We asked Traci Groff, from FOR THE HOME, who
specializes in home staging, organizing and decorating, to share with us the 5
W’s of how creating a supportive space with positive flow can bring peace and
productivity to the home and work environment.
Q: Who is a candidate for hiring a home
stager/organizer/decorator?
A: Clients come with varied backgrounds, purposes
and lengths. They could be a student who
wants to create a study environment that maximizes efforts and minimizes
distractions resulting in increased focus and decreased stress. They could also be a mom who wants a kitchen
to support her as she prepares meals for her family and many times offices out
of the same space. Organizing can bring increased efficiency to
meal planning/cooking and added joy to precious family time. They can also be a family looking to sell
their home with needs of depersonalizing the home and creating an inviting flow
that allows potential buyers to see themselves in the home and thus resulting
in a quicker sale.
Q: What is home staging vs organizing vs decorating?
A: Home staging is really just what it sounds like –
it is staging like you would on the set of a play. You are looking to transport your viewer/audience
(in most cases a potential buyer of a home) to a place of imagining themselves
as living in your home. Doing this well
comes down to 3 things: Decluttering the space, depersonalizing the space and
creating an inviting “vacation like” mind set.
These three areas engage potential buyers on their functional, visual
and emotional levels.
Organizing is taking a given space and rearranging
it in such a way that it supports the user.
This is achieved by purging the space of unused or outdated items,
ensuring remaining items are in good working condition and arranging the space
so that frequently used items are easily reachable. The result is one of higher
efficiency. Weather it is getting dressed in the morning, doing the laundry or
working in the office – this improved productivity adds peace and ease to daily
living.
Decorating is arranging the furnishings and colors
of a home or work environment such that they are inviting and pleasing to the
eye visually, while providing function of purpose. Depending on the client, many times this can
be achieved with the existing furnishings the homeowner has with possible
additions and alterations depending on budget.
This results in a space that provides buoyancy and increased pleasure.
Q: When, Where and Why is a good time to use a stager/organizer/decorator?
A: The best time, place and reason to use a
stager/organizer/decorator is whenever there is a desire for increased peace
and productivity. That can be as small a
project as a kitchen pantry or as large as an entire house or work
environment. The ease and freedom that
comes from living and working in a space that supports us functionally,
visually and emotionally will surely increase our productivity, but it is the
sense of peace that we gain that is the greater gift.
Q: Where can people go to find out more about FOR THE HOME?
A: Traci Groff can be reached at (847) 251.5080 or tracigroff@comcast.net for a free consultation.
Thanks for sharing your expertise with us Traci!
