When I sent out our most recent StagersLIST Newsletter I offered to blog articles for our members. Consy offered this one, and I think it is very educational. Consy is a Feng Shui practitioner, writer, speaker and home stager in Washington.
REAL ESTATE AND STAGING WITH FENG SHUI by Consy Malasoma
The recent headlines announced that December 2009 had the lowest home sale values since 1963. We are now seeing lenders, builders and the federal government’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac change the process of qualifying and buying the American Dream of owning your own home. Many neighborhoods in pockets of the U.S. have lost home values to short sales and foreclosures and the end is not yet in sight. So how does Feng Shui play a role in meeting the challenge of this economic meltdown?
When preparing a home for sale, those of us that live and breathe Feng Shui understand that a key element is to clear out the clutter that has accumulated and set our intention to allow fresh, new energy and new beginnings into our lives. Clutter translates to stagnant energy in our spaces and creates an impediment to the introduction of the desired new energy. Another Feng Shui aspect is tapping into Nature’s five elements: water, wood, fire, earth and metal. The combination of these elements equally represented in a décor or building’s interior adds a sense of beauty and balance. There appears to be a natural order to our Universe and more and more healers know it plays a large role in our lives.
Curb appeal using Feng Shui is another logical and necessary step in the preparation of a property. A meandering, curved walkway to the main entrance is much more visually pleasant to straight, linear lines. A clean front door with fresh potted plants and outdoor lights in working order is another must to showcase a property whether it is on the market for sale or occupied. Care, upkeep, and maintenance are a sign of pride of ownership and love for a property. This equates to higher property values and a sense of community in a neighborhood.
According to the Chinese, we may not have control over our birth date, or the birth luck that we have in our lives, but with Feng Shui there is some measure of control over our environment by where we choose to live, the “lay of the land” and the rivers and valleys we choose to live on and around. Feng Shui is more popular today than ever before because we look for ways to de-stress, to connect back to nature, to meditate and find the time and space to connect with our Spirit and with others on a meaningful level.
Realtors, builders, stagers, architects and even zoning officials would be served well to work with a Feng Shui practitioner. A great example is the house or building that sits on the T of a street that virtually has energy or Sha Chi rushing towards the main entrance. It is similar to pushing strong energy towards the structure. I have dealt with several clients who could not understand why their home business failed or their luck changed after moving into a different property. Compass directions, water ways, steep hillsides and busy intersections all have an impact on our homes and eventually on our lives.
Attending a planning commission meeting in your community to look at the parks we play in and use for future generations would be enhanced with curves, colorful beds of flowers and places to meet and congregate which are all Feng Shui elements.
Using the Bagua or nine sections of a home or commercial office lends to a natural flow between rooms, hallways and doorways. Feng Shui principles use the natural beauty and co-existence in nature to promote balance and feelings of well-being in the interior and exterior of a home. Wind chimes at the front or back door clear the Chi or energy and have a lifting affect. Using colors according to the elements of nature accent architectural features that help to showcase a home.
A home staged with design enhancements and Feng Shui elements is sure to improve salability in a slow market. Refer to the IFSG website for a practitioner in your area for tips and ideas for your property.
Prepared by: Consy Malasoma of Consy Malasoma Design/ www.consymalasoma.com Consy is a Red Ribbon Professional at the International Feng Shui Guild
425-891-9018 425-891-9018
702-245-6855 702-245-6855
Consy@ConsyMalasoma.com
Beautiful abstract paintings by Sue Grady of Inspiration Home Staging and Designs
Sue Grady is a home stager and a talented painter. She recently posted a bunch of sets of paintings on StagersLIST. I think they are just beautiful and I wanted to share them with you! You can view all of Sue’s listed paintings here.
The one above is called Gold Shimmer. Shipping is only $15 and Sue has listed her beautiful paintings at wholesale prices. One of my favorites is the one below this, Southwest Sunset. I like that they are already mounted because I’ve ordered paintings in the past that came rolled in a tube and then I procrastinate about taking them in for stretching!
I just thought I would take a minute to introduce you to Sue’s work. Home Stagers are so creative!
“Friends” A Social Skills Group Presented by GOALS for Autism, Inc.
My daughter has been volunteering for these types of groups to socialize and play with the kids. She is getting a lot out of it, and loves seeing their improvement as time goes on. I thought I would share this group with all of you!
These groups are designed to involve social, motor and especially language skills through fun activities with skilled ABA therapists. Our groups focus on the essential skills identified in the SSIS (Social Skills Improvement System) as building block skills with positive interactions with skilled therapists and age-appropriate peers. Each group has experienced therapists involving the children in positive activities which emphasize development of language, social and motor skills necessary for play with typical peers. Groups are organized for children between 4 and 13 years of age. Group size is typically limited to six children to ensure optimal interaction with both adults and peers for every child.
Locations: Pleasant Hill, Pleasanton and Brentwood
Date: Classes will begin the week of January 11, 2009
Time: Groups meet for 90 minutes for 8 consecutive weeks.
Four to five year olds meet on Saturdays from 10am – 11:30am. Six to eight year olds meet on Saturdays from 12pm - 1:30pm. Nine to ten year olds meet on Tuesdays from 4pm – 5:30pm. Eleven to thirteen year olds meet on Thursdays from 6pm – 7:30pm.
Cost: There is a $300 charge for the 8-week program.
One of my favorite live music memories is this one… My sister and I took our littlest sister to see Cyndi Lauper as she was on the rise (She’s So Unusual had just come out – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun). I may have blogged this before, but it came up again for me tonight. So Cyndi had a new band, Lone Justice, opening for her and asked the lead singer to come on stage and sing with her. They did their rendition of Mercedes Benz by Janis Joplin and had to improvise the words. It was a beautiful thing. No one can out-do Janice for feeling and emotion in her singing, but the fact that Cyndi was promoting this much lesser known (but none the less extremely talented Maria McKee) has stuck with me all these years. Enjoy the song.
We put an “arm block” around my youngest sister so she could be at the front of the stage and she did get a guitar pick from Rick Derringer, who was playing with Cyndi at the time.
Here in the San Francisco East Bay Area something very strange has occurred. Maybe someone can help us figure it out. The closest I’ve seen to this around here was when my friend put way too much liquid dish soap in the dishwasher. Perhaps one of our neighbors seriously overdid it with the Christmas decorating and decided to include the whole neighborhood rather than just their own home? I can remember this bizarre occurrence twice in the past… once when my daughter was in 3rd grade and once when I was in 3rd grade, 30 years before her. What can this mean? Any ideas? We are staying inside until it passes, just in case.
All this content in one fun packed day! Prizes, gift certificates and cash, contests, networking and guaranteed at least one tip that will earn you the cost of admission. You can’t afford to miss this! Visit www.StagersLISTExpo.com and click on Metro New York!
Keynote Speaker Christine Rae Speaker at California Association of Realtors Convention October 2009, past recipient of RESA Innovator award, President of CSP International Training Academy, trainer and author of Wiley Publishing’s Home Staging For Dummies (& a Resource for the Rest of us). This book is a terrific tool which guides the reader to discover that staging is a specialty that the average person needs professional help with.
Christine’s talk, 5 Mistakes Businesses Make, 5 Steps to Turn Your Business Around, 5 Market Driven Trends to Build Revenue will inspire you to take action to turn your business around. She challenges you to answer, “What keeps you from the success you want?” You will leave motivated and ready to turn your business around. Businesses need to grow and change to increase their market share; learn the trends that can help you reach your financial goals. What heights do you want to achieve in 2010?
Melissa Marro Founder of First Impressions Home Staging & Interior Redesign, IRIS, CSP, Dewey Trainer
Melissa will be presenting Marketing for Explosive and Consistent Sales. Learn how to effectively market your staging business with a minimal budget for consistent and explosive sales without cold calling or placing expensive media print ads. Melissa will cover e-newsletters, agent “lunch & learns”, neighborhood and agent farming techniques and more. Master these topics and you will be able to break free of the ebb and flow of the sales world and launch into increased, sustained sales and bookings.
Melissa will also have a workshop titled Overcome Objections – Increase Sales. Having trouble closing the deal or even setting appointments? In this session Melissa will teach you how to overcome common industry objections masterfully and with confidence. Melissa’s company has had incredible success in their marketplace, once managing 40 staged properties in one month! Learn simple, proven techniques and increase your presentation skills with this informative workshop.
Leigh Hagen Photographer, professinal stager and cofounder of LH2 Staging, Leigh’s work has been featured on the cover of Home Staging for Dummies, Midwest Living Luxury Tours, and International Staging Magazine Staging Standard.
Leigh is presenting our lunch workshop, Photos – the final ingredient. The Sale Begins in the MLS. Photographs sell your work, your talent and your staged properties IF they reflect what you’ve done. Learn how to take better photos, what you need in a camera and how to utilize your photos to sell more by marketing yourself and your work online and in your portfolio through brilliant photos.
Suzy Minken Home stager and Feng Shui practitioner
Suzy’s workshop is Feng Shui – The Home Staging Connection. Suzy blends home staging and Feng Shui with great success. Staging IS Feng Shui. Feng Shui does three things: 1. Harmonize space, 2. Neutralize space from negative emotions, 3. Direct energy to a specific goal. For home stagers that means creating space that buyers “feel” at home in. Learn how home staging and Feng Shui blend and compliment each other. Realtors know how a home feels makes a difference in what properties buyers will spend more time viewing. Stagers use these techniques all the time. Suzy will teach you why it works and help you understand how to use them with purpose and intention for even more success and SOLD properties.
Chris’ workshop is Websites, Blogging, SEO – The Key To Building Your Business. Learn how you can get a web presence on YOUR budget. Do you have a website? Do you know it doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective? If you have a website, is it active, engaging and bringing you business? You may only need slight changes to improve your existing site dramatically? Do you know that blogging is bringing Realtors and home stagers across the country business? If you answered no to any of these questions, this workshop is for you! Drive business to your door without spending a fortune doing it. Take this workshop and receive a FREE blog header for the blog platform of your choice.
How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships
We have three successful professional home stagers to talk about how they create partnerships with their Realtors and continue to get business. Sid Pinkerton has been featured on TLC as a home staging expert and has staged hundreds of apartments in Metro Nerw York in the last six years. Kate Hart is an award winning home staging expert, has helped hundreds of families prepare homes for sale, has mentored and trained thousands of Realtors and home stagers. Lynelle Hartman has been a trainer for the two largest staging training companies in the US, trains in the Dewey Color System and authored a continuing education course on vacant home staging.
President Obama has said he is opposed to discriminatory ballot measures. It’s time for him to do something to stop them.
The President can do something today to prevent future ballot measures designed to take away LGBT rights by asking the federal court to rule that Proposition 8 and similar measures violate the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.
The case is set to be heard in U.S. District Court in early January — so please act now.
In solidarity,
Geoff Kors Executive Director Equality California
P.S. With emotions still raw from Tuesday, we need to make sure we turn our anger into action. Pledge to volunteer. We need help calling to get our supporters involved, office help, and people to join us in going door to door to talk directly with those who are not yet on our side. Volunteer >
When was the last time you got tested? Have you talked with anyone about ways to protect yourself against HIV?
Come to the RCC on Friday, Nov 6 & Monday, Nov 9 between 6-8pm and you will get:
FREE HIV oral rapid testing- You will know the result in 20 minutes with 99.7% accuracy;
FREE safer sex counseling;
FREE condoms & lube;
Peace of Mind that comes from knowing you are taking care of yourself!
Rainbow Community Center (RCC) 3024 Willow Pass Road, Suite 200 Concord, CA 94519-2588 Phone: 925.692.0090 Fax: 925.692.0091
The RCC also offers counseling, support groups, food services and so much more. If you’d like to donate to help this wonderful organization, please click here. If you’d like to learn more about their programs and services, visit their website.
When I sent out our most recent StagersLIST Newsletter I offered to blog articles for our members. Consy offered this one, and I think it is very educational. Consy is a Feng Shui practitioner, writer, speaker and home stager in Washington.
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“Friends”
Keynote Speaker Christine Rae
Melissa Marro
Leigh Hagen
Suzy Minken
Chris Fisher
How to Create and Solidify Realtor Relationships
Chris Fisher
Chris's Blog