Yes, of course I would rather it be summer with sunny, warm weather and sitting at the beach with a chilled drink in my hand but the second best alternative to that is Christmas!

As a child, I was always responsible to decorate the tree, with my parents working and three brothers, it was left up to me. In reality, I loved decorating the tree!

This was the time of the year when as a family we would gather with other families, all from the same town in Italy. We had so much fun, food, drinks( adults only of course..well except for one year lol) and MUSIC!!

We would always have music, thanks to one of my favourite uncles, whom I miss so much especially at Christmas time, I can’t listen to “Last Christmas” by Wham without shedding a tear, as it always reminds me of him. Yes, I loved decorating our home as a kid, but what I love more was getting together with all my so called “cousins”, we had so much fun!

As we all grew older and our lives expanded as we all have our own kids now, we dont see each other like we used to, but all of them will always hold a special place in my heart.

So of course after my husband and I had our own children, tradition had to continue. We love decorating our multiple trees in our home, and even tho I have boys, they always participate.

As in my private life, my love to do holiday decor has extended into my professional life. In the past few years we have donated our time to multiple local fundraising organizations.

We were honored to decorate for The Junior League Holiday House Tour, multiple years in a row. The annual Holiday House Tour of Distinctive Homes generates funds to carry out the Mission and Purpose of the Junior League. Developing the potential of women, improving the community and promoting voluntarism. The Junior League  has been committed to voluntarism for over 80 years.

We were also so excited to decorate for The Niagara Life Center in St. Catharines for their holiday house tour. Niagara Life center is another organization helping young women raise their children in difficult times.

This year we were asked to decorate a Christmas tree for one of the top Builders in Niagara, Mountainview Homes. They have a beautiful office in Thorold and it was amazing to add Holiday decor to enhance the already superb space.

We have thoroughly enjoyed adding these services to our repertoire of services that we already offer with staging. It was a challenge to source and procure all the materials that were used as we didn’t receive the contract until the end of November.  We managed to get it completed, for both the office and personal home in time for the holiday season.

Take a look at the most recent beautiful  Christmas decor  that we have done, and holiday decor that was done in the past.

If you require these services next holiday season for your lobby, office space, hotel or personal home, please do not hesitate to call to receive a quote.

Images Staged with Flair

905 980.980.4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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This home was listed for over a million in a neighbourhood that the average home would list for an average of about $600,000. This home was staged,  listed and sold firm in under 3 weeks!! Realtor said if this home was nit staged it would of taken much longer to sell and would of had a few price reductions.

It pays to stage!! Staging a home is much less than a first price reduction!!

Home staging provided by

Images Staged with Flair

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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Open concept kitchen, dining room, located in a fantastic neighbourhood in North End St. Catharines.

Three bedrooms, large master bedroom, with large double closet. New freshly painted, granite counter tops, large finished basement with large recreation room.

Home Staging provided by

Images Staged with Flair

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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What a year it was!!! This year was a fantastic year in Real Estate it was almost impossible to keep up with the demand.

What a year it was. There were homes that we staged that went over asking price,  one home we staged  sold for $102,000.00 over asking! We would stage a home only to quickly re-book our movers to de-stage within the week. I have never had so much quick turnaround in any other year in business. It was a crazy year!

We experienced so much growth and demand of our services that we almost tripled our inventory with beautiful new furnishings and decor. Even with all the purchases we incurred it was still difficult to keep up with the demand for staging properties.  Our warehouse constantly remained empty as every home we staged sold quickly and then our inventory was moved to the next home!

At the beginning of 2017 my extended family and I decided to plan a large family vacation for all of us to go to Italy for 2 weeks!! In hindsight, I dont know what I was thinking, as it turned out to be one of the busiest months that we have ever experienced for our staging company!  We had a beautiful vacation and thank goodness for my very understanding clients and very helpful colleagues  that were willing to step up to the plate and perform some of our staging projects while I was away.  What a year it was so far!

The beginning 2017 also brought the onset of one of our largest staging renovation ever. We often provide minor renovations as most clients need, painting and other services.  We had one client in particular that was going to need more than minor renos, instead he required a major overhaul of his home. Working with our trades we were able to offer our client a large scale renovation that involved, new flooring throughout his 2600 sq home, painting of  the entire home, installed new light fixtures, new flooring.  En-suite bath was totally gutted and remodeled with new free standing tub, new shower with glass enclosure, new vanity  with double sinks,  granite countertops in all bathrooms and kitchen, and of course staging the entire project.  Quite a huge undertaking but we were up for the challenge, out homeowner was very happy with the results of the renovations, and staging.  The home is now sold! What a year it was!! Take a look below  at the transformation….

We were fortunate to work with many investors that realized that it is imperative for them to leave money in their budget to stage . Staging their Real Estate investment, will  allow them to reap in the rewards to receive a faster sale and get their full price or close to it.  One investment company comes to mind,  they had a beautiful, renovated home with a huge yard that was listed for quite a while without any offers. They were about to reduce the price but their Realtor suggested  to stage  instead. Guess what happened?  They were sold within the first week without reducing their listing price! By the way the staging investment for them to stage was a fraction of the price of price what their reduction would of been!

We were fortunate to work with our existing clients,  but also to meet some new clients that have realized how important it is to incorporate home staging into their package when trying to receive  a listing.  We thank you all and enjoyed working with each and everyone of you!!

In closing I would like to thank everyone for making 2017 an outstanding year for Images Staged with Flair! At times it was extremely difficult to keep up with the demand but I loved every minute of it and I appreciate our clients entrusting our company with their clients!

Welcome 2018… lets kick some butt!!

Images Staged with Flair

66 Facer Street

St.Catharines

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair

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This home has been rrenovated to give the buyers a large open concept  space to enjoy entertaining with friends and family.  Renovated, staged, and sold firm in under 30 days!

If you are a Real Estate investor and want to start receiving top dollar for the real estate investment properties give us a call and find out how affordable staging can be and how much return you will receive on your staging investment.

http://www.grimsby.ca/

Images Staged with Flair

66 Facer Street, St.Catharines

l2m 5J2

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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Niagara on the Lake is a pretty town to visit and to live in.

https://www.niagaraonthelake.com/

Images Staged with Flair

66 Facer Street

St.Catharines, Ontario

l2m5j2

905-980-4962

The post Home Staging works!!! Find out how it can work for you. appeared first on Images Staged with Flair.

Relax and take a break with your favorite book and a glass of wine. This is la Bella vita…

This home is steps to Lake Ontario! Relax with your favorite book! This is a beautiful home with water access located steps from Lake Ontario Remarkable water views in this 3 large bedrooms, with  2 baths, and main floor laundry beach home. Boasting a  full cosmetic make over and decor plus finishing touches that will impress!

You will love coming home every single day and enjoy the panoramic views! Only steps to a secluded Port Dalhousie sandy beach. Very bright and spacious, open concept main floor with Lake Ontario water views as well as the Toronto and Burlington Skylines from the living room.

Charming design and layout with stainless appliances and a cook’s kitchen just off the dining room and plenty of sitting areas maximizing the brightly lit serene window views.

The master bedroom features the same lake views and has an updated ensuite bath and walk-in closet. Laundry and a 4 piece bath on the main makes for easy day-to-day living as well.

Whether it’s a year round home or weekend getaway that you are looking for, this lake house is absolutely perfect and will allow you feel like you are always on vacation!

Please give a call for all your home staging needs!

Images Staged with Flair

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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Well, here we are another year has gone by and we are celebrating another Christmas holiday season and winding down the end of a fantastic year 2106. Hello my name is Anna Topolinsky owner of Images Staged with Flair, take a look at or video of some of the homes we staged this year. we were fortunate to work with top Realtors(R) Home Builders, such as Eric Wiens Construction and Bice Builders, both building quality custom homes.

We discovered that this year was the year that we worked with many home investors that buy, renovate, stage and sell. These investors have realized the importance of incorporating  home staging into their budget as a very smart investment, knowing they will receive the best RIO on their money spent.

We would like to wish all or clients the very best for the Holiday Season and we look forward to 2017!

Images Staged with Flair

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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If your countertops are damaged, no matter the price point of your home, they should be replaced. No one will purchase a home that is not well cared for. If they do, they expect a much lower purchase price. It would cost less to replace the countertops.

Another downside to not replacing them is that most potential buyers are in the market for move-in ready. So even if you lower the price to accommodate, you are more likely to lose some potential offers altogether.

So the next question is, “What do I replace the counter with?”

Will updated Formica do?  There is granite, quartz, Butcher block, and so many, many choices.  The answer is based on a few questions about the property.

What is the condition of your home?

What are the comparables in the area?

If your home is in good shape and has had many upgrades throughout then having updated counters will give you the edge to show your home as move in ready.

There are many grades of granite at different price points, so your choice should depend on the price point of your home. In $200 and $300-thousand and under, stone countertops are not typically expected but would give you the edge over your competition. If your price point is more than $300.000  plus then most buyers are looking for granite and are willing to pay extra.

Last consideration when  replacing countertops is the condition of your kitchen cabinets. They should be solid and in good condition. Shiny new counters, especially a higher-end countertop like granite, added on top of dated old cabinets makes those cabinets stick out like a sore thumb and just serves to highlight how awful they really are.

So clean them up, replace the hardware, re-stain and/or paint the cabinetry and it will compliment those beautiful new stone countertops and make your investment shine.

If you have a question for “Ask The Home Staging Expert”, please contact 

Images Staged with Flair

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

The post Does the “Counter” affect the “Offer”? appeared first on Images Staged with Flair.

The 34th annual Junior League Holiday House Tour includes three beautiful homes, located in Burlington and Ancaster. I am so excited to announce that once again Images Staged with Flair  was asked to join the team of designers once again.

Last year I was honored to be one of designers and fortunate to decorate the master bedroom and master bath area. I met some talented designers that like myself were excited to participate in helping The Junior League achieve their goals.

It was a lot of work, 3 days driving back and forth, time to come up with a design plan, sourcing for all the decor, pack and deliver all the items to the home,  but I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it! I was also amazed at some of the fantastic work that all the designers and decorators offered, I was lucky enough to work with some pretty talented people and  it was magical!

This year guests will be inspired by a great mix of innovative creations and a variety of styles and homes, ranging from traditional to contemporary. Three beautiful homes will grace this year’s tour, all with a theme of “renos”. These three homes will fill everyone  with great ideas for both home renovation and holiday decorating!

The annual Holiday House Tour of Distinctive Homes generates funds to carry out the Mission and Purpose of the Junior League of Hamilton-Burlington: developing the potential of women, improving the community and promoting voluntarism. The Junior League of Hamilton Burlington has been committed to voluntarism for over 80 years. For the last six years their  focus has been on improving  the educational success of young women affected by poverty which is very dear to my heart.  I believe that no one should be living in poverty. If I can help one person, then I will do all I can to help an association that will make that happen. The League members work on projects and programs throughout the year with the Holiday House Tour being one of the largest fundraiser.

Funds raised go directly to the community, guided by the League’s careful study of the most critical needs. The focus is also carried out in the disbursement of Discretionary Funds each year, providing support to various organizations.

Their needs and programs align with the Junior League mission of developing the potential of women, promoting voluntarism and improving the community.  Recent recipients include Drummond House LARCH After School Program, Liberty for Youth and FitActiveBeautiful Foundation just to name a few.

Meeting some of these women volunteer their time was humbling.  They work extremely hard for this event to come together. They are very passionate about helping young women in poverty and empowering them to rise above it.

The Holiday House Tour is a huge undertaking and it takes a team of determined women to pull it together and make it happen successfully!  For example, last year they  required about 500 hrs. of volunteering  as the homes were more expansive. This year they will require 260 volunteer hours to cover 3 days of multiple shifts. The attendance of people touring the homes is usually around 4,000.

I am looking forward to this event and cant wait to share the details and the before and after pictures. Of course if you would like to attend you can purchase tickets, please follow the link Junior League Holiday House Tour. There you will see all the homes from previous years. Hope to see you there!

Would you like to join the membership please follow the link Junior House League Burlington

Anna Topolinsky

Stage Your Home! Sell Your Home!

Images Staged with Flair

905-980-4962

www.imagesstagedwithflair.ca

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