Questions for Kimo:

 

Where can I find examples of the art you use in your staging?   

They say a picture speaks a thousand words and in some cases can cost you just as much if not more in cash. Find the right art to stage a property for sale and you can transform a room with four walls into an inspiring treasure worth buying.

As simple as that statement might sound, finding the right art for a design project is not that easy. An art piece can make a stage or ruin it depending on many factors in addition to the fickle aesthetic of the viewer. Subject matter, composition, size, color(s), medium, presentation, lighting, and positioning all pay an important role when choosing a piece of art for a space.  

 

Art is neither wall paper nor a silent witness to the happenings of a room, but rather, art is the emotive reflection of our universe as interpreted by an individual.

 

An art piece is a facet of an aspect of our existence. Sometimes it is exact, other times ambiguous. It employs and challenges the emotions but whether you understand the power of art or not, it's ability to affect the state of mind and emotions is reflected in it's price tag.

The more emotion rendered, thoughts encouraged, memories stirred the more the mind becomes connected with what it is viewing. Used properly in staging, art will extend beyond it's frame into the space surrounding it, creating a symbiotic relationship between art, room, and ultimately with the buyer.

 

  

 

A great resource for your tropical staging and decorating needs is Pictures Plus here in Hawaii. First and foremost Pictures Plus is a purveyor of fine and decorative art but in addition Pictures Plus is now selling both local and imported tropical decor furniture and accessories. They offer both solid and veneered Koa furniture as well as, contemporary tropical pieces of wicker, sea grass, rattan, and bamboo by  Padma's Plantation.  Some of my favorite artists available at Picture's Plus and pictured here are: Kim Taylor Reece, Peggy Chun, Pegge Hopper, Gary Reed, and many more.

 

 

 

 

 

         

 

          

 

 

      

   

 

 

 

 

JDS Consulting- Staging Hawaii nei! Providing Real Estate Merchandising services including: Home Staging, Interior Decor, Turn Key, Landscaping, Remodeling, & Open House Hosting. Visit our Blog: Questions for Kimo: Decor Design & all things Hawaiian- www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com  tel.+1.808.344.1264  Kimo Stowell Copyright ©2009

 

 

 

 

Questions for Kimo: Where can I find for purchase, a wide variety of native plants? There seems to be just a few places with a limited selection here on Oahu.

When it comes to being green and creating dynamic curb appeal, go native. Indigenous plants are acclimated to the environment and need less maintainence and watering.

The best places to find any type of flora for sale is Waimanalo on the windward side. There are numerous farms and plantations that sell a multitude of plants and flowers, however, if you want the biggest selection of native species visit Hui Ku Maoli Ola, located at 46-403 Ha'iku Road in Waipio, here on O'ahu.

Hui Ku Maoli Ola is an organization dedicated to the preservation of Hawaii's natural history, flora, and culture. By integrating education, quality restoration and consulting services, in addition to the propagation of Native Hawaiian plants, Hui Ku Maoli Ola seeks to increase public awareness  and preservation of the unique natural environment that is Hawaii nei.
 

Hui Ku Maoli Ola is the one-stop-shopping destination for all of your Native Hawaiian plant needs. 

 

• They offer over 140 Native Hawaiian and Polynesian introduced plants at wholesale and retail. 

 

• Over 40 endangered species available.

 

• They offer habitat restoration services for rehabilitating Native habitats and removing invasive species.

 

• They also provide educational services including, lectures on biological and cultural information, field trips, guided tours, and design and construction of educational gardens.

 

For more information, contact Kapaliku at (808) 285-9335 or visit Plantnativehawaii.com.

 

For curb appeal or landscaping consultations visit www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com

Here's a look at some interesting modern design inspirations from around the globe that might make your Modern styled home staging move from mundane to magnificent.

Blog Entry: Chairs of Character: A pictoral guide to stylish furniture Vol II. And then there's Mod

The modern style when set in a modern architectural setting can be dramatic, eye catching and memorable. If you are staging a modern home keep a few simple rules in mind to help effectively merchandise with modernity.

• Emphasize Clean, simple, geometric lines, shapes, and organic forms. Repetition of shapes and form draws the eye through the space.

• Use materials that reflect the movement plastics, molded veneers, chrome, and steel. Natural elements such as bamboo, sea grass, and coral work to convey the architectural aspects of nature.

• Keep it simple, form follows function and if it doesn't have a function don't use it. Minimalism follows the rules of function, which dictates keep it simple, and that brings us full circle, get it!

 

• Don't shy away from using bold pattern, color and contrast.

 

 

 

Modern Modular:

Quad provides modular
solutions to your modern
storage needs. Great for
Home staging and creating
a modern feel to your decor.

Be Modern, use Modular!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ten shy of 100
the Bauhaus School:

Mart Stam's S 43 in
Special Edition! Thonet is
producing Mart Stam's
S 43 cantilever chair in a
special edition with many
new color options. The
Bauhaus school turns 90 this
year. Hau'oli La Hanau

Bau Wow!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Moooi Oblique Racks:

Moooi Magazine and picture racks
made from solid oak stained
and lacquered in 7 different
colors by Marcel Wanders

Moooi Rocks!

 

JDS Consulting- Staging Hawaii nei! Providing Real Estate Merchandising services including: Home Staging, Interior Decor, Turn Key, Landscaping, Remodeling, & Open House Hosting. Visit our Blog: Questions for Kimo: Decor Design & all things Hawaiian- www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com  tel.+1.808.344.1264  Kimo Stowell Copyright ©2009

 

Rental truck for a day... $350... accessories for your stage... $570... doing it all perfectly the first time around... priceless...

Virtual Things, in a Virtual World and I'm a Virtual Home Stager...



 

It has been said that you can learn a lot about someone by walking in their shoes but in the virtual world you have the added luxury of not actually having to suffer through the pain that 6 inch stilettos might engender.

Virtual Staging in a virtual world is a very liberating experience that gives you the ability to design, install, and instantly change everything without having to buy, lift, arrange, or assemble anything.  

Ultimately you have the ability to focus your design efforts without the distraction of having to haul a sofa up three flights of stairs only to find it looks horrible in the space or having to shuttle back and forth from store to stage looking for the right accessories. In essence all of your design work is done ahead of time so when it comes to the actual installation of the stage, you are not waisting your time making last minute design changes, returning heavy furniture, or keeping assistants on the clock while you ponder the location of the sofa.

Before and multiple afters:

Above is the before photo of a vacation rental property for sale that will be short termed while the property is on the market. Virtual makeovers allow you to quickly make design choices without having to return merchandise or pay for delivery of items you won't be using. One also has the benefit of keeping tight track of budgeting, knowing precisely what you will buy and from where before writing a check or swiping a credit card.

 

Buy and use the right accessories the first time:

The pendulum lights, art work, mirror, sea grass shelving and ottoman, all come from Pictures Plus here in Honolulu. The accessories come from SOHA and Target. The furniture comes from various local stores and the carpet was found on-line.

Change and arrange in seconds:

Simple changes can create substantial differences in the feel and look of the space, just imagine how time consuming it would be to actually move these materials in and out while deciding what options work best. The faux water hyacinths from Target on the coffee table work well, but the Philodendron orchid works better and I didn't have to run down to the rental truck to switch them out.

Details, details, and more details:

Eliminating the physicality of staging while your designing the space allows you to focus your attention on the details and creating a narrative potential buyers understand and are drawn to. No more superfluous nail holes dotting the walls or sore muscles from moving the sofa from one end of the room to the other half a dozen times. Virtual Staging is an amazing tool for Home Staging professionals and consumers alike and frees your time to focus on design and not the energy drain of making changes in real time. If you think virtual staging might help you in your design challenges please contact us with your questions.

JDS Consulting- Staging Hawaii nei! Providing Real Estate Merchandising services including: Home Staging, Interior Decor, Turn Key, Landscaping, Remodeling, & Open House Hosting. Visit our Blog: Questions for Kimo: Decor Design & all things Hawaiian- www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com  tel.+1.808.344.1264  Kimo Stowell Copyright ©2009

Home Staging is One Little Red Wagon Thats NOT Tied to Other Sinking Ships in the Industry!

Inspired by Benita Gottfried's post:  Is Real Estate Staging A Bubble Profession? I thought I would post a rebuttal to Benita's thought provoking question.  

It is true that staging evolved into a full flung profession during the glory days of the most recent Real Estate Bonanza. It has also been postulated that home staging perhaps will pop out of existence just like the investment banks and sub-prime mortgages, whose fortunes rose and fell during those rollicking days of double digit appreciation and it's subsequent collapse. However, it would be erroneous to assume that the "Little Red Wagon" that is home staging is somehow tied to the sinking fates and ultimate demise of those same institutions connected with the sub prime mess and the tanking of the Real Estate Market. And here is my opinion why:   

Staging boiled down, is simply merchandising. What is merchandising? It's is putting your best face forward ALL the time. Merchandisers in grocery stores have a process called "Facing the Product" and basically it means making sure that every sale item is faced forward so that consumers can clearly see Tony the Tiger exclaiming that it's Grrrreat! There is an entire science to merchandising that has nothing to do with mortgages, Realtors, and banks and everything to do with human emotion and what motivates the eye to look at something. It is precisely this science that is the basis for home stagings effectiveness and not the condition of the market. Those who can afford to merchandise their products, regardless of what those products might be, will ultimately sell more products than those who don't merchandise. We are, after all, emotive beings who are predisposed to our predilections.

            

 Where does your eye gravitate?

We as human beings, that vast majority of which, have a difficult time looking at colorless empty spaces and differentiating those spaces from other spaces just like it. Imagine shopping in a generic store with everything wrapped in white packages and black lettering. We also as human beings, for the most part, are comforted by and gravitate towards order (example: a clean, well staged home). Likewise we are collectively unsettled and repulsed by disorder (a poorly kept and un-organized home).

         

Where does your eye gravitate?

So Unless you believe the world is spinning out of control and is falling into chaos (than any profession not geared toward subsistence survival will become obsolete) than yes staging and just about every profession is in trouble. If your conscious, emotional, and sensitive to your environment than as a buyer staged properties will continue to appeal to you, whether sellers care to pay for it or not. Staged homes will not provide the magic cure for over priced Real Estate and it will not supercede a qualified REA in selling a home.  However, Home Staging, will continue to be a highly effective sales tool at the disposal of Sellers and REAs now and as long as there is Real Estate to sell. Staging is here to stay... today, tomorrow and beyond!

 

JDS Consulting- Staging Hawaii nei! Providing Real Estate Merchandising services including: Home Staging, Interior Decor, Turn Key, Landscaping, Remodeling, & Open House Hosting. Visit our Blog: Questions for Kimo: Decor Design & all things Hawaiian- www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com  tel.+1.808.344.1264  Kimo Stowell Copyright ©2009

 

 

 

Questions for Kimo: I would like to use Hawaiian indigenous plants to spruce up my curb appeal, where can I go to see them in a natural setting to get ideas?  

It's not easy to recognize plants that are indigenous to Hawaii from the multitudes of imported varieties. However, If you are in the Honolulu area, a convenient place to find indigenous plantings in a natural albeit planned garden is the Lili'uokalani Botanical Garden in Nu'uanu.

This startling oasis, just a few blocks from downtown Honolulu and it's towering skyscrapers, has a wonderful selection of native plants and trees to give gardeners inspiration. Many are labeled with their Hawaiian, Latin and common names in a beautiful park setting shaded by an expansive canopy of Monkey Pod trees.

 

 

 

 

Hawaiian White Hibiscus - Kokio Keokeo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ohia Lehua - Flowering shrub/tree   

 

 

 

 

 

 Breadfruit tree - Ulu  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Awapuhi Ula Ula - Red Ginger  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lauhala - Pandamus Palm

Please contact JDS Consulting for your Curb Appeal and Landscaping needs.

JDS Consulting- Staging Hawaii nei! Providing Real Estate Merchandising services including: Home Staging, Interior Decor, Turn Key, Landscaping, Remodeling, & Open House Hosting. Visit our Blog: Questions for Kimo: Decor Design & all things Hawaiian- www.RealEstateDesignOnLine.com  tel.+1.808.344.1264  Kimo Stowell Copyright ©2009