Los Angeles Home Stager A Finalist For Professional Stager of the Year
December 21, 2009
Los Angeles home stager, Michelle Minch, is a Finalist for the Real Estate Staging Association Professional Stager of the Year (2010)
For Immediate Release
Pasadena, CA – December 21, 2009 Michelle Minch, President of Moving Mountains Design, is a finalist for Professional Stager of theYear , by the Real Estate Staging Association
“The Real Estate Staging Association is proud to announce Michelle Minch, of Pasadena, CA, as one of the finalists for Professional Stager of the Year,” said Shell Brodnax, President and CEO of the organization. “Ms Minch, and the other 4 finalists were chosen via an open nominating process by their peers and other real estate professionals, from across the US and Canada. All the nominees must demonstrate outstanding skills in home staging design, business and ethics.
Ms. Minch is a past winner of two Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence: the Western Region Award for Best Whole House Remodel Under $200,000 and the National Award for Best Kitchen Remodel under $40,000. She has been nominated for Professional Stager of the Year for 3 years running. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times Real Estate Section, the Chicago Tribune, Sunset Magazine, Log Home Living, LA Weekly Pasadena Weekly & Los Angeles Times On-Line. In addition, she blogs extensively at http://MovingMountainsDesign.com/home-staging-blog/
Minch began her career in design as a Stylist and Visual Merchandiser, and later worked as a Production Designer for Commercials, Television and Feature Films.
Home Staging and Interior Design are a natural progression in her design career, allowing her to use her visual merchandising skills, a refined eye and years of experience to successfully stage homes that sell and create stunning one of a kind environments for her clients. She has experienced great success in home staging with many very recent examples of her staging projects selling in less than 2 weeks on the market at or above asking price. Her motto is: “I know what makes homes sell.”
Ms. Minch is on the Board of Directors of the Real Estate Staging Association and is the Regional VP for California, Nevada and Hawaii.
In addition she is the Chairwoman of the RESA Ethics Committee and has developed professional ethical guidelines for the RESA membership. Minch is a founding partner of Easy Designer Websites and is a Staging Career Coach at the Staging Career Center.
You can learn more about the Real Estate Staging Association Professional Stager of the Year Finalist Michelle Minch and her company, Moving Mountains Design, and at ActiveRain.com. Additional information about the Real Estate Staging Association and the Professional Stager of the Year Awards and nominations can be found at www.RealEstateStagingAssociation.com.
Moving Mountains Design is a full service home staging and interior design company with offices in Pasadena and Arcadia, CA. We specialize in staging vacant and occupied homes in the greater Los Angeles area including Pasadena, San Marino and Arcadia. Click here to see a full menu of home staging services offered by Moving Mountains Design.
8 Tips to Stage your Bedroom with Feng Shui
December 16, 2009
Los Angeles Home Stager tips to Stage your Bedroom with Feng Shui – Start 2010 Right!
Here are 8 tips for staging your bedroom with Feng Shui. Invite better sleep, better health and positive changes in the bedroom by staging it with Feng Shui. With the New Year approaching, now is the perfect time to invite positive change into your life.
Recommendations about Feng Shui remedies will vary from school to school and practitioner to practitioner.
Despite the fact that different schools have differing “cures”, following are some basic changes you can make that apply to all bedrooms. We can affect many positive changes in our lives just by applying intention – putting the energy into making a change and welcoming that change into our lives.
In Feng Shui and in life, the condition of the bedroom can influence your health and your relationship with your significant other.
If you don’t have a significant other, but would like one, the condition of your bedroom will effect your ability to “call in” love. Our goal is creating a calming environment that welcomes intimacy and affection. Of course getting rid of clutter to make room for whatever this new energy will bring is always high up on the list.
Follow these steps to increase the quality of your sleep, health, love and general well being:
1. Your bedroom should be used for sleeping, romantic interludes and getting dressed. NO TELEVISION! NO COMPUTER! NO DESK! NO TREADMILL (AKA place to drape your clothes). Read a book in bed if you must, but only when you are alone. Don’t read self-help books or business books in bed. Electronic devices like TV’s and Computers are greedy for your time. They are constantly calling your name… “Watch me, Bill”, “Just one more comment, Janet”. Don’t make your spouse or partner compete for your attention. TVs and computers are very stimulating and they activate your brain. Watching or using them just before bed will prevent you from falling asleep quickly or sleeping soundly. Give your brain a chance to shut off and relax before bedtime.
2. Make sure you have a comfortable mattress….not too firm and not too soft, and definitely not saggy. This is one of the best investments you can make for your health and well-being. If you cannot afford a new mattress, then purchase a high quality mattress pad. Some of the new ones have a layer of memory foam that will turn your bed into a pillow top mattress. If you can afford a new mattress, now is an ideal time to purchase one. There are some amazing sales going on right now.
3. If you recently ended a long relationship with someone who shared your bed, you should replace the mattress so you are not absorbing their energy every night. Send them, the bad memories and the shared mattress on down the road. If you cannot replace the mattress, then strip the bed, open the windows and beat the mattress with a baseball bat, broom stick or your fists, if necessary. This will raise a lot of dust. Wear a dust mask. When you are finished (and feel better) vacuum the mattress (both sides) and box spring and then re-make the bed with fresh new bedding and blankets. Again, there are some amazing sales right now on sheets and comforters. Under any circumstance, dispose of the other person’s pillows – donate, give away or throw away.
4. Purchase the highest quality sheets you can afford – high thread count sheets, preferably Pima, Supima or Egyptian cotton Sateen. Good quality sheets are not inexpensive but they will last a long time. We just got rid of sheets we got as a wedding present 10 years ago, and only because we upgraded to a king size bed. They just got softer and better with age. The more luxurious your bedroom the more you will feel relaxed and comforted by being there.
- Sheets and bedding in the red/yellow family represent warmth, passion and excitement. The stronger the color the more energizing. They are fire colors. This would include the full spectrum of reds, oranges, yellows and some purples hues that are more red than blue. It also includes pinks, pale oranges, pale yellows and pale lavenders.
- Sheets and bedding in the blue/green family represent calm, cool and relaxation. They are water colors. Think of a bubbling brook or the Mediterranean Sea. This would include the full spectrum of blues, greens and purples with a blue cast. It includes the palest blues, pales greens and palest purples. This is my personal favorite and my bedding and drapes are done in pale Mediterranean blues, which is balanced by pale yellow walls.
- White sheets are clean and pure. White is a metal color, although whites can run the gamut from warm white (influenced by fire) or the palest blue (influenced by water) among other elements. White denotes ever expanding possibilities.
- Animal print sheets are very energizing and ‘active’. You probably won’t get a lot of restful sleep on animal print sheets, (and you may not be able to find someone who is willing to share them with you in the long term) but you may have a lot of ‘fun’ of the animal kind! Animal prints are best confined to accents so they don’t overwhelm the restful energy of your bedroom.
5. Position your bed so that you have a clear view of the door (entry to the bedroom). Do not have your feet pointing toward the door (this is the way they will carry you out if you die in bed, according to old Chinese superstition). Ideally, your bed will be positioned against a solid wall and not in front of a window. The head of your bed should be touching a wall. Solid headboards are preferred over open headboards (they give the feeling of greater security)
6. Clean your bedroom from top to bottom. If you have drapes wash them or clean them according to the manufacturers instructions. If they are clean, but just a little dusty, take them outside and give them a good shake. Wipe down the walls. Vacuum under the bed and get rid of all those dust bunnies.
7. Make sure your have two night stands and two working lamps, one on each side of the bed. If you don’t have a partner, but would like one, this creates a space for them in your life. If you have a partner, and want to keep them, this lets them know you value them and are concerned for their comfort.
8. Remove family photos from your bedroom (do you really want them to ’see’ and participate in everything you do?) Photos of people should be limited to you and your significant other. Artwork should be calming not energizing.
The new year is just around the corner. Welcome the new year with a clean, relaxing, uncluttered bedroom. In Feng Shui, the condition of the bedroom will influence your relationships, sense of well-being and good health. Follow the above steps and welcome more restful sleep, more fulfilling relationships, better health and greater well-being in 2010.
For more information about home staging using Feng Shui read Stage Your Kitchen With Feng Shui – Start 2010 Right!
Los Angeles Home Staging Tips To Stage Your Kitchen With Feng Shui
December 13, 2009
Stage Your Kitchen With Feng Shui
Welcome prosperity and good health into your home with sound Feng Shui practices. With the New Year 2010 approaching, now is the perfect time to invite positive change into your life.
Whether you are staging your home to sell or staging your home to live you can use the principals of home staging and Feng Shui to prepare your home for more comfortable, pleasing and prosperous living for you or your potential buyers.
There are many schools of Feng Shui.
Recommendations will vary from Feng Shui school to school and practitioner to practitioner. Here are some tips to get your kitchen in top Feng Shui shape with little or no cash outlay, just an investment of your time. Despite the fact that different schools have differing “cures”, following are some basic changes you can make that apply to all kitchens. We can affect many positive changes in our lives just by applying intention – putting the energy into making a change and welcoming that change into our lives.
In Feng Shui, the condition of the kitchen can influence your level of prosperity and good health.
The goals of both home staging and Feng Shui are increasing cleanliness,functionality and organization and getting rid of clutter to make room for whatever your new prosperity will bring. Follow these steps to increase your prosperity, good health and general well being:
- Clean out your refrigerator and your pantry.Get rid of any out-of-date food or ’science projects’ (all of which hold negative energy, by the way). This includes any outdated vitamins or medications you keep in your kitchen. Wipe down the shelves, clean up any old spills and crumbs. If you use shelf paper in your pantry, and it is torn damaged or worn, replace it. If you are staging your home to sell, your pantry should be half full and very neatly arranged. If the items are awkwardly shaped, put them in baskets.
- Restock your refrigerator and pantry. A fuller refrigerator and pantry equates to prosperity and generosity. It also allows us to be prepared for whatever may come up, be it unexpected guests or a change in employment status. Don’t overfill the refrigerator and pantry. We don’t want them cluttered, just sufficiently full to meet our nourishment needs plus a little extra. Put a small open box of baking soda in the refrigerator to absorb odors. Opening the refrigerator should be a pleasant experience.
- Restock your refrigerator and pantry with healthy food. Take care of your body and it will take care of you. One of the fastest paths to good health is eating healthy food. If your intention is to improve your health, then walk the walk.
- Display fresh fruit on your counter. Abundant fruit is a symbol of prosperity and generosity (yours and the Universe’s) in Feng Shui. Besides, you are more likely to eat it if it is readily available, which will improve your health and well-being.
- Remove everything from your cabinets. Assess everything and determine if it is really useful. With the exception of some seasonal items, if you haven’t used it in the past 6 months, you should get rid of it (donate, give away to a friend, recycle or throw it away). If it is chipped, broken or otherwise damaged, either fix it or get rid of it. That broken toaster that has been sitting in the cabinet since 2004 may be burning off some of your prosperity – send it on down the road. If the item can be fixed (and you are likely to have it fixed) by all means, do so. If it can be repaired, but you are not inclined to do so, label it with the problem (so the recipient know what they are getting) and then donate it. If it can’t be fixed or recycled, then throw it away. The goal is to get rid of clutter and make space for new and better items that will come into your life in the coming year. If you are staging your home to sell, keep your cabinets half full. It allows potential buyers to imagine their things in the cabinets.
- Put the items you are keeping back in the cabinet in an orderly fashion, and in a manner that allows the item to be useful and of service to you. No matter what anyone tells you, if the organizational system is not organic to your way of doing things, you won’t be able to maintain it and it will devolve into chaos quickly.
- Don’t store large or heavy items overhead or you may feel pushed down or weighed down. Store them in a low cabinet if they need to remain in the kitchen. Besides the Feng Shui implications, it is often difficult and sometimes dangerous to remove and replace bulky or heavy items in a high cabinet.
- Carefully pack seasonal items (Thanksgiving turkey platter, Christmas themed plates, for example) in plastic bins and store them in the basement, a closet or the garage. They don’t need to be taking up space all year in some of the most energetically valuable real estate in your house – your kitchen. If you are staging your home to sell, pre-pack these items and put them in storage. This helps you prepare for your move, and helps potential buyers see how much storage space is available.
- Clean off the kitchen counters of all but the most used items that can’t be stored anyplace else. Kitchen clutter (holding on to too much stuff) often manifests itself as excess weight (holding on to too many calories).
- Don’t display knives on your counter or on the wall. The “cutting Chi” they possess may cut your prosperity and create anxiety. The best place for knives is in a drawer, stored with the blade facing down.
- Take care of any maintenance problems. Fix the leaking faucet (money down the drain, literally and figuratively). Replace burned out lightbulbs or broken light fixtures and switches (a dark kitchen is not only dangerous, but also depressing). Replace broken cabinet pulls (if you can’t get to your food easily you will starve physically and emotionally). Broken appliances = broken energy. While the task may be small, the rewards and sense of accomplishment you will reap from the repairs will be large. If you are staging to sell, this will eliminate haggling points buyers might use to justify offering a lower price.
- Throw away your old sponges, dish rags, mop heads and broom. Start the New Year fresh. Dirt is seen as negative energy in Feng Shui. Don’t drag this year’s negativity into the New Year.
- Clean your kitchen until it sparkles – every square inch of it. Pay special attention to the stove and the stove hood. The stove, where your food is prepared, is of paramount importance to your prosperity and well-being in Feng Shui. Make sure all the burners are in good working order and use them all equally. You will be maximizing your ability to call in prosperity from multiple sources by doing so. An make sure your stove hood or extractor is working properly to remove smoke, excess humidity and odors. If you haven’t done so recently, wash the extractor filters. Get rid of old greasy dirt and cut down on the chance of a fire from grease build up. If you are staging to sell, this is a very important step. No one wants to work in a dirty kitchen, and no one wants to buy someone else’s dirt & grime.
2010 is just around the corner. Welcome the New Year with a clean, functional, uncluttered kitchen. In Feng Shui, the condition of the kitchen can influence your level of prosperity and good health. Follow the above steps and welcome prosperity and greater well-being in 2010.
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