~ Hi there! On HGTV's Hit Reality TV Show DESIGN STAR, I sewed, painted & sawed my way through some pretty tough challenges, but design doesn't have to be hard! I believe in combining simple, timeless design ingredients to create what I call "Design Recipes". I hope you find this to be a truly awesome resource. www.design-recipes.com contains design tips, articles, podcasts, how-to videos and of course design recipes galore! I invented Design Recipes simply because I love sharing my ideas! For years I collected design magazines, tagged and clipped pages with inspirational images & did nothing! That's because I didn't have the resource information so I could purchase the beautiful furniture I was seeing on the pages of the magazines! With Design Recipes, I SHARE how the room was executed, giving you the basic design tools needed for you to recreate the same look on your own and best of all I give you all of the resource information! Enjoy!
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I just want to thank all of the wonderful students who signed up for the recent Certified Staging Professionals course I taught in Arlington, Virginia. You were such a wonderful group and I wish you so much success! In addition to the below dramatic before and after transformation, the class received some wonderful press in Washington Home and Garden Magazine!
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As we wind down 2011 and look to the future and 2012, there are only a few opportunities left to take one of my Home Staging Courses taught through CERTIFIED STAGING PROFESSIONALS (CSP).
What better way to kick off the New Year than to be certified as a home stager and begin your business as a Certified Staging Professional!
By Cathy Hobbs, ASID Created: Sep 21, 2011 Last Updated: Sep 21, 2011
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Related articles: Business > Real Estate
Certified Staging Professional Cathy Hobbs in action, staging one of her many projects. (Courtesy of Cathy Hobbs)
Starting and building a home staging business is ideal for design enthusiasts, professional organizers, do-it-yourselfers, real estate brokers, and virtually anyone who has a desire to have their own business and has an interest in real estate, interior design, or decorating.
In 2005, when I became interested in adding home staging services to my existing interior design business, there was really only one course that stood out above the rest: the three-day Home Staging Certification Course offered by Certified Staging Professionals.
Similar three-day courses and online courses are currently being marketed, but the Certified Staging Professional Course (CSP) is the only course I discovered that provides home staging training plus the in-depth business knowledge that a new home stager needs to succeed in the competitive world of home staging. Their three-day intensive course consists of two days of in-class instruction, followed by a third day on-site where students actually stage a property.
Earning Money as a Home Stager
Home stagers can charge anywhere from $75 to $300 an hour, so for an avid marketer as well as someone with lots of contacts, the income potential can be tremendous. Just like with any other entrepreneurial endeavor, what one gets out of it is linked to what one puts into it.
The first step in launching a home staging business is letting everyone you possibly know that you are a home stager and are available to help them sell their properties. Most people at some point in their lives will need to sell a property and that is where you will come in!
What is wonderful about starting a home staging business is that there are minimal startup costs. In order to start a home staging business, one will need to have the following:
1. A computer
2. Business checking account
3. Professional liability insurance
4. A digital camera
5. A professional email address
6. A website
7. Business cards
8. A dedicated business phone line
9. A fax machine
What Does Home Staging Entail?
Staging can mean a number of things as it relates to selling a property. It can mean anything from painting and minor repairs to obtaining rental furniture and furniture arrangement. As a stager you will want to build a team to help you execute these tasks.
As a stager, you can expect to provide the following services:
1. Remove clutter
2. Pack away any and all unnecessary items and furnishings
3. Apply a fresh coat of paint or make paint color recommendations
4. Clean and steam carpets
5. Hire a professional cleaning crew
6. Recommend minor repairs
7. Rent furniture
8. Incorporate furniture and accessories to show function
Are Courses Required?
Unlike interior design, there are no education requirements for becoming a home stager. In fact, home staging is actually an unregulated industry. The question I would simply ask someone who is considering starting a home staging business is why would you not seek training?
It is hard enough starting an entrepreneurial venture, let alone setting out on one’s own without the necessary tools and basic foundation. Taking a professional business course such as the Home Staging Certification Course offered through Certified Staging Professionals is the key to having the foundation and resources in order to set you on the proper path.
The Certified Staging Professionals website as well as their expert staff and instructors provide a wealth of resources and knowledge as well as ongoing support to help make your home staging business successful.
Related Articles
* Introducing Columnist Cathy Hobbs
Certified Staging Professionals offers classes in Long Island, N.Y., Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Miami, Detroit, and Fargo, N.D., just to name a few. If you’re interested in becoming a real estate stager, contact Certified Staging Professionals directly at (www.stagingtraining.com) or (1.888.STAGING). Good luck. And Happy Staging!
Five-time Emmy award-winning television personality Cathy Hobbs (ASID) is the founder of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes™, specializing in interior design, home staging, and model residences for luxury new developments. A nationally known design expert, Cathy has appeared on such programs as The Nate Berkus Show and HGTV’s Top Ten. Cathy was also a finalist on Season 6 of HGTV’s Hit Reality Series Design Star. Cathy Hobbs is an ASID, LEED AP (BD+C), CSP.
VIDEO CLIP: HOW TO START A HOME STAGING BUSINESS
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Heading to Beantown! Looks like we will have a nice group for my 3-Day Certified Staging Professionals Course in Boston! Interested? Contact 888-STAGING or http://www.stagingtraining.com for free info!
HERE IS JUST SOME OF THE PRESS COVERAGE WE RECEIVED FROM A RECENT CLASS HELD NEAR BALTIMORE, MARYLAND!!
≈ Comments Off on FEATURED ARTICLE: Celebrity Interior Designer/NYC Based Home Staging Expert Cathy Hobbs Offers 5 Common Home Staging Mistakes to The Epoch Times
An interior staged by New York City home stager Cathy Hobbs. (Courtesy of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes)
Home staging is about marketing and branding a property more than anything else. So often people believe staging is about interior design and furniture, when staging is in fact neither, but instead a powerful marketing tool used exclusively to showcase real estate. That said, there are some basic interior design mistakes that extend beyond interior design into home staging that can possibly sink a sale if a home seller isn’t careful.
Mistake 1
Problem: Hanging artwork too high
Solution: Eyelevel is at five feet. The center point of a piece of artwork should be hung at five feet above the finished floor. Adjustments up or down a couple inches may be needed, but I consider this to be my general rule of thumb.
Mistake 2
Problem: Painted ceilings
Solution: I tend to leave ceilings white in order to help visually raise the height of a room. While I am not completely opposed to painting ceilings a color, people often fail to realize that a painted ceiling automatically visually reduces the height of a room. I recommend painted ceilings only if looking to create a certain mood or sense of coziness.
Mistake 3
Problem: Decorating with too many colors
Solution: I love color! And I love using color, but I encourage people to design with one neutral color to be used as a general wall or fabric color for upholstered pieces, and then to use two to three accent colors that can be incorporated into accessories such as pillows, area rugs, artwork, pottery, and vessels. I also remind clients that it is okay to create a design scheme using shades and tones of the same color.
Mistake 4
Cathy Hobbs appears on HGTV’s Design Star as a design contestant. (Courtesy of Michael Rogers PR )
Problem: Purchasing furniture that is too big or too small for a particular space
Solution: As basic as this may sound, so many people fail to measure or even loosely create a floor plan before purchasing furniture. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked into rooms overstuffed with furniture or with pieces that are just too large or too small for a particular space. Before shopping, always create some sort of floor plan—even roughly on graph paper, counting the squares in order to create your own scale—so you know in advance whether or not a particular piece of furniture will fit.
Mistake 5
Problem: Purchasing “sets” of furniture
Solution: I find that purchasing the “5-piece” set seldom results in a successful interior design or staging solution. Purchasing sets tends to make a space look like a showroom instead of a home. In general, I believe purchasing sets are a big “no-no”. However, my one exception is bedroom sets, in which I tend to suggest clients purchase only, let’s say, a bed, nightstands, and perhaps one case good, such as a dresser. I believe it is a far better option to purchase one primary, solidly built, well-designed piece of furniture, and create a design scheme around it.
Cathy Hobbs, ASID, LEED AP
Five-time Emmy award-winning television personality Cathy Hobbs (ASID) is the founder of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes™, a New York City-based firm specializing in interior design, home staging, and model residences for luxury new developments. A nationally known design expert, Cathy has appeared on such programs as The Nate Berkus Show and HGTV’s Top Ten. Cathy was also a finalist on Season 6 of HGTV’s hit reality series Design Star.
Cathy is currently traveling around the country as an instructor for Certified Staging Professionals, teaching their prestigious 3-day certification course in Arlington, V.A., Miami, Boston, Columbia, Maryland, San Francisco, Fargo, N.D., Nashville, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Long Island, N.Y., and Las Vegas, Nev. Contact 888-STAGING or www.stagingtraining.com to learn more.
By Cathy Hobbs, ASID Created: Sep 21, 2011 Last Updated: Sep 21, 2011
Print | E-mail to a friend | Give feedback
Related articles: Business > Real Estate
Certified Staging Professional Cathy Hobbs in action, staging one of her many projects. (Courtesy of Cathy Hobbs)
Starting and building a home staging business is ideal for design enthusiasts, professional organizers, do-it-yourselfers, real estate brokers, and virtually anyone who has a desire to have their own business and has an interest in real estate, interior design, or decorating.
In 2005, when I became interested in adding home staging services to my existing interior design business, there was really only one course that stood out above the rest: the three-day Home Staging Certification Course offered by Certified Staging Professionals.
Similar three-day courses and online courses are currently being marketed, but the Certified Staging Professional Course (CSP) is the only course I discovered that provides home staging training plus the in-depth business knowledge that a new home stager needs to succeed in the competitive world of home staging. Their three-day intensive course consists of two days of in-class instruction, followed by a third day on-site where students actually stage a property.
Earning Money as a Home Stager
Home stagers can charge anywhere from $75 to $300 an hour, so for an avid marketer as well as someone with lots of contacts, the income potential can be tremendous. Just like with any other entrepreneurial endeavor, what one gets out of it is linked to what one puts into it.
The first step in launching a home staging business is letting everyone you possibly know that you are a home stager and are available to help them sell their properties. Most people at some point in their lives will need to sell a property and that is where you will come in!
What is wonderful about starting a home staging business is that there are minimal startup costs. In order to start a home staging business, one will need to have the following:
1. A computer
2. Business checking account
3. Professional liability insurance
4. A digital camera
5. A professional email address
6. A website
7. Business cards
8. A dedicated business phone line
9. A fax machine
What Does Home Staging Entail?
Staging can mean a number of things as it relates to selling a property. It can mean anything from painting and minor repairs to obtaining rental furniture and furniture arrangement. As a stager you will want to build a team to help you execute these tasks.
As a stager, you can expect to provide the following services:
1. Remove clutter
2. Pack away any and all unnecessary items and furnishings
3. Apply a fresh coat of paint or make paint color recommendations
4. Clean and steam carpets
5. Hire a professional cleaning crew
6. Recommend minor repairs
7. Rent furniture
8. Incorporate furniture and accessories to show function
Are Courses Required?
Unlike interior design, there are no education requirements for becoming a home stager. In fact, home staging is actually an unregulated industry. The question I would simply ask someone who is considering starting a home staging business is why would you not seek training?
It is hard enough starting an entrepreneurial venture, let alone setting out on one’s own without the necessary tools and basic foundation. Taking a professional business course such as the Home Staging Certification Course offered through Certified Staging Professionals is the key to having the foundation and resources in order to set you on the proper path.
The Certified Staging Professionals website as well as their expert staff and instructors provide a wealth of resources and knowledge as well as ongoing support to help make your home staging business successful.
Related Articles
* Introducing Columnist Cathy Hobbs
Certified Staging Professionals offers classes in Long Island, N.Y., Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Boston, Philadelphia, Nashville, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Miami, Detroit, and Fargo, N.D., just to name a few. If you’re interested in becoming a real estate stager, contact Certified Staging Professionals directly at (www.stagingtraining.com) or (1.888.STAGING). Good luck. And Happy Staging!
Five-time Emmy award-winning television personality Cathy Hobbs (ASID) is the founder of Cathy Hobbs Design Recipes™, specializing in interior design, home staging, and model residences for luxury new developments. A nationally known design expert, Cathy has appeared on such programs as The Nate Berkus Show and HGTV’s Top Ten. Cathy was also a finalist on Season 6 of HGTV’s Hit Reality Series Design Star. Cathy Hobbs is an ASID, LEED AP (BD+C), CSP.
VIDEO CLIP: HOW TO START A HOME STAGING BUSINESS
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