That was the subject line of an email I got yesterday. It went into my ‘Junk Mail’ and I almost missed it!

Here was the rest of the email:

“Hi Shar,

I wanted to let you know that your 2 hours of staging advice led our hand toward a very quick offer and sale of our house.

We met with you back in November in our home and made color, furniture purchase and placement decisions based upon your advice that really made our showings pop!

Thanks for you help! Very happy to give any referrals to you!”

Well, wasn’t that nice! Most of the time, after I have been with a client for a Home Staging Consultation and give them a detailed list of what they need to do to get their home ready for sale, I never know if they follow through with the instructions and how long it took their home to sell. I am unable to track all the homes I have been in for a consultation as many don’t list for months if not a year later.

It is so great when a homeowner follows up with me. I love it! 

If you are having trouble getting an offer on your home or are thinking of selling it in the future, a two hour Home Staging Consultation by a Certified Home Staging Professional can be very valuable! Call 952-567-1127 to book an appointment.

www.roomswithstyle.com

Do you have a dream for the future? Let me tell you a story…..

My story starts last October when I was asked to “write down 50 things you would do if nothing could stop you” as part of a Home Stager Trainer’s Class. So that night I gave it serious thought…..

If nothing could stop me, if I had no barriers what would I do??? Hhmmmmmm…

#1 On My List: To start a Non-Profit that would decorate homes or spaces for women who were coming off the streets and out of abusive situations.

As Nate Berkus says “Your home should rise up to meet you”.

I believe that is for everyone…no matter what your situation or where your “home” is. Home could be a women’s shelter where you feel safe for the first time in years, a subsidized housing project that is all your own, or one room in an apartment shared by others in your situation. So, I wrote it down.

“I want to start a Non-Profit to bless women coming into perhaps their first safe clean living space ever.”

I had visions of what I would do with it when I retired. Receive donations, refurbish a worn out table by painting it a fun color, bringing new life to an old chair with fun fabric, have a list of volunteers to assist me. I could visualize it in the future.

So….guess what I did Thursday??

I decorated a three bedroom apartment for three women coming off of the streets from sex trafficking and prostitution.

Did you hear that?? Thursday. And I haven’t retire yet!

I won’t go into the details but this happened quickly. Someone at my local church knew what I did for a living, called me and asked if I would be willing to get involved. I called the charity and was told the women were moving in Friday and they needed help “pulling it together”.

I went down there Wednesday morning and a large local furniture store was just pulling away from donating BRAND NEW FURNITURE!!!!

But, there were no ‘girly things’. I went to my warehouse, picked out lamps, artwork, and girly things that I could donate.

Oh….I forgot the best part. When I told my sister what I was doing she came back to me a bit later with this:

“For these women the bed has never been a safe place. They need to know it is now safe and they need to be blessed with some nice new linens, not used.”. I must mention my sister is a psychologist and volunteers with women who have been sexually abused or part of sex trafficking.

So…off to Target I went to buy new bedding that she was going to donate. New sheets, new comforters, a fuzzy blankets for cuddling. All coordinated with their room’s paint color of course. Any good designer would have the paint deck samples with her. LOL.

I realized I needed help and needed to rearrange my schedule to meet the time commitment. With a one day notice I was back decorating the space with a wonderful woman named Sandy.

We worked for six hours cleaning, arranging furniture, making beds, hanging artwork. Boy were were exhausted but oh so blessed.

We left each woman with a brand new towel and wash cloth along with a box of chocolates and fresh flowers.

I think these women will have their home “rise up to meet them” when they walk in.

What do you think?

Bedroom 1: The taupe room

Bedroom 2: The lavendar room

Bedroom 3: The blue room

The common living room and dining area:

The Hallway Garden:

So….do you have a dream for the future? God may have something in mind sooner.

I don’t have my own Non-Profit yet to help numerous organizations assisting woman but hey….this is a start and it happened quicker than I thought.

What’s your dream?

As a Home Stager and Redesigner I am asked to stage and decorate many types of homes. Starter homes, massive homes, ramblers, two-story. But, I have not yet been asked to stage one of MN’s most popular houses. Well……okay maybe not that popular.

But three months of the year they are fairly popular creating entire cities of houses! Remember the movie “Grumpier Old Men”? Yup…that was Minnesota! We love to Ice Fish! We meaning ‘they’…..not we including me.

There is the starter house:

The small but whimsical house:

The ‘sticks out in the neighborhood’ house: (every neighborhood has one)

The very cozy house:

The big boy on the block house!!!

And Aahhh…..the “Frosty The Snow Man House” – hurry up it’s warm outside:

I am hoping one day to be asked to stage one of these ‘houses’. I will let you know! Those of you in Florida…..eat your hearts out!

Yup….Must Be January!

New Year’s Resolutions to lose weight, get in better shape, blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong, it is all wonderful! I commend you and I hope you stay with it.

But boy or boy it is hysterical come January to see the parking lot at my health club.

I work out at Life Time Fitness,    an extremely large facility. The one by my home is one of their largest in the country I believe with something like 350,000 sq. ft or some crazy number. Plus four pools, spa, cafe, 4 water slides, outdoor umbrellas, outdoor grill, yoga room…..you get the picture.

So yesterday I go to work out about 8:30 AM (I don’t normally workout on Saturday unless I haven’t gotten there much during the week); and oops, forgot it was January! I had to park in the back forty literally!

The parking lot is huge as you can imagine with a facility that size and it was packed. I had to park at the furthest end instead of in my normal 4th or 5th row. I easily walked a block and a half from my car to the front door. Granted I am there for the exercise but when it is 12 degrees and even lower with the windchill it is BBbrrrrrr.

When I came out of the facility about 10:30 it was even worse! Cars were circling watching for people to leave because there weren’t any spaces, cars were parked along drive paths. It was crazy!

But, it will be a little better in March, and much better come April. Then we will see the phenomenon all over again next January. But for the short term….I’ll be walking a little further each day!

If the gym is part of your New Year’s Resolution stick with it! Make the rest of us walk a long distance the rest of the year, not just January!

Need a quick snack recipe and I mean quick? Plus it is yummy!!

I made these for my Christmas plates but they would be fabulous for a New Year’s Party, Super Bowl Party or anytime during the year.

Cinnamon Pretzels!

It is such a nice surprise when you think you are biting into a regular pretzel and then find the taste of cinnamon and sugar! Delicious.

Put them in a Decorative Tin and they would make a wonderful Hostess Gift as well.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 pound package small pretzel twists

Directions:

1. In a large roasting pan stir together oil, sugar and cinnamon. Add pretzels; toss well to combine. Bake, uncovered in a 300 degree F oven for 30 minutes, stirring twice. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Store in an airtight container. Makes 12 cups.

Microwave Directions:

2. In a very large bowl stir together oil, sugar and cinnamon. Add pretzels; toss well to combine. Place half of the pretzel mixture in a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave on 100 percent power (high) for 3 minutes, stirring after every minute. Spread on waxed paper to cool. Repeat with remaining pretzel mixture.

————————————————

In reading the reviews of this recipe a couple complaints were that the sugar wasn’t sticking to the pretzel. To make sure the pretzels were well coated this is what I did. (I used the oven, not the microwave).

A couple hints of what I did:

1) I used Rold Gold Mini Pretzels as they are a little fatter. (I made one batch with the thinner ones and not as good).

2) I doubled the oil, sugar and cinnamon for 1 pound of pretzels to make the coating thicker.

3) I put the coating in a bowl, poured in 1/2 the pretzels and stirred them until well coated. I used tongs to place them on the pan. Then I repeated the process. Any additional coating remaining in the bowl I poured over the pretzels in the pan. I also set the timer at 10 minute intervals to stir them thoroughly to keep them coated. I had no problems and the thicker coating was the best!!

I cannot stress enough how easy this recipe is and how good they are!! I hope you make them for yourself if nothing else. Enjoy!

www.roomswithstyle.com

952-567-1124

Do You Need A Silent Night?

My life has been nuts lately….what about yours?

Business as usual, shopping, wrapping, baking, blogging, year end planning, marketing, business planning for 2012, and on and on and on.

So maybe you need a Silent Night too.

Let the words and music of Amy Grant give you that….at least for a few minutes.

What do you love to do? Can you do what you love and bless others at the same time?

I love to read, knit and bake. I take the love of knitting and make prayer shawls for those in the hospitals, nursing homes or just someone needing a pick me up gift.

I take my love of baking and turn it into a blessing for others during the holiday season by providing plates of cookies during Christmas Caroling to those that are shut-in. After being sung to, each person is handed a plate of homemade cookies.

Let’s follow my day recently:

Bright and early in the morning with my pastry chef outfit and my cup of coffee, I am ready to go with my very clean kitchen island and heavy duty mixer. (don’t I look just like Vanna White??).

A couple hours later…..look what my friend Patty has done to my clean kitchen!!

When I started doing this about ten years ago I was asked for about 8 – 10 plates of cookies. Then it was 12- 15, etc.  This year was the biggest need ever with many elderly men losing their wives and many very sick people. I was asked for 30 plates of cookies so 30 it was.

Assembly day looked something like this:

We made about 18 different things and every year I just have to try a few new recipes. Last year it was ‘Sea Salt and Pink Peppercorn Caramels’. This year it was ‘Spicy Peanut Brittle’ and ‘Christmas Mice’.

Can you fine my little Christmas Church Mouse peeking out on the plate? Complete with ears and a tail?

Oh….and of course the empty Tupperware containers after the assembly process was quite the sight!!

So what do you love to do? Can you bless others with it? How about making that a goal for 2012??

Wishing you a very blessed Christmas Season and a wonderful 2012!

www.roomswithstyle.com

952-567-1124

Sold in 17 Days! Woo Hoo!! Home Staging Minnetonka MN

Now that’s what I’m talking about. Love to get those emails saying a property I staged sold so quickly.

I was hired to stage this vacant home because it had a really tough living room layout. I even stood and scratched my head when I was in the home taking measurements. I normally know immediately the layout I will use or at least have a pretty good idea. This one. Nothing.

If I was struggling and I do this for a living what do you think the potential buyer thought??

Long narrow room, fireplace on one end, traffic pattern down one entire side, patio doors to get access on the other. Yikes!

A sofa was too long to put crosswise facing the fireplace, and if I put it perpendicular to the fireplace you couldn’t walk behind it to get out the patio door or into the dining room.

So here is what I came up with:

Even a few colorful things on the counter-tops help the white kitchen.

The small dining room with a strangely placed light fixture were also enhanced with home staging.

The Master Bedroom was not only a little blah, it looked very small. I think this helped:

Don’t leave the buyer standing in the middle of a room baffled and wondering what they would do with their furniture…..show them! Call a Professional Home Stager and let your house be the one the buyer wants!

Rooms With Style Home Staging and Redesign MN

952-567-1124

www.roomswithstyle.com

Inexpensive Kitchen Updates for Low End Homes – Home Staging Minneapolis MN

Yesterday I wrote a post “Is Home Staging A Good Investment for Low End Homes?”. My focus was a home that was going to be listed for $80,000 including a brand new garage just being built. That price is well below the median price of a home in the Minneapolis Metro area.

So, is home staging a good return on the investment for low end homes?

Yesterday’s post showed the living room and dining room as well as the selling results. Today I wanted to show you the difference specifically in the kitchen.

Remember this fact….”KITCHENS SELL HOMES”.

That statement isn’t qualified by “unless the home is under $200K” or whatever number you set. It applies to ALL homes regardless of price.

So in this tiny low end home in a tough area of Minneapolis, it has a further detriment in that it’s front door opens right smack into the kitchen. See the front door on the right? Awkward? Aahhh….yes.

So, what do you need to do? Make the buyer’s jaw drop and not have them thinking about the awkwardness.

I met with the investor and here were my suggestions:

1) Modernize – Replace the kitchen cabinet hardware with oil rubbed bronze hardware available at big box stores for 10 for $14.99. Install a ready-made composite wood blind on the window again from a big box store.

2) Create Drama – Find clearanced-out or discontinued Mosaic tile at a tile shop or big box store and install a back splash. Sheets of 12″x12″ tile can sometimes be found for a couple bucks.

3) Get Rid of Wasted Space – There is a huge dance floor in the middle of this kitchen which is lacking counter space. My advice, pick up a portable island creating more counter space as well as a modern look. The black and stainless steel island shown below was found at Big Lots for $119,

4) Fun – Add a little fun for very little money by putting a glass pendant light above the sink again found at big box stores for under $20.

THE RESULTS:

Note: no new appliances, no new cabinets.

Do you have a low end investment property, home or listing and think it’s not worth putting in a little money or sweat equity? I would think again.

Take a look at the living room and dining room pictures on my Previous Post. This home sold in Four Days.

For professional advice on all price level homes call a Professional Certified Home Stager.