I’m so excited to be representing Vancouver Home Staging, and heading down to the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) Conference, held in beautiful San Francisco this year.  Not only will I be able to reconnect with some of . . . → Read More: Top 10 Cdn Stager 2013]]> Top 10 Canadian Finalist for RESA Canadian Stager of the Year

I’m so excited to be representing Vancouver Home Staging, and heading down to the Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) Conference, held in beautiful San Francisco this year.  Not only will I be able to reconnect with some of my favourite Stagers from all over North America, but this year I’ve been voted as one of the top 10 Canadian Stagers of the year for 2013!  They will be announcing the winner in a few days at the Conference.  I have my fingers and toes crossed and am honoured to be competing against the most amazing talent in the Canadian staging field.

I always find attending the RESA Conference to be extremely valuable.  We will be listening to speakers who will help keep our company elevated to the highest of standards.  What are the latest staging trends?  What are some pitfalls and solutions to running a successful staging business?  We will be listening to a panel of Real Estate experts, and hearing their thoughts and advice about staging from their perspective.  How can we help Realtors® help their clients prepare their homes for sale?  I’m also thrilled to finally meet one of my favourite San Francisco Realtors®, David Ames, with Zephyr, who will be one of the Realtor® panel experts, and who I’ve chatted to online for about 3 years!

The Real Estate Staging Association Conference is a wonderful way to keep current in the staging industry, an industry that is constantly changing and evolving.  This Vancouver Home Stager is proud to be representing my company, Exit Stage Right, and keeping ahead of the staging pack, by learning, sharing and evolving.  Oh, and I may just try and squeeze in a little trip wine tasting in Sonoma, too.  Wouldn’t you?!!

When selling your Vancouver condo or home, don’t forget about the patio.  I’ve seen properties that look amazing, but the deck or patio is often forgotten.  A naked patio can seem like a bit of a wasteland.  Also, what does your patio overlook?  Is there . . . → Read More: Staging Outdoor Patios]]> Staging Outdoor Patios – Vancouver Home Staging

When selling your Vancouver condo or home, don’t forget about the patio.  I’ve seen properties that look amazing, but the deck or patio is often forgotten.  A naked patio can seem like a bit of a wasteland.  Also, what does your patio overlook?  Is there a concrete wall next door, or a highway, or a lane?

Patio Before Staging

Here’s a patio we recently staged.  The condo was beautifully presented indoors, but the outside patio overlooked a lane, and even worse, an auto body shop!  I was called in by the Realtor® to see if I could come up with some way to “down play” the “Fix-It Tony” shop.  Now don’t get me wrong, we’re not trying to fool anyone here.  However, what we are trying to do is show potential home buyers that yes, there’s a lane and an auto body shop, but it can be minimized.  The condo was in a great location, spacious and had so much going for it.

Patio After Staging

How did we solve the problem?  We staged the deck by adding a minimal amount of outdoor furniture.  By adding cushions, plants and a few accessories, the grey slabs of concrete transformed into an outdoor space where you could sit and read the paper in the summer, or enjoy your meals al fresco.

To distract from the auto body shop, we lined trees up along the railing, thus blocking out the view of the auto body building  and sign.  I used faux trees, but it would be easy enough for the new owner to add real trees, planted in a pot.  We are happy to say that this condo is now sold!

• City of Vancouver
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• Sally on Google+

I was thrilled to be asked back again this year to decorate a Christmas tree for the holiday season this year, at the Sutton Place Hotel Vancouver.  As a Vancouver Home Stager, I love to decorate, so this was a great opportunity to stretch my creativity.

The Lonsdale area in North Vancouver is a fantastic neighbourhood. Lower Lonsdale is full of funky restaurants, amazing outdoor cafes and a generally laid back west coast lifestyle.  Everything is within walking distance in the Lower Lonsdale area, including the wonderfully vibrant Lonsdale Quay, . . . → Read More: Lonsdale-North Van-A Hip Lifestyle]]> Lonsdale Area – North Vancouver – For a Hip Lifestyle

The Lonsdale area in North Vancouver is a fantastic neighbourhood. Lower Lonsdale is full of funky restaurants, amazing outdoor cafes and a generally laid back west coast lifestyle.  Everything is within walking distance in the Lower Lonsdale area, including the wonderfully vibrant Lonsdale Quay, which offers local, fresh fruits and vegetables, a fresh fish market, scrumptious bakeries and unique gift and clothing boutiques.  There is a real urban and industrial mixture here, with condos overlooking the working tug boats and old ship building yard.  The ocean is right at your doorstep, complete with cheeky, greedy seagulls, bobbing, colourful sailboats, and a wonderful view of downtown skyline from across the water.  A 15 minute ride from the SeaBus at Lower Lonsdale to downtown Gastown, makes commuting to downtown a breeze.

View of downtown Vancouver from Lower Lonsdale

View of Downtown Vancouver City Skyline from Lower Lonsdale

At Exit Stage Right home staging, we’ve been very fortunate to stage some homes and condos in the Lonsdale area. Since we know this area of North Vancouver extremely well, we know to target buyers who love the outdoors, who want a laid back, chillaxin’ kind of lifestyle, yet who know they have to pay for it, and are happy with the short commute to their downtown jobs.  We target the home buyer that wants to walk to all amenities, who has a passion for the outdoors, who will take time to relax outdoors under the heat lamps and read the New York Times with their no foam, non-fat, double shot latte.

“Lower Lonsdale Home We Staged – After Photo”

If you are thinking of selling your home or condo, and want to target and dial in a specific buyer, contact us at Exit Stage Right home staging in North Vancouver.  We know how to speak to the specific buyer who is looking to purchase your home.  sally@exitstageright.ca  604-838-9431

You want to prepare your home for sale. However, you’ve lived there several years, and the place is just looking a bit tired.  You know that a coat of paint is an inexpensive way to spruce up the look of your home.  You want it to look fresh, clean and bright – then . . . → Read More: Painting your Home for Sale]]>

You want to prepare your home for sale. However, you’ve lived there several years, and the place is just looking a bit tired.  You know that a coat of paint is an inexpensive way to spruce up the look of your home.  You want it to look fresh, clean and bright – then you come up with a great idea – I know, let’s paint the rooms white!

My response to you would be “let’s not!”. I’ll tell you why I think white would not be the best choice.  White makes a room look very cold.  Stark white is reminiscent of offices, hospitals and institutions.  It’s not a warm colour – in fact, it’s not a colour at all!

Rather than white, there are some lovely soft shades on the market. I hate to say this, but “relocation beige” is an excellent choice.  I know, beige, you moan, how boring.  Yes, it may be boring, but it will appeal to a broad range of buyers.  Beige doesn’t offend anyone, and yet it is a warm colour.  After all, your goal is to appeal to the largest amount of buyers possible.  You don’t only want to appeal to those who love purple, for example.  Soft, warm greys are another great choice and very popular at the moment.

BATHROOM – BEFORE

BATHROOM – AFTER

Here in Vancouver, we love light earth tones. Nothing too dark, as our grey, rainy days are dark enough.  We have nature all around us, and it’s nice to bring those natural colours that we love so much indoors as well.

So next time you reach for the can of white paint, think again. Go for light, natural tones and choose low or no VOC paints.

I just got back from an amazing tour of several wineries in the Okanagan, all near Kelowna. Ok, seven wineries in two days, but hey, who’s counting!

One of our first stops on our trip was the amazing Mission Hill winery. The buildings at Mission . . . → Read More: Okanagan Wine Design]]>

I just got back from an amazing tour of several wineries in the Okanagan, all near Kelowna. Ok, seven wineries in two days, but hey, who’s counting!

One of our first stops on our trip was the amazing Mission Hill winery. The buildings at Mission Hill are designed by Seattle architect, Tom Kundig. Kundig’s vision was to create a building that would blend in with the natural beauty of its surrounds and not compete. There is a peacefulness and feeling of serenity about these buildings, and the sounds of the bells ringing, transports you to some far away hill top in Tuscany.

What a treat it was to go below ground and view the cellar where the wine is aging in its barrels. The smell of red wine perfumed the air, and the sounds of condensation dribbling down the volcanic rock walls was lovely and refreshing (outside it was nearing 30 degrees celsius!).

After our tour, we were led to a small tasting room, where we sampled some of Mission Hill’s wines. This winery boasts many awards, thanks to the vision of its proprietor, Anthony von Mandl, a Vancouverite of Austrian descent.

Following the wine tasting, we happily wandered through the gift shop and this is where I started to think about home staging. Ha! You knew I couldn’t resist a link, didn’t you? I was very impressed with the displays of gift wares – how they were artistically arranged to catch your eye.

The colours and textures really drew you in, and made you want to purchase an Eiffel tower or a ceramic hen, even though I already own a million Eiffel towers (hmmm, I don’t have any hens yet…). This is exactly what we do when we stage a home. We merchandise the home to make it seem more appealing to buyers. We draw buyers in using colours and textures, and creating stories that will be memorable to home buyers.

Curb appeal is also important, and wow, does this place have curb appeal! The vineyards are just beautiful, with grape vines running all the way down the hill to the lake. Roses are planted at the beginning of each row of vines. This is so that bugs will infect the roses first, before carrying on into the vines. It’s a warning sign of infestation, but it is also very beautiful to see the shot of colour at the beginning of each row. Yes, here I am, standing amongst the vines.

The grapes are a little behind, since the summer started out a little cool, but they should be bursting forth in no time.

If you get a chance, definitely go to the Okanagan and do some wine touring and tasting. Soak in the wonderful examples of great design and sample the wine. Next year, I’m hoping to visit a different area, maybe Naramata, where different grapes are grown. Until then, cheers!

Imagine you are a struggling, recovering female drug addict or street worker, trying to get your life back together, and hoping and praying someone would just give you a break.  We’ve all read about the Pickton murder trials, and read the biographies of the women victims who went missing.  In these biographies, . . . → Read More: Vcr Stagers Help Women of E. Vancouver]]>

Imagine you are a struggling, recovering female drug addict or street worker, trying to get your life back together, and hoping and praying someone would just give you a break.  We’ve all read about the Pickton murder trials, and read the biographies of the women victims who went missing.  In these biographies, you start to realize that these women had previous lives, and families, and loved ones.  Life dealt these women tough blows, and their fate was a terrible one.

Louise Edwards, the Godmother of the Downtown Vancouver Eastside

Enter a woman, referred to as the Godmother of the Downtown Eastside Vancouver.  Louise Edwardsis her name, and she has been on a personal mission over the past 20 years to help these desperate women.  Guess where she lives? – Kamloops!  What does she do?  Louise listens to the women’s needs, and gathers donations from the Kamloops community, and drives down every 2 – 3 weeks to deliver these donations to the Downtown Eastside  Vancouver women.

Now how, you may ask, does this have anything at all to do with Home Staging?

Well, recently, I attended the Real Estate Staging Association’s (RESA) monthly meeting.  We are a fledgling group, and anxious to form the first RESA chapter in Metro Vancouver.  For those of you who don’t know, RESA is the governing body for Home Stagers in the U.S. and Canada.

This was a fun meeting, as I was able to meet other fellow stagers and chat about our industry, the successes and the challenges that go along with owning your own small business.  As sole proprietors, it’s great to share a common passion, and although we are each other’s competition, we are also each other’s network and support.  More importantly, we decided as a group that one of our missions was to help our community.  Enter Louise Edwards.

Louise spoke to our group about the struggles of the Downtown Eastside Vancouver women. There is virtually no budget to help out these women obtain simple “luxuries”, such as a freezer or a working oven.   At the moment, there is an old hotel, called Sereena House, where women who are trying to work their way back into society reside.   We have agreed, as a group of Vancouver Home Stagers, to help furnish this cold, stark abode into a warm, comfortable living space, that will remind the women of “home”.

By carefully listening to the women’s needs, we will create a functional main area living space for dining and a social area for playing cards and watching t.v.  As home stagers and designers, you will be sure that we will be creating as beautiful a space as we possibly can.  We already have a freezer to donate, and we are all pitching in for the cost of delivery to Sereena house.

We are an excited group of Vancouver Home Staging women, ready and willing to help our fellow women in need.  If you would like to help, please feel free to contact me and I can arrange for pick up of any donated items you may have.