Vacation Rental Staging and Design Award Winning Photos for March "Best-of -Best"

I love to see all the ways my students are designing for clients!  March's Best-of-the-Best Awards showcase occupied staging, vacant staging, vacation rental staging (airbnb design), home design and everything in between.  Congrats to this month's award winners...

Awesome Realtor Relationships and Vacation Rental Staging in One

I love that my HSR stagers have such strong relationships with realtors, the two industries’ really do go hand in hand. Check out Jackie Low’s story of working with a local realtor below. Jackie owns Stage the Vibe, serving Waco, TX, and surrounding areas.

“Well, first of all, I wouldn’t be where I am today without amazing clients! I must give credit where credit is due. Anel Perales is a Keller Williams agent who was recently named #1 Female Agent here in Waco, TX and #1 for most units sold in the Entire Region. She is also my #1 client. She and I have partnered up on more stages to date than anyone else in my year and a half of business. She hires me for her flips and refers me to many of her clients as well. She called me up and told me she and her husband had bought a family home here in Waco just down from the Magnolia Silos and would be turning it into an Airbnb.

"They wanted farmhouse design which I had never done in my staging or design career but, I was up for the challenge. They provided a great base for me to work with and when it was all said and done, I think we were all happy with the result. I stayed with the black and white and wood tones throughout and then threw in some green just to add some color without going overboard. Everything pops against the white walls and looks so fresh and inviting which is what we want! Y’all come to Waco and enjoy this cutie called Jessie’s Place 😉 Very honored to have been a part of this transformation.”

A Fun DIY Stage

Hannah Webb of Refreshed Design and Interiors serving Northeast, Ohio, is ecstatic to have her work chosen for the Best of the Best award! I adore her creativity with this stage.

“Wow! I am honored and so happy to receive this award. I was shocked when I received the email, lol. HSR has been the catapult for my staging business, and I am so thankful for all the tips, advice, and encouragement along the way. Thank you all so much 😊!!"

"So, with this staging, I had decided to mix things up and take a little extra time with the details. From the velvets to the earthy touches, along with the black accents, I felt inspired! Not only did I create the artwork from a shower curtain, but I also even refinished the hall tree myself from a secondhand piece. I truly had fun with this staging, and I am so excited that I was able to capture that in the photos!"

Again, thank you so much! It is an amazing feeling to be where I am now from where I began!”

When Staging Gets Personal

This story behind the stage in this home that Susan Miku & Kaylah Novack of The Well Designed HŌM, serving Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Spring Hill, Columbia, and surrounding areas of TN, recently completed makes my heart swell. I enjoy it when we work with our personal families’ homes! The transformation of her in-law’s home is stunning.

“Kaylah and I just wanted to share this amazing transformation! This particular house was very personal for me, (Susan) as it was my father and mother-in-law’s home for 22+ years. We lost my father-in-law to Alzheimer's a little over 6 years ago, and my mother-in-law this past September.

I cherish the times that we spent together in this house, and the memories that we made there as a family. But seasons change, and we must change with them. My sister-in-law had moved in about 8 years ago to help with her parents, and she purchased a new home and moved out in November. As I am also a REALTOR, I was "chosen" by the family to get this house ready to sell. My job was to take it from being "Gram's house", and turn it into a beautiful, marketable, future home for another family to make memories in."

"I've spent many hours there over the last several months, with contractors, and color wheels, and floor samples, and backsplash samples, etc... hoping that I was making the right choices, and reminiscing of my boys running up and down the hallway. (But I digress) This has been such a challenge, on so many levels, but I believe that it is my favorite house so far, and definitely the one that has all my heart and soul in it. (Sticking to a budget was a challenge, otherwise, I probably would've painted those cabinets!) LOL"

I wanted you to know how much I appreciate the time that you spend putting together training, researching, doing webinars, etc...

Staging and Design has been a dream of mine since I graduated high school, it took almost a lifetime of detours, speed breakers, stop signs, and speed limit signs, before I was able to launch out into this amazing journey!

And having my youngest son's girlfriend, (and most likely my next daughter-in-law), along for the journey has been a bonus! Home Staging Resource and your training has been the catalyst that propelled me/us into this most wonderful adventure, and we are so thankful.”

Occupied Staging Refresh

Michelle Middel of Michelle Middel Decor located in Bradford, Ontario, Canada. Serving The Greater Toronto Area, created such an awesome transformation with this occupied stage, I can’t believe it’s the same home!

“I love being able to take a space and show buyers and homeowners the potential and beauty it really has.

I often work with clients who know what they like, but don’t know how to put it all together and make it a reality. Seeing the look on their faces or receiving that excited text or email after they walk back into their transformed spaces, is one of the best parts of my job!

For this project it was hard to see the home through all the stuff. It needed to be cleared out. I suggested the homeowners give their entire home a fresh coat of paint (BM Balboa Mist) and pack up and store a lot of their belongings. I wanted to bring the outside in, and after a long cold winter invoke the feeling of spring and warmth. I brought in elements of bright creams and off whites, olive greens and warm natural wood tones, to tie in some of the warm tones from key elements within their home. The clients did everything I asked, and the final look resulted in one of my favorite stages to date!”

Beachy Vacation Rental Staging

Brandi Barriger owner of B. Lyn Design did a remarkable job with this Airbnb, her work makes me want to vacation there!

“The entire unit was very white. I wanted this room to feel cozy and obviously "beachy" for the littles. So, the waves wallpaper was necessary to break up all stark whiteness of the room and then I added some fun details. Renters want to feel like they are on vacation wherever they stay, and this did the trick!”

Whole Home Design While in Training

Nana Sogoian’s story is so incredibly amazing that I’m going to be sharing it in a separate blog post. Nana owns NSM Staging and Design, serving the Orange County, CA area. The mission for her business is simple – “to serve my clients but give back simultaneously to underprivileged kids.”

I will be sharing much more of Nana’s work in another blog but here’s her winning photos and the story behind them:

"These transformations are of my own house - it’s the redesign that I started when I began HSR courses. From the beginning I realized how off base I was in my design and my before pictures are proof of that. I had to improve on everything from scale to color to harmony, from texture to ambiance."

"Therefore, it took us close to 6 -8 months to complete since every room and every item received new -found love and attention. Actually, several of the pieces throughout the house are my own DIY’s such as wall panels, vases/planters, dressers, cribs, etc..."

"My next adventure for upcoming months is working on our own new Airbnb rental in Joshua Tree. I can't wait to showcase that project in July. The amount of knowledge I gained from the course, her YouTube videos, and comments/questions from Stagers Connect is just amazing. So, thank you."

"Again, very excited because with each accolade I can list several proud moments every morning when facing myself in the mirror especially as a newbie in this industry.”

First Vacant Stage for the Win!

Rohini Arya of Treehouse Staging LLC, serving the Frederick, Maryland area truly learned what the meaning of hustling with this vacant stage with only two days to prepare, but from the stunning before and after photos, you would never know.

“Thank you so much HSR and Audra for this wonderful news. I am beyond excited to be chosen one of the Best of the Best March.  I got a call from one of the realtors to stage this 1400 sq ft property and I said Yes! This vacant home stage was a lot of hard work and hustle as I had only two days to prepare for it. Not only was I able to pull it off so well, but I also learnt a lot from it."

Super Cute DIY Personal Rental Unit Re-Design

Libby Fehsenfeld owner of Tralala Interiors, serving Asheville, NC and surrounding areas focusing on occupied staging and design, did wonderful work with this stage. It’s so great seeing my stager’s doing DIY projects!

“This project was particularly special to me (so I'm happy it was chosen) because it’s a rental unit that we were wanting to spruce up and rent out for additional income, and this is one of the first projects I tackled after leaving a past career, signing up for HSR, and getting my business officially up and running as an LLC.

"For a ground floor unit, the space gets good light, but was sterile and felt like a dorm room without much personality. My goal was to use as much of the original hand-me-down furniture as possible, refurbish or DIY as much as I could, and give this rental some new life. I challenged myself to make the headboard and coffee table and learned the fun (and at times annoyingness) of peel and stick wallpaper 🙂 It was gratifying to see what is possible in a small space without starting from scratch. Thank you for choosing to highlight my work!”