MARY LOU TEAGUE'S BLOG

SHOUT OUT TO KATHY CAYLOR, REALTOR AND PHOTOGRAPHER EXTRAORDINAIRE !!!

Check out her website www.KathyCaylor.com

Over the past couple of months HOME STYLE AND STAGING has had the pleasure of working with Kathy Caylor, ( I understand she found me here on ActiveRain, which I am most thankful !!!) Kathy and I worked on a project and within weeks the house was SOLD...now I would like to think ( and yes, I will take some credit here ) that I had something to do with this...However, she worked hard listing the home, setting up the website for the listing , and she did the photos. Awesome is the only word I can use to describe the photos that she took.

I was the one that went from room to room setting up the staging and she would come in take the photos to make what I had done look amazing.

This is the home where we used only what the homeowner had, and what they had was several items which included a wire rooster.( Elaine Maines would be proud ) That wire rooster I think we used in every room and in every photo. It should be quite famous by now, the house was sold and they had moved before I got the opportunity to make an offer on purchasing that rooster.

We just completed another staging/photo shoot and used another prop in almost every shot. I will do a post and post the photos and see if you can guess what the prop was... The owner even got involved in the process. This is another house that will sell quickly, not because of me and the staging ( even though I will take some of the credit here ) but for the outstanding work, photos, time, and energy that this lady puts into each and every home that she sells.

It has been so much fun and a learning experience working with her, Thank you Kathy for contacting me, I look forward to working with you again soon...

BEFORE AND AFTER...WITH A TWIST !!!

HOME STYLE AND STAGING recently did a staging where the owner had done some of the staging before I was asked to come into the project.

So this Before and After is BEFORE what the owner did, and the AFTER is what HOME STYLE AND STAGING was able to do with the space, this I feel is why staging should be left to the professionals. Got to hand it to them, they did try, more than I can say for some.

BEFORE: PROVIDED BY THE OWNER                             AFTER: PROVIDED BY HOME STYLE AND STAGING

Comments, anyone ?

 I moved the chairs from the corner to center of wall, took away some pillows, added rug, and you can't see but moved the prints on the wall closer together. This small room is off to the left when you enter the foyer, needed to stage so that you would not walk into a blank space.

WHEN YOU KNOW IT IS TIME TO FINALLY GET THAT YARD RAKED,Lexie and Lucie were out playing in the back yard, and when it was time to come in, well this is what I was greeted with.. It seems that there were more leaves on Lucie than in the yard. Sooooooo....I guess it is time to finally get the blower out and get the leaves up. Also, I do believe that there are more leaves in my house than outside...But you gotta love that face !!! 

  Lucie and the leaves

Yes, indeed A PICTURE IS WORTH 1,000 WORDS !!!  I recently caught Lucie, one of my miniature schnauzers laying on the couch snuggled up to a throw pillow with has "Love" written on it. I just smiled and said "I love you too, Lucie" !!! Sometimes things just come together to make all things OK..especially with a great dog ( or in my case, dogs )...Gotta love them

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU CALL ME.. JUST CALL ME !!!!   

Yes that is correct, call me anything ( well, that is suitable for my ears ) just call me. I will come running !!!

Last week I received a voice mail and the caller was calling for HOME STYLE AND STAGING and would like to speak with Mary Lou Teague , however the last name was pronounced as " T Q".  So I returned the nice man's phone call promptly and clearly stated, "Hello this is Mary Lou Teague, with Home Style and Staging" returning your call"...he then says Oh Hello Ms "T Q", thanks for getting back to me so soon.

You know I figure he can call me "Ms T Q" all day long..as I got the job.

I will just have to make sure that when it comes time to write the check he gets the name right !!!

HOME STYLE AND STAGING received a phone call the other day from a very nice lady in Indiana, she asked the name of the color that I had used in two of the re-design bathrooms that I done. I was thinking to myself, how in theworld did she know that I did a bathroom in chocolate brown and her in Indiana ??

As the conversation continued I found out that she had "Googled" brown bathrooms and of all the ones that came up she liked the color and the accessories that I had used in mine, traced me by my website and then went to Activerain from there...WOW...all that for the name of the paint that I had used..this lady was on a mission. I asked her to please send me before and after photos so that I could share with you here on Activerain. So I am looking forward to seeing her re-design...                         

SWEET GEORGIA BROWN CAN BE PURCHASED AT LOWE'S

HOME STYLE AND STAGING  just recently hit the 100,000 points mark !!!

Then I discovered that I am in the top 50 in points for HOME STAGERS for all states....  I knew that I could look up and see my rating in my

own state ( Which I am # 2 ) just figured out how to look that up...( Yes I am a little slow !!! )

So here I go Patting myself on the back AGAIN....I find something new out everyday on ACTIVERAIN...

GOT A RE-DESIGN JOB BECAUSE OF MY LINEN CLOSET...

HOME STYLE AND STAGING was contacted last week because someone saw on FaceBook where a friend of mine had posted a photo of my linen closet.  Yes, I am kind of a neat freak...and they were probably poking alittle fun at me, but what the heck it produced a re-design job for me....

So I guess sometimes it pays to be alittle neat .....

I DID IT !!! CROSSED OVER THE 100,000 POINTS LINE !!!

HOME STYLE AND STAGING posted first blog in November 2007...and now 3 years later I am going

over 100,000 points..I never thought that I would get here !!!

BUT I have.... thinking back to that date in November 2007, I had no idea what Activerain was, what a post or blog was....I have learned so much...gained new friends...gotten exposure I never thought possible... I can google my name and company name and it comes up first...gained new friends ( oh did I say that already ? ) gotten jobs...so much from ActiveRain...thanks to everyone for reading and making comments and I would not have made it without your help....I even started 'STAGING STORIES" group that many of you have joined and posted on...it has been such a learning experience, so glad that I made the journey !!!

Recently, I was out of town for several days and a dear friend, Kala Brewster (local artist), came in and painted a tree on my wall behind the bed...I had posted a couple of days ago http://activerain.com/blogsview/1863949/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn-or-rather-a-tree-grows-in-a-nursery, and she knew just how much I loved the black tree... ( minus the monkey for my own space)

So 'WHILE I WAS OUT"her own personal version of the TV shown, she came in and painted the dramatic black tree behind the bed in my guest room...I have asked that she paint a small red bird on one of the branches to symbolize my mother and her paintings...

So you just never know what is going to happen  "WHILE YOU ARE OUT"   

 In my situation is was a great additiona to my guest room...so I may just go out again sometime soon...wouldn"t you ???

Recently an artist friend of mine, Kala Brewster, did a re-design of a room that had recently been changed to a nursery. With everything in the room in place, she came in and painted a tree with animals on the wall. No decals here...and it actually only took her less than 2 hours...it would have taken me longer than that to place the decals on the wall...

Next she is doing a tree ( without the animals ) on my guest room wall..Will post photos when work is completed.

Work by: KALA BREWESTER

HOME STYLE AND STAGING recently re-designed a dining room closet into a bar area http://activerain.com/blogsview/1685275/poof-a-closet-becomes-a-bar-area- and they have enjoyed the built-in so much they asked me to re-vamp the pantry so that they could display some of their cookware.

We took the door off, painted the inside with the same paint as the bar area, as they are in the same open area.

So hopefully I can move on to another project in the house, this is fun...using color, organizing and de-cluttering love doing all three !!!                                           

                                    HOME STYLE AND STAGING has just completed it's 100th blog... 

 I really didn't know that I had that much to say, or rather that I wrote so many...it has been fun and now looking forward to saying more in the next couple of years...wow I must be tired...and where did I come up with all this material...??? It has been fun looking back at some of the ones that I have posted, and some that maybe I should not have posted. My favorite ones are the ones about the commode covers, as they have brought fame to HOME STYLE AND STAGING..if you google commode covers, on the same page as Target and Sears is my post about commode covers...awesome...

Lexie and Lucie, my miniature schnauzers send their time on the back of the couch, watching TV with me or just sitting and waiting to bark at someone or something, that may or may not come up to the door. BUT they are ready !!!! WHERE DO YOUR DOGS OR CATS SPEND THEIR LEISURE TIME ???

My two Schnauzers, Lexie and Lucie, never sit and beg whenever I am eating breakfast on the couch and watching TV. They just sit and stare until I hand them something. On this morning, I was have a yummy, blueberry muffin and coffee, and had to get up and go check on something in the other room. When I left the room they were sitting right where they are sitting now, except for one minor difference, my yummy blueberry muffin was gone.. and Lucie had blueberry muffin crumbs in her beard, do you think that they thought that I would not notice ??? There is no way I could be mad at those two faces, but I did miss that blueberry muffin !!!  

As all my friends know here on AR, HOME STYLE AND STAGING,has been having some slow times recently. So to try and keep my head above water   I have been doing some event planning and special event decorating. Which I do love doing, and that part of my business is moving right along. Which I might add is a good thing.

Last week I planned and decorated a "50" birthday "beach theme" party. It was held at the Holiday Inn here in Knoxville, complete with dinner, open bar and DJ. There were about 150 people invited and I do think that each and everyone came and brought a friend. It was a great party.

Her sister gave her the party, she surprised her by having her other 3 sisters fly in from California, and her nephew and his wife fly in from France. There were lots of surprises, great food and if I must say so myself great decorations. Here is how I carried out the "beach Party" theme.

Each "TABLESCAPE" was different.

  Here are just a few of the tables...

So when drowning, throw a party or decorate one...

The ASHSR (AMERICAN SOCIETY OF STAGERS AND RE DESIGNERS) of East Tennessee, will be having their quarterly meeting May 26, 2010 (Wednesday) at the Copper Cellar, Kingston Pike, Knoxville, TN.

The meeting will be centered around marketing, do's and don'ts. We will be discussing what has worked and what has not. If you should have any ideas, hints etc that you would like to share please do so.

If interested in attending the meeting, this is for stagers and Realtors, please contact me,

Mary Lou Teague, HOME STYLE AND STAGING LLC, East Tennessee Chapter President homestyleandstaging@comcast.net to RSVP.. We would love to have you !!! You do not have to be a member to attend.

Looking forward to seeing everyone and exchanging ideas...

HOME STYLE AND STAGING recevied a phone call recently, a lady called to ask about my pricing, etc.

Into the conversation she began to question the pricing, the way in which I did the staging, the time that it would take, when I could start the project, etc. Needless to say I was beginning to get somewhat annoyed with her badgering.  However, thought I had better be nice and helpful as she may turn out to be a REAL client.

The she said the words that all of us (Stagers) hate to hear.... "I HAVE WATCHED THE STAGING SHOWS AND I THINK THAT I CAN DO THIS MYSELF"...  I do not know about you but I am sick and tired of hearing this from people. Oh, and she did add..." I AM PRETTY GOOD AT DECORATING, ALL MY FRIENDS TELL ME SO" Oh really ?? I think to myself.

So, I realized that she just wanted confirmation that she knew as much about staging as I did, as she watched the staging shows. Then I just had to say it.. "WELL MY HUSBAND WATCHES GOLF TV AND HE WILL NEVER BE A PROFESSIONAL GOLFER"    She had no idea I don't have a husband...but I think I got my point across...  Then I almost got on a roll and asked if she lost weight by watching" THE BIGGEST LOSER"  ...Thought better about it and got off the phone...

Recently I was asked to RE-DESIGN AN ARTIST LOFT TO A BABY BOY NURSERY,  so HOME STYLE AND STAGING got to work. I can only share with you the finished wall, as my other photos will not download.  have no reason as to why.

We painted the walls all the same pale blue, then we bought several shades of the same blue. Borrowed an overhead projector and with the lettering that we bought from a local hardware store we began to make the design.

It was so much fun this project, that I am considering do the same to an extra bedroom that I am making into a nursery for my daughter. Holli is having a girl in September, so this may be a baby girl project.

We placed the changing table up against this wall and the final room is very nice. I will try to contact the owner and see if I can get some more photos and if so, I will share with you.

  This was an all day project, and several hours of planning but the outcome was well worth it.

DE-CLUTTERING A CLOSET  THE HOME STYLE AND STAGING WAY,  yes we have own way here at HOME STYLE AND STAGING on how we de-clutter a closet.

We start with 3 large boxes or large black garbage bags ( depending on the size of the closet ). They are marked "PUT BACK", "GIVE AWAY OR YARD SALE" and the last one 'WHAT WAS I THINKING".

Last week we did a de-clutter on a double size closet, the client sat on the bed in the room and as I took things out, it was either "yes" or "no", there were times that the question was never asked as the article went straight to the "WHAT WAS I THINKING" pile. Other questions were did you wear this, this season ? last season ? No? Well it goes to the "GIVE AWAY OR YARD SALE" pile.

Needless to say we had fun, looking at clothing and shoes that the client had forgotten she even had. At the end of the day, an organized closet and lots of added room, for more "stuff".

BEFORE

AFTER                                                                                  PART OF  'WHAT WAS I THINKING"

She went out and bought all new hangers as she was so excited about having an organized and clean closet.

Need DE-CLUTTERING ? Give us a call  HOME STYLE AND STAGING  KNOXVILLE, TN  865.368.8484