The Decorating Voice

The Power of YouTube

For those of you who need to be reminded of the healing power of decorating a "home", check-out the You Tube video of Terry Grahl's shelter project. 

Terry is in the running for an United Way Award.  Please surf out and vote for Terry!:  http://www.uwsem.org/volunteer2008/heartofgold.html

This is the movie we showed in Chicago at the 2007 SDP Conference:

Living on Purpose

"What one loves in childhood stays in the heart forever."  ~  Mary Jo Putney

How much of your day is spent working on things that make your heart sing?  Are you the one who loved re-arranging your bedroom as a child?  Or making furniture for Barbie's Dream House?  Or opening a new box of crayons and dreaming about the possibilities?

How long are you going to wait to be fully you?  Start living your dream by registering for a class in Interior Redesign, Home Staging, or Color Confidence with trusted professionals from The Society of Decorating Professionals!  Find other "experts" to take over the tasks that drain/weaken you (even if it's something you're able to do). 

If you feel stuck in your current career, begin today to concentrate on adding more things that inspire & energize you.  If you need help starting, check out Oprah.com/workshop for an eight session lesson from Marcus Buckingham.  He is a well respected author and business coach.  Marcus encourages you to follow your strengths to lead to your life's calling because "You've been blessed with so much uniqueness!"

Comment below and let me know how you're doing at working in the area of your strenths.
Kris Porter -
www.TheSDP.com 
www.KristinePorter.com

My Favorite Find!

As a redesigner/stager, I am always on the lookout for great bargains -- especially when it comes to saving costs on my supplies!  Since I hang tons of artwork in my business, I keep a good stock of picture hanging hardware on hand.  My favorite products are the Heavy Duty Drywall hooks (you don't even need a hammer!) and Ook brand hangers, which I use when the drywall hooks won't work.  I like Ook because they list the weight the hook will hold directly on the hook itself, and while it seems silly because they are behind the artwork, I like the quality look they have!

Recently, I tripped across a special value box that Ook is selling.  It is called the Professional Home Toolbox kit and it comes with 103 pieces.  There is enough hardware to hang 38 pieces of art, plus the box includes a cool mini hammer.  It looks just like a hammer I bought at Restoration Hardware a few years ago, but I was surprised when it had different features.  You see, it is one of those brass handled hammers that has the handle that screws out with tools inside.  I was expecting all screwdrivers inside, but found that they had included a "tack puller" which is perfect for pulling staples out of the cardboard corner protectors or lifting those metal tabs that hold the back onto some frames -- great for saving a manicure!  Along with the tack puller, there is large screwdriver, an itsy-bitsy screwdriver for those teeny-tiny screws and a hole starter -- which is a great help for nailing those tiny tacks into the sawtooth hangers.

On top of all the fabulous hardware and the cool tack hammer, there is also a $30 coupon (undated) from FastFrame!  I figure I can offer the coupons (I bought multiple kits!) to clients who need to have things framed... and I'll be a hero!

The best news about this kit is the price!  I've seen the kit at Home Depot for about $9.99 and also at Bed, Bath & Beyond for about $14.99.  These prices (especially the lower one) are really good considering the regular price of the tyypically smaller Ook packaging.

To be clear, I have no affiliation with Ook, FastFrame, Home Depot or Bed, Bath & Beyond.  Just wanted to share the results of my "power shopping"! 

Do you have any "favorite finds" that you want to share?

Denise Montgomery, SDP Certified Trainer - Mais Oui! RedesignU

www.redesigncareertraining.com

Does Staging "Twiddle" with a Buyer's Mind

According to a new article in Wall Street Journal, The Allure of the Fruit Bowl: Home Staging ‘Twiddles’ With a Buyer’s Mind, we are hearing cries of deception and outrage again about the art of staging. Here is an excerpt from the article itself.

"Looking to buy a house? Beware the allure of home staging. The marketing technique, in which a home’s interior and exterior is carefully prepped, sometimes by a paid professional — can trip-up unsuspecting or naive house hunters, says Curtis Seltzer, a land consultant from Blue Grass, Va."

My comment to this is as follows...I would love to hear what you think about this.

I think the writer has a few misconceptions. Staging is not about deluding the buyer. In fact, it is more about making the seller accountable for what they are selling. I liken it to a blind date, if you went on a date the way you appear in the morning with bedhead, morning breath, and in your favorite torn and overlaundered robe, you wouldn’t get a second date. Yet many people will show a house in its morning attire. 

Staged homes frequently sell for more dollars because improvements that needed to be made, have been, not because they are selling for more than they are worth. A property may appear more desirable and therefore, entertain multiple bids which may realize the seller more money than if they would have shown the property smelling like dog, with a stained carpet, dirty walls, uncleaned ovens, etc. In today’s stressed economy, a seller can not afford to not put their best foot forward, whether they stage it themselves or hire a credible professional who offers staging services. Great staging is evaluating a property for sale and correcting its flaws to allow the new buyer more of a turn key approach to buying a home. It is also understanding that selling a house is a competition, staging helps to make the house stand out from the competition.

Oprah Believes in Terry Grahl's Dreams

For this posting to make sense, be sure to read the post, Believe in Your Dreams first.

I'M BACK!!!! WOW what a experience!!!! Monday's Oprah show was live in Chicago with Jamie Lee Curtis. I arrived to the studio around 6am and met many wonderful people who also were lucky enough to manifest reservations for the show. My brother and I sat in the top row but I felt so close to Oprah. The best part of the show was the after show with Racheal the contestant from the Big Give who was voted off on Sunday. What a life lesson Oprah taught the entire audience. ''God knows how amazing you are, we must let go of any negative thoughts to allow any blessings into our lives'' I would have never thought that just one year ago my life would be like this today.

April 18th I will be starting my season 5 with the 100 day challenge on youtube!!! Hmmm I wonder what the universe (God) has planned for me now?

P.S.  Many of you know about the #10 that keeps showing up in my life....Ever since the shelter project I keep finding 10 cents, $10 dollars,10 in the harpo producers phone number and the latest (My room at the Omni hotel was on the 10th floor) Just another sign letting me that I am heading in the right direction....

Many many blessings to all of you,
Terry oxoxo
www.TerrysEnchantedCottage.com
734-776-0848

Qassia - Free Resouce - Get Your Website Noticed!

Qassia is a credit driven intelligence engine that will help your sites online ranking.  It is still in beta testing, but will be released soon so there is no better time than the present to take advantage of this opportunity. Promoting a new website isn’t easy and when you’re paying for google adwords, it can get quite expensive.  While you might not have the money to invest in online advertising, it’s important to get your website noticed.  This intelligence will help to get your website positioned higher for any relative search.  I’m sure you’ll agree that anything that you can do to help your positioning that is FREE of charge is certainly worth investigating.  When your website comes up first in a search, your chances of getting the job, referral or even publicity are more favorable. 

The process begins with an easy sign up.  You will create your profile page, which lists your website information.   The next step is to write something.  You get credit for intel entered.  Intel is anything that you decide to write about, i.e. – paint colors, fabric choices, hot new design trends, your dog or cat – even butterflies!  Your ranking increases with each intel and the intel is tag based.  What you write doesn’t have to be about your business, and it doesn’t have to be about anything in particular, but I believe that it’s to your advantage to have it somehow tied to a facet of your profession. There is also another incentive, you get paid advertising renenue.  I am not completely clear how this works, but there is more information on the Qassia site, so please check it out. Qassia is slated to become the largest repository of information on the web...and It'S FREE. Your website will be processed instantly and there is no need for you to set up any links. It's by invitation only, so I am inviting all of members of The SDP to take advantage of this great program. It's great for your business and also, The SDP, as it builds recognition and credibility. 

Click on the link and get started now. Make it easy for Oprah to find you :)

The invitation /sign up button will be on the left side of the page. 

http://cherylcousins.qassia.com

Cheryl Cousins www.InteriorTransformationsToday.com 404-735-8457

Believe in Your Dreams

How are you? As many of you know for the past year I've been on one amazing journey. For many years I've been a collector and flea market junkie. Growing up my mother would pack all five of us in the huge brown station wagon and head off to all the flea markets and garage sales to find the best bargain and hidden treasure. The memories were so special I had to continue the story by finding my own lost treasures to love and cherish for my home.

Shortly after my last child stepped foot on the school bus I decided I wanted to start my own decorating business. I wanted to give women hope and I understood tight budgets. There was only one thing holding me back MONEY. As I stood in my cottage looking at all the vintage treasures I knew I had to let them go if I had any chance of going to this decorating class in PA.

So silly as some may say but my vintage composition dolls were the hardest to sell. I decided I would only let them go if one buyer bought all of them. I ended up selling the dolls on Ebay and cried the entire time while wrapping them for their new home. When I was a little girl my dolls were always important to me I felt if I was taking care of them I was taking care of myself.  Now I was set financially and ready to fly out to JoAnne Lenart Weary's class in PA. I remember returning home taller and emotionally stronger. ''The class was worth every doll''

Only a week had passed since the class and I received a phone call from an angel asking for help at a shelter. As my heart began to race I knew this call would some how change my life forever. After the visit at the shelter I left depressed and over whelmed I just wasnt sure if I wanted to even take on the challenge of my life.''The challenge'' renovating a shelter, healing spirits and but finding the core of who I really am.

As many of you probably don't know, I have been cleaning my brother's store and my mother's home for the past 4 years, while dreaming of having my own decorating business. One day at my mothers home I decided to print out the photos of the shelter. I love polka dots probably as much as JoAnne loves her leopard print. I will never forget the moment when I looked at the photos and there it was a polka dot pillow on a stained mattress. I heard a voice from within say, ''Trust in me'' it was without a doubt, God guiding me to believe.

That voice was so strong that I decided to take on the challenge and renovate the women's dorm at the shelter. The very next morning I headed off to staples to make copies of all of the letters I needed to mail to businesses and corporations for help. I knew my bank account would be negative but I now had FAITH and BELIEVED that all would work itself out. Feb. 2007 I just caught the last ten minutes of the reaction to the secret on the Oprah Show. Once again the voice appeared saying, ''Don't worry about what you don't have just be ready for what is about to come.'' I was so excited about this secret I googled it and found a woman named Lilou Mace on youtube. WOW!!! I was blown away by how this woman was using the law of attraction and a vision board to manifest her dreams in 100 days.

I immediately signed up for the 100 day challenge on youtube, charged a web cam and made my vision board. Day after day I would video journal my life and the 2007 Hopeful Haven entire shelter project. More and more I began to see signs that would help guide me in the right direction. I want you all to know that when I took out all of my hopes and dreams from within placed them on a black board I began seeing the true me. I made sure to be grateful even before a blessing happened and I needed to nuture my dreams just like I was taking care of a garden.
    

After 7 months of continuing to trust, believe and have faith the shelter received everything on the dream list and vision board a total of $200,000 in monetary and furniture donations. I was finally awaken from within and noticing signs from the universe (god). Soon as the shelter project was finished I noticed another sign but this one was in my Sunday newspaper. I hardly ever read the home section because, to be honest, it's soooo boring but I heard the voice from within say, ''READ IT''  I could'nt believe it the Assocaite Editor of Country Decorating Ideas wrote a story in my hometown paper.  On my vision board  I wanted the shelter project to be published in a national magazine. Shortly after emailing the Associate Editor my dream became reality. Paint Magic a special annual publication of Country Decorating Ideas # 90 featured the project in Nov. 2007. I also had a photo of Mary Engelbriet the editor of Home Companion o n my vision board. On Aug. 20 @ 2:19 I received a call from Cynthia Bix a writer for Home Companion she had just found my web site and wanted the shelter project in their magazine. WOW!!!! huge manifestation!!!! Four months had past and I received a call from Tony Dimartino the Contrubiting Editor of Home Companion apologizing for the publisher deciding that the forgoodness sake column was being cancelled. At first I really thought it was a mistake and then I felt very calm and knew that god had bigger plans for me.

I want you all to know that I put on my dream list that I wanted at least two redesign jobs a week and on my vision board I had a picture of a woman with money falling on her from the sky. It only took three days after christmas when I received an email from the editor of Homestyle section in Detroit News asking if I would do a video of a redesign and a story for the paper. I know without a doubt my faith and trusting in god made all of that happen. Yes! you do have to put footsteps to your prayers but the foundation is faith. Since Jan. 12th I have been swamped with job offers, I have paid off 1/2 of my debt and ARE YOU READY FOR THE BIG NEWS?!!!!! On my vision for the past year I have had a picture of Oprah and me. On March 10th the Oprah show played a video of me talking about last years shelter project and here's the huge manifestation and blessing!!!!! I received an email on Wed. April 2nd from Winnie a producer from the Oprah Show letting me know that she has reservations for me and a guest for Monday's show. I surprised my hero and my big brother Todd to fly out with me and stay at the Omni hotel.

I hope all of you know that you always have had the power to manifest your dreams, you just need to BELIEVE.....

Many Blessings,
Terry Grahl
www.TerrysEnchantedCottage.com
734-776-0848

Dangerous Designers

The Wall Street Journal carried an article today by Mr. Clark Neily, a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice that almost made you think he was celebrating April Fool's Day.  You can google "Watch Out for That Pillow" by Clark Neily, April 1, 2008 to read the full article.  Here are a few interesting tidbits:

"Imagine you were a state legislator and some folks asked you to pass a law making it a crime to give advice about paint colors and throw pillows without a license. And imagine they told you that the only people qualified to place large pieces of furniture in a room are those who have gotten a college degree in interior design, completed a two-year apprenticeship, and passed a national licensing exam. And by the way, it is criminally misleading for people who practice interior design to use that term without government permission.

You might stare at them incredulously for a moment, then look down at your calendar and say, "Oh, I get it -- April Fool!" Right? Wrong."

Near the end of the article, Mr. Neily gives insight into how some states are voting on this legislative issue, and why:

"In vetoing interior design legislation last May, Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels explained that the "principal effect" of the law would have been "to restrain competition and limit new entrants into the occupation." Mr. Daniels noted that interior designers were "hardly the only profession" seeking government protection from potential competitors.

The numbers certainly bear him out. Fifty years ago, only 5% of the American workforce was licensed; today it is nearly 30%. We're not talking about brain surgeons or airline pilots, either. Louisiana requires florists to be licensed (yes, florists), and in several states -- including Louisiana, Oklahoma and Virginia -- only licensed funeral directors may sell caskets, a state-sanctioned monopoly they use to jack up prices anywhere from 400% to 600%, a fact established in litigation by the Institute for Justice in Tennessee and Oklahoma."

I'd love to read what you think!