are more apt to connect to the home on a more personal level; they can actually envision themselves living there!nbsp; As part of my staging, I always include specific ‘props’ for different rooms, such as an open book with a pair of reading glasses perched on top and strategically placed on a coffee table in the family room…or faux vegetables in a bowl next to an open cookbook in the ‘prep’ area of the kitchen…or annbsp;’interrupted’ game of Scrabble in the den.nbsp; Without being too ‘viewer specific’ (everyone prepares meals, plays games and reads books), I want the buyers to see that this could be ‘their’ room…’their’ HOME! nbsp;It is that connection that will ultimately sell your house!/ppWhen it comes to the strongbuilders/strong, if the idea of spending a few thousand dollars on strongrental furniture/strong does not strike them as a good business investment, I tell them that perhaps they might want to consider doing what some other strongLong Island builders/strong have done, and that is to buy the furniture and then either reuse it in other strongmodels/strong or sell it with the house (quite often the buyer loves the way the room looks and asks if they can purchase some, or all of the furniture).nbsp;nbsp;The overall cost to purchase the furnishings usually works out to be in the same ballpark as 3 months rental fees for the same amount of furniture and accessories./ppstrongVal Allocco, a certified (HSE), professional Home Stager, is thenbsp;founder amp; ownernbsp;of Staged 2 Sell NY which was established in early 2006 and serves all of Long Island (Nassau and Suffolk Counties) as well as the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.nbsp; She is also the Metro New York Chapter President of ASHSR (American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners)./strong/ppstrongVal has taught Adult Education courses on Staging Your Home To Sell and has also been a featured speaker at numerous Home Selling Seminars on, and around, Long Island.nbsp; She is available for seminars and other real estate related presentations and can be reached at 516-982-2671./strong/ppstrongPlease visit a rel=nofollow target=_blank href=http://www.staged2sellny.com/www.staged2sellny.com/a for more information and examples of our work./strong/p

Tags: 2 Jpg, 3 Jpg, 6 Jpg, Act, Ads, Amp, Arc, Architect, Architecture, Awe, Bb, Bedrooms, Books, Br, Bro, Brooklyn, Bs, Chest Of Drawers, Chi, Coffee, Coffee Table, Conn, Craftsmanship, Credit Card, Damage Waiver, Designers, Dining Room, Dollar, Drawers, Dy, Ec, Eco, Education, Ell, Ew, Ff, Fir, Fn, Focal Point, Furniture, Furniture Rental, Game, Hey, Hock, Home Buyer, Home Furnishings, Home Stager, Home Stagers, Home Staging, Hot, Houses, Image, Image Store, Img, Jpg, Little Bit, Living Room, Long Island, Long Island New York, Lost, Lot, Love, Master Bed, Master Bedroom, Mate, Met, Models, Nar, Nars, Nassau, Nbsp, Ncl, Necessary Furnishings, New York Long Island, Ny Times, Oyster Bay, Oyster Bay Cove, People, Pg, Photo, Photos, Pi, Piece Of Furniture, Plays, Point Of Reference, Pot, Ppi, Presentation, Profession, Professional Home Stager, Proposal, Props, Queen, Queen Bed, Queen Sized Bed, Quo, Reading Glasses, Real Estate, Rental Furniture, Rma, Rv, Sell Your House, Seminars, Shock, Showings, Sk, Spa, Stab, Stager, Stagers, Staging, Staging Your Home, State Tax, Sting, Suffolk Counties, Target, Wings, Wit, Written Proposal

This weekend, a friend sent me a link to a Yukatan real estate website. I was completely drawn in, transported to a magical place where life is slow-paced, where days are spent lounging on the sandy beaches, or sipping tea with friends in the courtyard of my villa, with all of the doors open wide, and gentle breezes blowing through, to blur the lines between outside and inside. Ahhh…maybe one day.

Here are a few of my favorites:

El Portico de la Candelaria, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, $450,000
I am absolutely in awe of the gorgeous tiles throughout this home.

Small size, big style, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, $138,500
What an unbelievable price!!! And again, don’t miss the gorgeous tiles…especially in the room with the hammock.

Colonial beauty, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, $545,000

Urban magic, located in Merida Centro, $195,000
The kitchen is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before!

Tranquility and beauty in Centro, 2 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms, $289,000

The Royal Home, 3 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, $865,000
I love the big carved wood doors throughout.

Casa del Panadero, located in the Centro Historico district of Colonial Mérida, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, $259,000

Well, I hope you ‘ve enjoyed this journey as much as I have!!

Happy decorating,

Tags: 1a, 3a, 411, Aa, Amp, Awe, Bathrooms, Bb, Beaches, Bedrooms, Blog, Blogger, Blogs, Blogspot, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Bs, Carved Wood Doors, Cor, Courtyard, De La Candelaria, Decorating, Dh, Div, Diy, Dk, Doors, Dy, Eb, Ec, Eco, Ell, Ew, Favorites, Feedburner, Ff, Fri, Friends, Gentle Breezes, Google, Gorgeous, Hammock, Hot, Img, Img Src, Ins, Iy, Journey, Jpg, Kristi, Love, Magic, Magical Place, Nature, Pg, Photo, Php, Pi, Png, Portico, Pot, Ppi, Pv, Real Estate, Rv, S1600, S400, Sandy Beaches, Signature, Sipping Tea, Sk, South Of The Border, Sting, Target, Td, Tea With Friends, Tile, Tiles, Tranquility, Trip South, Unbelievable Price, Uto, Vg, Wit, Ya, Yc, Yd, Yt, Zw

Theater review | Seattle Public Theater staging of flawed “A …Seattle Times, United StatesSon Robin (Tim Gouran), whose own marriage has failed, comes home to make jokes about movies in which…


[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Tags: Ads, Awe, Bord, Border, Bp, Br, Bs, Content Summary, Div, Dk, Doubleclick, Eb, Ec, Ew, Feedburner, Ff, Flare, Img, Img Src, Ismap, Jokes, Marriage, Movies, Pv, Seattle Public Theater, Seattle Theater, Seattle Times, Staging, Target, United, United States, Vg, Wit