http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScW_QpOWQPI

 http://youtu.be/fXYAE8r6eiE

Enjoy!

http://youtu.be/DQFyDlmDqn4

My company staged a lovely single family home in Selma Estates in Leesburg last year. I initially provided the home owners with a staging consultation as they had lovely furniture, very little artwork on the walls. Their Living Room was also empty, and their Master Bedroom sitting area was in need of a few occasional tables. The owners would be living in the home while it was on the market. The plan we created included de-cluttering and minor re-arranging, (such as moving a cream colored couch from the basement to the Living Room) as well as proposal to stage the home with furniture for the Living Room and Master Sitting Room and artwork and accessories throughout.

The second home was located in Ashburn, Virginia in the Villages of Waxpool. The situation was eerily similar. I provided an initial staging consultation as the owners intended to remain in the home while it was on the market. They ultimately decided to move out prior to listing, and the staging plan from the consultation indicated what furniture should stay and what should go. However, they still had an empty Living Room and empty Master Bedroom sitting room, along with no artwork and very little accessories. Again, we provided a proposal for bringing furniture, artwork and accessories.

The photos below show the same floor plan and both home’s before and after photos.

Living Room:

Leesburg Living Room Before

Leesburg Living Room After

Ashburn Living Room Before

Ashburn Living Room After

Do you crave the sleek lines of the West Elm catalog? Love the colors used in their rooms but at a loss when it comes to actually selecting a paint color for your walls? West Elm has now paired with Benjamin Moore’s latest paint line, Ben, to create color palette that enhances and complements contemporary décor.

View the Ben palette at:

http://www.westelm.com/we-love/benjamin-moore-palette.html

Ever found yourself out shopping and think you’ve located the perfect color for your walls? The only problem, of course is you can’t take a chunk of out the wall with you in order to color match it at your local Home Depot. Well, now, thanks to the IPHONE, you can find inspiration anyway. There is an app that allows you to color match anything-a pillow, a wall color of that great upscale décor store, your dog, and match it to one of Benjamin Moore’s latest offerings, Ben paints.

I was curious to see how being talkative might translate as an adult. So, I consulted the Visual Thesaurus (a very cool tool for us visual thinkers, by the way). It shows talkative as: “chatty” (yeah, yeah, yeah), “loquacious”, and the less flattering, “big mouthed”.  However, on the positive side, it lists a phrase of “friendly, and open and willing to talk”, although right next to the less flattering, “full of trivial conversation”.  Hmmm.

My point to all this is that in my former career, I achieved the goal of becoming a corporate trainer, something I worked toward for several years. Now that I own my own business, I’m able to channel a lifetime of being “talkative” combined with my professional training background to deliver Home Selling and Home Staging seminars. The seminars are geared towards educating and informing home owners, Real Estate agents and the general public on the benefits of staging. I also provide practical tips and helpful hints to aid in the process of preparing your home for sale.

I’ve participated in six seminars so far in 2010, for companies such as Northwest Federal Credit Union and Westminster Canterbury, in addition to numerous in-house presentations for Real Estate agents.

So, who says being talkative is a bad thing?

It is an honor to be nominated, as there are some fantastic companies recognized this year. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Dawn and her crew, along with featured contractor Jason Boyle will also be speaking on Friday, February 26th at 3:00 pm in the South Hall regarding how to choose the right contractor. Don’t miss it!

Click here for more information on the Capital Home and Garden Show.

Hours of the show are:

Thu Feb 25 5:00pm-9:00pm
Fri Feb 26 10:00am-9:00pm
Sat Feb 27 10:00am-9:00pm
Sun Feb 28 10:00am-6:00pm

Check the “Our Ideas” section for inspiration. Enjoy!