Staging New Hampshire

Have you ever had or heard of any strange medical conditions or experiences that without having experienced or heard about first hand,  you would never have known about.  Life is full of little lessons that come to us only by way of experience.

I have a couple of examples:

Years ago, my daughter developed a very dark discoloration over her upper lip.  It looked like she was bruised or the skin got stained.  The family doctor had no clue what the cause was.  He sent us to a dermatologist.  Well, he sent us to the right guy.

The dermatologist took one look and smiled and said "you have been eating limes, in the sun." 

She had been putting lime wedges in her bottled water while tanning. 

 The doctor explained to us that the condition, called phytophotodermatitis, more commonly called Margarita Dermatitis, is a discoloration of the skin that occurs from a combination of contact with lime peel and exposure to the sun.     The discoloration is permanent.  She had to use a prescription skin lightener to gradually fade it out.  She was lucky...most cases develop lesions and an itchy rash, she only had the discoloration.

According to the doctor, many Spring Break kids are aware of this scientific wonder and use limes to "tattoo" graphiti on other students who are sleeping in the sun. 

 Many bartenders who work poolside or on beaches have the discoloration on their fingers.

My second life lesson is more serious:

This same daughter found herself passed out in the shower one morning. 

She called me very upset, her husband drove her to my house and I accompanied her to the doctors.  She hadn't been feeling well and had a fever.   Several tests were done to rule out anything more serious, then they assured us that her fainting was due to her body temperature. 

Turns out that taking a hot shower with a fever can cause you to pass out.  That was a first for me.

Any unusual or interesting medical experiences you would like to share?  Any medical  mysteries you haven't solved yet?

It's that time of year again...I go sailing every weekend. 

I'm not sailing on water, I'm cruising the streets of New Hampshire.

 I am a pirate of sorts, searching for treasure.

I venture off each Saturday morning on my quest for treasures at local yard sales.  It used to be just a passion, purely for fun.  Now that I am a professional home stager it is more than just fun, it is my business. 

I find many brand new or like new home staging accessories at very low prices. 

In addition to having yard sale experience as a buyer,  I have had many years of experience having yard sales and after commenting on a post by Audrey Hoffman, where she asked for yard sale advice, I decided that I had enough information for my own post.

If you, or a real estate client of yours, are planning on having a sale, here are some of my tried and true tips to make your sale a successful one.

First, some advice on writing your ad:

Place an ad in your local daily paper.  Most salers use this as their source.

Highlight any big ticket items.  (collections, furniture, antiques, appliances, tools, dolls, books, records...)

Multi-Family sales or "first time" sales are a big hit and will draw more people.  Try to get neighbors to participate...the more families on a street included in the sale, the better.

The phrase "years of accumulation" will attract buyers.

If you plan to have your sale rain or shine...make sure you state that in the ad or list a rain date.

I don't usually put the number of my house in the ad, only the Street name.  That way the dealers can't show up the day before.  Just make sure the house is clearly identified when you open.

I usually only list a start time, no end time.  That way you can end whenever you feel like it.

If you don't want anyone there before the start time, make sure you state No Early Birds.  Understand, though that some people will still come early.  If you don't state "No Early Birds," plan on people arriving very, very early.  If you advertise for a start of 8 am, you could have people there as early as 6:30.  You can only have actual control of the start time if you have control over letting them in, (gate, door, or roped off area)

Regarding the sale:

Get change (ones, fives, and coins) the day before.

Have lots of bags and also old newspaper for wrapping glassware.

It is best to have tables, but plywood over some trash cans or boxes work well.  Do what you can to have breakable items up off the ground.

Have big, easy-to-read-from-a-distance signs at both ends of the road.  Make sure signs can withstand weather if rain is a possibility. (8.5 x 11 sheets of paper taped to a telephone pole are not good enough.)  Always remove signs after the sale is over.

The better the presentation, the more valuable the items for sale will appear. (organizing stuff into sections...housewares, holiday, toys, tools, books, etc. is helpful)  I always have a "Free" box or area and add to it throughout the sale.

Don't keep candles or record albums in direct sun, they melt and warp.

It is best to have items individually marked with a price.  Don't group items by price (everything on this table is $1) because the stuff gets moved all around and it gets too hard to keep track of what originated where.

Prepare yourself to bargain.  Most people want it for less than you price it.  Clearly mark anything that is not for sale.

If you have several people working the sale, then only one person should be cashier.  People claim to have paid someone else if more than one person is collecting the money.

It is really sad to say, but people steal.  Keep small pocketable items in view or inside  zip lock bags. 

If you have a lot of electrical items, have an extension cord available to prove that they work.

If you don't want people driving on your driveway, you need to block the entrance with your car.

At the end of the sale we always put any leftover items by the street with a big "free" sign and we go out to eat.  Never fails, when we return it is all gone. 

Having a yard sale is a lot of work, but it is also a lot of fun.  Make it a festive atmosphere with music and balloons.  Have fun with people and enjoy the experience.

It is amazing how much money you can make with a bunch of stuff you no longer need or want!

Today's buyers want move-in ready.  They have no time to try and figure out furniture placement.  Each room must be clearly defined and the furniture must be arranged to show space and function.  If buyers have to try and figure out where their furniture is going to go or if it will even fit, they move on to the next house.

This beautiful home in Rye, NH was a pleasure to work on.  It is a great example of the dramatic results that are possible using only the home owner's furnishings and accessories.  Other than some fresh paint and a couple of new light fixtures, nothing new was brought in for this make over.  We simply de-cluttered, depersonalized, and rearranged the furniture to clearly define each room.

Room function was clearly not defined in this house and there were too many different bright wall colors. 

If you haven't discovered Animoto yet...you are really missing out on the opportunity to create awesome music videos of your photos.  I have made several and every one came out great.

It is really fun and simple to use.  Upload your own photos, put them in the order you want, choose your music from their selection or from your own, and Animoto does the rest. 

It creates a custom music video and when it is complete you even have the option of doing a "remix" which means it will redo it with different techniques and you get a whole different version.  It doesn't replace the first version, it gives you an additional video using the same photos.  You could use the same photos with different music.

A thirty second video, which is about 12-20 photos, is free and you can make as many as you want.

If you want a full-length video, which is an unlimited number of photos, it costs just $3.00.  I've made videos with over 100 photos in them.  You can remix a full length video as many times as you want and have as many different versions of it as you want for no extra charge!

Also Available is the option of an all-access pass, which for $30 you get an unlimited number of videos for one year.  Use the link below to check it out, see a sample, and by using this link you can save $5 on an all-access pass and get one for only $25.

I have had so much fun with this program...try making a thirty second video and see for yourself!

UPDATE  Check out two of my videos in comment section below.

A recent staging job has resulted in a creative way to replace personal photos.  This home had a beautiful arrangement of photos on a wall.  The family photos had to go, but the arrangement really worked well there.

 Here is a photo of what the wall arrangement

looked liked.  The wall would have been so empty,

not to mention having to fill all the nail holes, if we

removed all the pictures.  Wall art to fill this space would

have been expensive.

I took some photos around the property and emailed them to the seller.  She printed them and put them in the frames in place of the family photos.  They look beautiful! 

As a personal touch and bonus,  the whole arrangement could be left with the house for the new owners. 

Here are the photos we used:

I used a personal touch to de-personalize the wall arrangement!