Inspiration: Neutrals Because I had a color fetish this week, (ask my online clients) I thought that I would bring some neutrals into the picture. There is nothing more calming than creams, wheat and caramel tones. I could seriously relax in any of these spaces.

Staging News

Pillow Play: 5 Home Trends to Try Right Now We’re big believers in personal style. Right now, we’re loving a mash-up of patterns. Whether it’s coming down the runway or peppered throughout your house, the bold prints you pick have a lot to say about your style. A fun, easy way to experiment with trends (that you may be too hesitant to wear out the door) is to take risks with home decor. Pick up pillows that will add an unexpected punch to an otherwise neutral room.

Style Tips and Tricks

Finding Holiday Refuge: Perfectly Peaceful Bathrooms I really do enjoy getting to see most of my relatives over the holidays, especially my three sister, as we’re spread over the east coast. However, ever since I was a child, a room or house full of people can start to leave me feeling a bit suffocated after awhile. Whether or not you’re like me in this characteristic, it’s still important to take a little time for yourself to recharge. My personal favorite is a hot bath with some candles, because it’s so comforting and peaceful.

Property of the Week

5th Street Brooklyn This 4 story townhouse in center Park Slope was renovated by “the Brooklyn Home Company”. Extra large double hung windows were placed to flood the home with natural light. The house has some great features, a library ladder leads to an extra lofted guest room, ceiling wooden beams, large built-in shelves, and a guest room inspired by the sleeping quarters of a ship.

Local Faves and Raves

San Francisco Spotlight: HD Buttercup Some people search their entire lives for mecca. I found it a block and a half from my house and I highly recommend you make the pilgrimage – if you’re looking for the design mecca that is. H.D. Buttercup is the ultimate playground for the decor lover. It’s like the store that never ends.

It will be awhile before we get through these dreary winter months, but until then you can brighten up your home decor with some bold color combos.  Can’t decide on which color inspiration to incorporate into your staged home? How about all of them?? 2011 has no doubt been the year of bold colors — from the runways to walkways and all the way into your homes. Here are our favorite images bold color combos done right:

Love this living room — playful and fun without being reminiscent of Candy Land.

How much would you enjoy eating breakfast in this kitchen? What a fabulous way to start your day!

Not crazy about the circle patters, looks too much like the Target logo. But love the color combo in the room.

Not quite ready for all the bold colors at once? This bedroom uses a two color combo plus black that might be a little more realistic for the more subtle style taste.

Whatever you decide, bringing some bold color combos into your home can help you get through the winter!

Image Sources: MxdThingz, YouSharez, Will Power Within, Arsitekturmedia, Interior Design Home

Color Trends and Inspiration

Pretty in Pink never been one for red & green christmas decorations (i’ve always wondered where that traditional came from anyway), i just felt like a little bit of pink today, and some sparkle thrown in for good measure. this fab friday is pretty in pink.

Staging News

The Designer’s Obsession: Color, Color, Color If there is one aspect of interior design that Apartment Therapy readers just can’t seem to get enough of, it’s color. From choosing just the right neutral to trying out something new, unusual and maybe a bit daring, we love to (at the very least!) endlessly consider the possibilities.

Style Tips and Tricks

Chic DIY’s That Anyone Can Do If you didn’t have a chance to follow through on all (or any!) of those “DIYs I Want to Try” you pinned in 2011, fret not my friends. There is still time to pull off a crafty upgrade to your dining room, your bedroom, or your front door with ease and panache. Ready. Set. DIY.

Property of the Week

Broker Fail: The Worst God-Awful Listing Photos of the Year Oh man, 2011 has been an epic year for terrible, no good, utterly embarrassing listing photos. Between the rash of foreclosures and just about everyone else looking to cut costs, the property marketers generated some pretty half-assed products this year. None were worse than the Georgia property owner—or exceedingly bold listing agent—caught with her top off, an image that appears not once, not twice, but three times, thanks to bathroom mirrors in the $200K three-bedroom. While this might be the most egregious example of a marketing misstep, there were plenty more this year.

Local Faves and Raves

The Christmas House on Gellert Drive So…more on the Christmas House on Gellert Drive…was reading a Yelp review when someone mentioned of a Christmas house on Lake Merced. Curious, I decided to investigate. I found the house, on Gellert and Everglades. Don’t know who did this set-up, or how long they have been doing it. Looks quite nice though. Adds to the drive heading into the Sunset for those visiting from the Peninsula.

It’s Not Beige, It’s Greige Out with the old, in with the new. Just as in fashion, where we see trends come and go, (and sometimes come full circle decades later) decorating has its trends that move with the colors of the year(s). For quite sometime now (i’d say over the past 2 years), gray has become the new beige and it’s making a statement like no other. Gray is such a calming color but it can be bright, light, dark, subtle…no matter what, it’s always soothing to the eye. This is the very reason I’ve been convincing my clients to use so much gray lately, especially on the walls! It’s the perfect neutral that will cohesively tie any room together.

Staging News

Make the Most of the Light: Tips for Beautiful Curtains If you’re a follower of Feng shui (or a fan of fictitious ’90s decorator Duarto Feliz), you believe that the windows of a home represent its eyes, and should be dressed accordingly. I don’t know about that, but as a designer I do know that there’s precious little that makes my heart sing like a pair of beautifully-hung curtains.

Style Tips and Tricks

DIY Decorative Tray I love decorative trays because there are so many uses for them. You can use them to serve food (preferably breakfast in bed!) or you can put them on your bar cart or coffee table to serve cocktails. You can also use them to display jewelry, perfume and nail polishes. The best part about this tray is that it is made with a picture frame. This lets you switch out the design inside the frame with your changing decor.

Property of the Week

Hot Tin Roof this is one very hot tin roof. constructed at the end of the 19th century from prefabricated sections of corrugated iron and affectionately known as a tin chapel, the wee church was converted into a charming and quite cozy re-purposed home by artist and craftsman nick kenny in the historic town of faversham on the kent coast of england. “pretty much everything in here has been bought for a pittance as scrap or salvage, or picked up for next to nothing at auction,” nick explains. such an inspiration. i could worship here quite easily.

Local Faves and Raves

Gobble, gobble — Turkeys roam the streets of Berkeley Perhaps buoyed by the passing of Thanksgiving and Christmas — not that the wild variety is often to be found on the plate — turkeys are making their presence known on the residential streets of Berkeley and Albany.

Hi!

We are hiring new interns! (YAY!)

Holiday is coming and we are in house cleaning and 2013 planning mode! So we are hiring interns for remainder of the year and first quarter of 2013! We are offering internships in both Marketing and Styling aspects of our company.

The styling internship title is Stylist In Training and you will receive photos for the jobs you assisted on for your portfolio. Additionally, there’s potential to become a paid freelancer Stylist once you finish your internship based on your performance evaluation. The internship is 1-2 days a week in our South San Francisco warehouse. We also try to do a field trip per quarter like a gift show, etc. for educational purposes.

Duties:
Organizing, labeling, cleaning and maintaining inventory in the warehouse
Assist in rotating out old furniture
Some administrative tasks
Warehouse and furniture organization
Participating in home staging, possibly eventually staging rooms on his/her own
Learn how to pack the inventory properly and prep for jobs
Learn how to install artwork and furniture
Learn how to touch up damaged floors and furniture
Learn how to accessorize and style interiors

We are doing interviews for potential interns for this upcoming quarter every week, if you are interested please apply.

We see interviews as mutual interviews. While we are evaluating if you will be a good fit for our company, this is also an opportunity for you to see if this is for you. Depending on the week, we may be live staging, wrapping projects or prepping in the warehouse. You will be expected to work as a test to see how well you do so we can access your skill levels. Similarly, you can get a taste what you will be expected to do during your internship. The interview will run about half an hour to an hour.

INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTIONS

Expectations:
MUST BE A CURRENT STUDENT
You must be able to work in teams or on your own
**we do lift and move furniture both in warehouse and on site. Ability to lift 50lbs
Interests in interior styling, interior design or home staging fields
High level of accuracy, attention to detail and ability to prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
Basic construction skills in installing artwork, etc preferred
Ability to travel to our warehouse in an industrial area (limited public transportation) and to our job sites (may or may not have public transportation access)
Ability to use ladders, drills, box knives and other miscellaneous tools
Ability to communicate clearly and professionally with lead stylist on site and coworkers
High level of ownership, accountability and initiative

Perks:
School credit
Recommendation (based on performance)
Possible hire as freelance stylist at the company
Employee discount on merchandise
Educational field trip

TO APPLY: NO PHONE CALLS, please send a cover letter and resume to the email address jobs@staged4more.com. Please use “STYLIST IN TRAINING INTERN APPLICATION” for your email subject heading. If you pass the paper cut, we will follow up within 1-3 business days.

*** *** ***

The marketing internship title is Marketing Intern and you will be assisting the General Manager in creating campaigns in social media, as well as traditional outreach such as newsletter, new business development, updating website portfolio, as well. Additionally, Staged4more has a sister company EcoJoe (see www.ecojoekits.com), so you will be doing product marketing as well. The internship is 1-2 days a week in our South San Francisco warehouse and/or telecommute (i.e. your house!). We also will try to do a field trip per quarter like a gift show, etc. for educational purposes.

Duties:
Organizing, labeling, cleaning and maintaining our digital “inventory,” i.e. our web presence, as well as electronic files in the office
Assist in creating marketing campaigns for 2013
Some administrative tasks
Some file organization
Participating in re-developing our websites (both staged4more.com and ecojoekits.com)
Processing photos, selecting photos for websites
Other marketing tasks

We are doing interviews for potential interns for this and upcoming quarter weekly, if you are interested please apply.

We see interviews as mutual interviews. While we are evaluating if you will be a good fit for our company, this is also an opportunity for you to see if this is for you. You will be expected to work as a test to see how well you do so we can access your skill levels. Similarly, you can get a taste what you will be expected to do during your internship. The interview will run about half an hour to an hour.

INTERNSHIP DESCRIPTIONS

Expectations:
MUST BE A CURRENT STUDENT
You must be able to work in teams or on your own
Organized, have a clear vision of what you want and able to communicate it.
Interests in graphic design, web design, business development, marketing and branding or product development
High level of accuracy, attention to detail and ability to prioritize multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment
Ability to travel to our warehouse in an industrial area (limited public transportation).
Proficient in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and web research
Wordpress knowledge is great, but not required.
Ability to communicate clearly and professionally with supervisor and others
High level of ownership, accountability and initiative

Perks:
School credit
Recommendation (based on performance)
Possible hire as freelance graphic artist at the company
Employee discount on merchandise
Educational field trip

TO APPLY: NO PHONE CALLS, please send a cover letter and resume to the email address jobs@staged4more.com. Please use “MARKETING INTERN APPLICATION” for your email subject heading. If you pass the paper cut, we will follow up within 1-3 business days.

Every year, home owners like to change up the interior design style of their house to reflect the trends of the time. With so much emphasis on energy efficiency, renewable living and the environment lately, it seems like the “go green” concept has become not only a social movement, but a design fad. There’s never been a better time to bust out the paint buckets and rollers and get with the green-frenzy. Decide on tones, grab some help from your friends and start getting your home ready for a fresh new 2013.

Ultramarine Green

A gigantic aquarium in your living room is great for ocean fans, but all of the planning and upkeep just might not be worth the hassle. Instead, go with an ocean theme, and use aquamarine tones to paint cabinets, wall sections, or to use as window treatment themes for your shades. You can accessorize your house with all kinds of sea-related imagery such as seashells, coral reef parts, sea glass and starfish. Buy mirrors and deck them out in green and blue buttons, sea glass and bottle caps to give a rustic, stranded-island feel. Hang the mirrors on your wall to compliment your new ocean-themed room.

Chartreuse

If you’re going for fun this coming year, try Spring-inspired chartreuse. It’s bright, upbeat tone makes it the perfect candidate for those looking to have an open, airy, welcoming vibe. Using chartreuse on selected wall panels in your foyer, kitchen and living room will send guests a very welcoming message, making them eager to spend time in your home. Using it on concrete walls alongside your garden can be a perfect compliment to your greenery.

Jade

While aquamarine has more of a turquoise tone, jade is a bit on the lighter end. This relaxing, mint-resembling type of green looks great with white, brown, blue, cream and gray. Houzz recommends using jade in bathrooms or spas for a cool, soothing and sophisticated look. Your guests will be sure to feel enchanted when entering your elegant jade palace for some laid-back lounging. You can also incorporate the color around your Zen garden. The way it can shine among those dark chocolate browns, onyx and and deep greens can be magical.

Army Green

Army green is fun as it can evoke feelings of national pride and also be used as a way to make your house look earthy, daring and jungle-like. Go for an army green bedroom theme with dark greens, dark browns and tans. A few grays and whites will contribute nice touches to the theme as well. An army green headboard alongside a tan wall, with green and brown bedding can look fun and camouflaged while also sophisticated and classy.

Olive

Olive is warm and fresh, as well as deep and exotic. Something unique about olive is its ability to look mysterious while still having a cool, fun light-heartedness to it. You have our permission to go crazy with this color in your home. Create a swingin’ lounge atmosphere by painting selected living room walls olive, while giving your cabinets a cream color. This look goes great with a wide variety of styles, especially wooden floors and steel kitchen surfaces. You may even be inspired to shake up some martinis for your guests. 2013 is sure to be the “Year of the Olive!”

These ideas for adding touches of green to your home should give you a good start. We encourage you to go green in both interior design and development, and show your guests that being earth friendly can also mean being artistic and creative. There’s no better way to liven up your house than with the color that resembles life itself.

***This is a guest post by DigitalPros

Job Title: Prop Master

Department/Location of job: Creative/ South San Francisco, CA 94080

Position reports to: General Manager

Job purpose summery: Maintain, overturn and research inventory, establish and maintain inventorying system, works with General Manager to determine buying and overall styling directions

Essential Responsibilities and Accountabilities/ Duties:
-Works with General Manager to execute creative directions: research vendors, find new vendors that fit our creative directions and budget requirements, submit requests for purchases, posting extra and retired inventory on Craig’s List for sale
-Works with Relationship Manager for scheduling
-Maintain inventory: fix and refinish existing inventory, making sure all parts are functioning and the inventory is ready to go, organize warehouse, create and maintain a simple system to keep track of inventory
-Wrap and pack inventory for staging projects
-Break down properties, wrap and pack and works with movers to return everything to the warehouse

The success of the position is evaluated based on:
-the decrease of “dead” inventory
-readiness of inventory/ support for stylists on installations (for example, it is very time consuming to fix mistakes like having screws missing on the table legs while we are on job site or forgot to pack toolbox for projects)
-how easy it is for stylists to “shop” the inventory to prep for jobs

Dimensions/Territory/Scope:
-With staff: we are a very small, boutique staging firm, so the primary staff are General Manager (whom you will work with to determine our inventory buying direction), Relationship Manager (who is in charge of scheduling) and stylists (who are independent contractors and generally will be in touch regardless to specific inventory questions or feedbacks from installations).
-Customer: generally will not be with customers long significant periods of time. May run into customer during de-installation, but very brief encounters
-Movers: we subcontract movers, which you will be dealing with for project installations & de-installations
-Vendors: for example furniture vendors or sometimes we may rent trucks

Required experiences
Ability to lift 50+ lbs
Able to travel to our South San Francisco warehouse and to our job sites (mostly in San Mateo and San Francisco counties)
Good driving record (you may need to drive rental trucks from time to time, as well as driving yourself /carpool to job sites)
Able to work independently in the warehouse alone for entire shift (9am-5pm) without supervision.
SUPER organized, able to organize inventory in our almost 6,000 square feet warehouse
Has a sense of style and design is highly desired since you will be participating in buying decisions of inventory.
Able to systematize our inventory so they are easy to shop and tracked.
Microsoft Word and web research skills and basic phone skills
Education: High school/GED

Hours and Pay Range: 3-4 days per week. Setting your own hours is ok as long as General Manager has approved it. Pay depends on experiences. There’s no benefits for this part time position.

TO APPLY: please submit a cover letter, resume and desired pay per hour.

Department/ Location of job:

Business Development/ South San Francisco, CA

Position reports to:

General Manager

Job Purpose Summary:

To maintain internal (working with vendors and subcontractors, scheduling) and external relationships (retain and grow customer relationships, customer service, attend periodic networking events and scheduling events).

Essential responsibilities:

-Works with General Manager to develop a system for follow up and follow through for projects and prospecting

-Develop new client sources: attend periodic networking events, research new sources of business

-Client maintenance: work with General Manager on developing weekly and monthly marketing tasks such as phone calls, monthly newsletter, etc. Communicate with clients during and after projects.

-Execute marketing campaigns

-Problem solve for clients and vendors if needed

-Maintain good and develop new relationships with vendors (such as movers) and freelancers (our stylists)

-Project management: scheduling movers and stylists for projects, coordinating with Prop Master for project wrap and packs

-Basic event planning: book speaking engagements, plan educational events

-Some admin and organization around the office

Accountability/ duties:

The success of the position is determined by growth of the client base.

Measures of success

Excellent customer service as evidenced by feedback from clients and customers

Effectively manages marketing programs in a timely and efficient way

Coordinates all moves reliably and efficiently without preventable mistakes

Dimensions/ territory/scope:

This position requires a lot of coordination and relationship building within and outside of the company with our vendors, independent contractors, and customers.

Required experience: No real estate industry experience is okay, although nice to have. Customer service experience is a must.

Required skills:

-Microsoft suite

-Research

-Organization

-Customer service

-Oral and written communication

-MUST BE sociable, people-focused and calm under pressure

-Through and diligent in following up

-Attention to detail

-Organized

-Problem Solver

-Must have good driving record in CA since you may be visiting clients and attending networking events

Education:

High school graduate/ GED

Hours and Pay Range:

We are looking at 1-3 days per week based on the workload. There is no benefits for this part time position. The hours are fairly flexible, as long as they are pre-approved by General Manager.

To apply, please email a cover letter and resume and desired hourly pay.

As the housing market continues to bounce back, it is becoming more and more competitive for sellers. Help your home sell faster by captivating buyers at first glance with impeccable curb appeal. Here are seven ways you can make your house stand out from the competition:

Groom the Garden

Unless there’s snow on the ground or it is dead winter, there is no reason your landscape shouldn’t be lush and colorful. Incorporate color with annual plants, planting them throughout the yard as well as in window boxes and in pots flanking the front door. Landscape designer Sherri Silver recently told FrontDoor.com that planting artificial flowersis never acceptable. If it’s too cold for plants to survive, Silver recommends adding fresh mulch to garden beds to brighten them up. Be sure to pull any weeds and get rid of any dead leaves and debris before your first showing.

Think Like a Buyer

In order to make your home memorable for buyers, you have to think like one. Inspect the exterior of your home with a critical eye, making a list of anything that doesn’t look as good as it could. Are you missing a few roof tiles? Is your landscaping covered in dead leaves and debris? Does the front door look dull? Make note of anything that needs to be cleaned, repaired or replaced.

Update Lighting

A well-lit yard changes the welcoming aura of a house. Take an inventory of your landscape lighting including replacing any bulbs and cleaning the fixtures to ensure your lighting scheme is balanced and polished. If extreme weather has gotten the best of your fixtures, replace them with new outdoor lights at Kichler Superstore, which offers a variety of styles including path lights and wall-mounted lanterns. Create a few focal points with lighting, drawing attention to the front door and landscape features such as a unique tree or sculpture.

Replace Front Door

The front door sets the stage for whether or not buyers feel welcomed into your home. If your door is over 10 years old or has excessive wear and tear, now is the time to upgrade to a new door. Opt for a steel, fiberglass or solid wood door. Online, Fox News real estate experts note that it’s best to choose a new door that conveys a sense of security, which is an important selling point for home buyers.

Refresh House Numbers

Replace your house numbers if they are difficult to read, dingy or faded. Consider hanging them in a different spot where they will be more visible. If a potential buyer has trouble finding your house because they can’t see the house number, you may have a strike against you from the start. When selecting new numbers, consider the style of your home and get numbers that complement that style.

Wash Windows

Sparkling clean windows are a must when welcoming potential buyers into your home. If hiring a professional isn’t in your budget, you can mimic their technique to get similar results. You’ll need a bucket of hot water, a window scrubber, various sizes of squeegees, liquid dish soap and a few surgical towels. Surgical towels are better than other towels because they are lint-free, highly absorbent and won’t leave streaks. Check out the Family Handyman window washing guidefor step-by-step advice and tips.

Clean the Driveway

Sweep dirt and debris from your driveway and hose it off using the highest spray setting. If it still looks stained, rent a pressure-washing machine to scour away stains and refresh the look of your driveway.

This post is a guest post contributed by digitalpros.com

Job Title: Associate

Dept: Operations

Reports to: General Manager

Position Summary:

This is a great ground level opportunity. The Associate position is the entry level position in our company, which may lead to Senior Associate, Styling positions and managerial positions that have benefits and IRA matching.

Measures of Success

Duties/Responsibilities:

In the studio:

On job site:

Required Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

Must be curious and love to learn, and embrace challenges. Have an ability to work in an interrupt-driven environment in total support of Senior Associate, Studio Coordinator and General Manager.

Comfortable speaking with vendors, freelancers and clients on the phone or in person for greeting and answering requests, questions regarding our services. Superior and professional service to guests and team members is expected and required.

It is expected for every employee to be able to communicate efficiently and effective. Our company holds an open door policy that allows employees to share concerns and suggestions freely and professionally. The Associate should exhibit efficient time management practices and perform with a high degree of accuracy in order to succeed in this position. All processes in existence must be followed as set forth in the operations manual. Basic software skills include Microsoft: Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel is required.

With the nature of the work, the Associate must be organized with a sharp eye for details to be successful in the position. The candidate must be able to travel to our warehouse in South San Francisco.

This job can be physical so candidate must be willing and able to lift 50 lbs. It is ideal the candidate is able to adapt to fast paced and high pressure environment. Be able to collaborate in team environment is a must. Can take performance feedback without feeling defensive, victimized or taking it personally.

Required Education/Experience:

High school diploma or equivalent preferred.

Expected Hours:

2 days per week. Additional hours or weekends will be discussed. We are very respectful of our staff’s time, despite how crazy real estate market can be. We rarely ask staff to work weekends or overtime, but it can happen. We will try to give notice as soon as we find out from client.

Compensation

During training (first 30 days) $12.50/hour. Thereafter $13-$14.50/hour.

TO APPLY: Please send your cover letter and resume to JOBS@STAGED4MORE.COM