New Year New Room Re-style - Shake up your space with these post holiday styling ideas

STOP!  Before you start shoving your furniture back into its old spots after you’ve packed away your holiday décor, consider this instead – Why not give your space a new perspective by re-styling things? After all isn’t the New Year all about making changes?  And don’t give me the excuse that if you move stuff around what will you do about those carpet divots. Please…

A fresh perspective is a good thing, especially in your home environment.

[1st things first. Start the new year with clearing your home of the past year. Scientists have observed that sage can clear up to 94 percent of airborne bacteria in a space and disinfect the air. The Latin word for sage salvia stems form the word heal. Light an essential oil Sage candle and start the new year with a fresh, cleared space.]

Here are some things you can do to up-style and reinvent your rooms and home spaces.  

Move What You Have Around:  Start with what you already have.  Take a stroll through your home and inventory the furniture you have from attic to garage.  Could that consignment shop find desk up in the spare room work as a sofa table or would that rug in the dining room look really nice in the living room? After you do some mental inventory, address the room you want to reinvent. Consider flip flopping the sofas, changing the room's focal point to a different wall or changing the entire feel of the space by swapping pieces from other rooms to make it more formal or casual.  If these suggestions are a bit overwhelming to you, our One Day Makeover services can breath a fresh new perspective into your spaces and uncover things you’ve haven’t used in years.

Our One Day Room Makeover services recreate a space in a matter of hours - (Photo: Julea Joseph)

Accessory Re-Styling:  Rotate it, archive them or repurpose it!  From tabletops to bookcases to wall art, your accessories can always use a new look. The same family photos in the same frame in the same space aren't even seen anymore.  Your very favorite piece of art hanging in the dining room isn't being celebrated there - move it to a spot so you can view it all the time.  That boring bookcase or China hutch could make your room POP if you rotated and swapped the pieces.  Give a lamp a new look with a new shade, harp, finial, or re-style it - by raising it up with a stack of books or painting the base.

Flip your shades. Change out your lamp shades, and/or lamp finials. (PHOTO: One Kings Lane)

Furniture Reinvention: Can you reupholster, slipcover, paint it?  If your furniture is good, if you love the lines or it has sentimental value, keep it, and improve it.  

We are pros at offering advice on how to reinvent your treasured furniture (PHOTO: Julea Joseph)

Paint Color Up Grade:  Once you get your room rearranged, you may want to take the next step and change the paint color as well.  If you have had the same color on your walls for years, a new hue can upgrade your furniture, accessories and art.  2023 offers a plethora of amazing trending paint color to choose from. Try just painting an accent wall, or, try a wall of wallpaper.

2023 Paint Colors of the Year (PHOTO: Source/Julea Joseph)

A Few New Purchases: Any room could use a few new things.  It could be as simple as a lovely potted plant on your cocktail table, a new fun rug in a bold hue or pattern to take your formal living room from boring to spectacular. A new accent collection in a trending color, or a new piece of furniture to refresh the old.  Feel free to shop for a few new items, but only after your room has been re-styled. Consider the new items as the frosting, not the cake.

Refresh a room with a new piece or two - rug. (PHOTO: Amazon)

No time for shopping - Here’s a few examples for you on AMAZON - From a Sage candle to furniture pieces. Julea’s January finds on AMAZON

Don't have the time or talent to do this yourself?  Good news, we can help.  We're interior arrangement experts, have fabulous ideas on how to give your old stuff a new life and don't even get me started on what we can find with our shopping skills!  Give me a jingle, send an email my way and let's talk.  We offer both on-location and e-makeover sessions.  Let's get your home refreshed, restyled and reinvented.  Biz phone: 708-543-8597 M 708-448-7500 B Email: Julea@Julea.com.

WANT TO LEARN MORE? Visit my website for my upcoming workshops, education and training. JULEA’S SPEAKING & EDUCATIONAL OFFERINGS

Oh... and those divots - Add crushed ice to the dent, let melt and then use an old hairbrush to re-fluff your carpet. Refluff again after drying.  Divots gone! - JULEA

Everything Old is New Again - Home Styling Makeovers

From paint company trend forecasts, to our favorite home décor magazines - the new decorating tune is "Everything old is new again."  With décor buzz words such as coastal grandmother, maximalist, cottage core, heritage, artisan, and the ever present farmhouse style - It's time to take a new look at our old stuff!   

Heirloom Design Trend and Color Palette (Photo: Benjamin Moore)

It's so yesterday to announce that your home is filled with all brand new.  Open any home magazine today and there is feature after feature about repurposing furniture, shopping flea markets and decorating with vintage finds.  Wouldn't it be refreshing not to have to run to retail to solve your decorating dilemmas?

What if you could get a new room using the stuff you already have?  

You can!

Welcome to a new era of interior decorating and design for the times. 

“Gone are the days when a fancy suited designer would sweep into your home declaring, “Darling - Everything must go!”  All new is now a ‘No-No’. ”

— Julea Joseph

In these belt tightening, environmentally conscious times;  team Reinventing Space are home styling wunderkinds that sweep through your home and within a day, reposition, re-hang and redisplay your furniture, art and accessories. Stylishly arranging your space with a pizazz and a wow factor worthy of a magazine cover and hunting your home to see what treasures you've squirreled away that can be displayed.  Accessories, furniture and other finds that you just didn't know what to do with, may end up as the fabulous finishing touch to a perfect new room!    

One Day Home Styling - Living Room Makeover (Photo: Reinventing Space)

 And our talents aren't sequestered to arranging your stuff;  we are all about up cycling and reinventing your wares. We informatively suggest how your beloved, comfy, but tired sofa would be a wonder with a new fabric wardrobe and some upholsterer’s love, how to turn that unused old TV armoire into a bar, or with a new hue, that old chest of drawers from Aunt Milly would be showstopper for your foyer. We are pros, clever and creative.  After the room makeover we leave you a "let's chat list" with more ideas, items to further complete the space, or pieces that may have seen better days.

Loved sofa reinvention. Home reupholster (Photo: Reinventing Space)

Why a Home Styling Makeover  is a must for your space now. 

• Money - Since the concept of a home styling makeover is based on us­ing what you already own, there is an immediate savings.  Because there are so many variables, fees are based on your specific scope of work, but most makeovers cost less than what you would pay for a single piece of new furniture.

• Time - The makeover typically takes between three and seven hours, whereas conventional redecoration methods can take weeks of making selections, ordering and then waiting for delivery of your new furnishings. When you have a room makeover performed, plan on entertaining your friends and family the very same evening in your fabulous "new" home!

• Comfort-In addition to the pleasure of being surrounded by familiar objects that you know and love, gone is the anxiety that comes from purchasing "NEW" and wondering if it will "WORK" once you get it home (or ever get it delivered with COVID induced logistical issues)  Your past purchases have been validated, your collections beautifully displayed and your heirlooms celebrated. We artfully transform your belongings into a picture perfect setting, instantly.

• What if my furnishings don't match, can I still have a great looking home? -Absolutely! Whether it's a certain element of color or style, there is generally a com­mon thread that runs through every home. The advantage of a room makeover is having a trained and objective eye to pull it together. Once your furnishings have been properly placed and accessorized, you will once again fall in love with all your wonderful choices!

• Am I Ready for a room makeover day? - We begin with our complimentary virtual evaluation. .  We’ll discuss your goals, priorities and challenges for your rooms.  After a tour of your home,  we’ll quote you a per room price for the makeover and schedule a date for the Home Styling Makeover.

So, if you're ready to make your home your own, celebrate what you already have, finally pull together your rooms, and have a space that is a one-of-a-kind - Call/Text us today 708-543-8597 or pop us an email at Julea@Julea.com

6 things you need to do to setup a successful Home Staging and Styling Business

Deliberate or by discovery, starting a new business requires essential steps to ensure success. I started my home staging and styling business in 1999, and shortly after, relocated to a new city.

Here are 6 business start-up pearls from my business start and restart from my early days as a business owner.

Success Step #1 - Even before you hang out your shingle, get a set of “calling cards”. A calling card is just basic information about you (no business name needed.) I got mine before I even had TAKEN my specialty training certification class. Start promoting yourself, tell people you’re excited for your new career journey, spread the word on what services you are going to offer, and start a buzz.

Calling Card

A no-hassle, promo start to a new business.

Relocating from S.F. to Chicago - Start, then Restart.

Before even moving back, my business had been featured on the front page of the Real Estate section of the Chicago Tribune about HOME STAGING. I was included in that article because I had a presence on the web and had updated my profile to read residency for both San Fran., and Chicago and importantly, on the trade association's website I was a member of. The reporter found me.

Months before arrival, I worked on setting up my business for the new location - any business forms, state, county or city that needed registration. Ordering marketing materials, updating my website with contact information for both my CA and IL locations. ( Just to put things in perspective, when I started my business in 1999: GOOGLE started in 1998, phone books were a go-to information source, and AOL or Prodigy were used for the Internet.)

Success Step #2- Make sure people can find you. Have a website, social media presence, phone, and email address - and make sure any business listings on the web, especially if you belong to a trade association(s) have all your updated and current contact information.

Those few lines in the article piqued the interest of a reporter at another newspaper, and a week later while sitting in my new home office with stacked boxes around me,  I was asked to do a full business feature with a photo shoot at my next HOME STAGING.  I had no home staging appointments of course, but told her to give me a day and I would. I called the closest Real Estate office, asked for the manager, and explained my quandary. Within hours I had a home to stage, and a few weeks later was on the front page of yet another paper.

Front Page News

Make it work.

Success Step #3 - Be tenacious. If an opportunity arises, grab it. No time to be unsure of yourself, your skill set, or abilities.  If you don’t know it, learn it. If you don’t have it, find it. If you are unsure, convince yourself you are sure. 

Those early Newspaper articles brought me clients. But I had a revelation about my business name., CASA JAMBALAYA when leaving a phone message for my 1st client with her husband -  “Can you tell her that Julea Joseph from Casa Jambalaya called?” and he replied with “WHO, WHO, WHAT?” 

The business name Casa Jambalaya had cleverly worked regionally in California, but wasn’t going to work in Illinois.  I remember my Webmaster telling me that name was too difficult to spell when creating my website in 1999 - I should have listened.   I then created 2 business identities - One for my home styling/re-design services, one for my home staging services. More lessons learned on that concept as well…. (that requires another blog post…)

Success Step #4 - K.I.S.S. (Keep it Simple Stupid) when it comes to your business name. Yes you want to be creative, but consider the public finding you, understanding what you do, and building a good brand. Make sure that the name is easy to spell, isn’t too long, and gives a glimmer on what you do. Don’t make your branding complicated.

When I first started my business, I asked a friend of a friend who was a PR Executive for a few words of wisdom, she gave me the best advice - to which I still use today. She told me to start marketing within arms length, not to think big ; that people just like me were my clients. So my 1st elevator pitch was :

“Call me when you are ready to get the Little Tykes Gym out of your Living Room and take back your home. ”

— My 1st Elevator Pitch

Success Step #5 - Marketing is easy when you can identify, relate and communicate with your ideal client. Mine was Moms with young kids that were ready to recapture their homes from them. I was there to solve a problem and was just like them. 

Talking about marketing, in 2006 I got a call from Entrepreneur Magazine about an article on Interior Re-designers and Home Stagers. Not only was I featured in the article, my picture was featured on the inside magazine cover! Why? I had a professional headshot. Professional photos matter. Whether it is your portfolio or your “About Me” page -invest in professional photos.

Success Step #6 - Look professional.  Whether it’s you or your portfolio, professionalism will get you on a magazine cover.

Want more of my pearls of wisdom? I’ve got a barrel of them. Stay tuned for my next post about being on HGTV, hosting a local Public-access TV cooking show, and many more business adventure pearls and a few perils of being a home stager/stylist for over 2 decades.

I am happy to chat with you about your new home staging and styling business. Even better, check out my upcoming in-person 2 day HOME STAGING technique workshop, HouseStager Pro. Check my calendar for home staging workshops, interior design seminars, and upcoming classes. Celebrate home! - Julea.

Not so Fast - Thanksgiving is in-between

It may be the day after Halloween, but don't be decking the halls with red and green just yet - there is a holiday in-between, and it's called Thanksgiving!  Here are some great home decorating and hosting ideas that can ease you into the jingle jangle season.  

Container Gardens: 

As our 1st frost approaches, it's time to replace the product in our outside container gardens. Opt for mainstays of cut Evergreen greenery or even a live small Evergreen species or tree or bush as your anchor Add fall materials such preserved leaves, pods or flowers and sprayed pine cones in autumn colors. As the season turns into winter, the autumn picks can simply replaced with frosty, winter finds.

Photo: Midwest Living

Wreathes 

The timeless eucalyptus wreath can be dressed up or down with any season. The elegant, interesting, round leaves are the perfect foil for any decorating style. Add your favorite elements of the season, then swap them out when you are ready for the next - no need to reinvent the wheel with a whole new wreath. From doors, windows, table centerpieces to tiered plate stands, wreathes are a perfect elevation. This wreath is from Joann.

Photo: Joann

Simple added elements such as these fall eucalyptus stems can transition your wreathes from one season to another. Eucalyptus multi-leave stems by Michaels

Photo: Michael's

Table

Whether foyer, sofa or dining - your table will always look better dressed in fabric. This in-between time is ideal for texture and neutral color tones. Burlap, linen, jute, cheesecloth, sacking, or any natural fabric in a neutral tone will create the perfect styling veneer for your tables. Used as a runner, wrap or layer, these natural fibers will celebrate the season and give you that base to build on. Runner from Ashley Furniture

Photo Collage: Julea Joseph/Source

What to do About Pumpkin:

As cold weather, especially snow or a frost comes in - your exterior pumpkins need exit the exterior of your home or they'll be nothing but mush. Extend their use by adding them to your interior decorating, and if you are hosting Thanksgiving - those pumpkins can be a part of your holiday table too.

Photo collage: Julea Joseph/Source

With these in-between home decorating ideas, your in-between holiday, Thanksgiving will get it's highlight. Enjoy! - Julea

Decorating Ideas to Refresh your Space While We’re Staying in Place

With home the focus of our daily life right now, it’s a great time to rethink some of our spaces. Whether re-styling a bookcase, seasonally decorating, up-styling something we already have, or leaping into a bigger project - here are ideas to refresh your space while we’re staying in place.

Paint. -A new color can give a room a fresh look. From spring greens or trending blue hues, paint packs a big punch to giving a space a new view.  Most paint stores will let you phone in, order on-line, and offer curbside pickup. From painting an accent wall, up-styling a bookcase by painting the back, or painting a piece of furniture - infusing a new color into a room can really reboot it.

Paint. -A new color can give a room a fresh look

Rearrange. -Spring has arrived! It’s a perfect time to rearrange a room for a new season.  Give your space a new perspective with a new furniture arrangement. Perhaps swapping pieces from other rooms. Try switching a chair, a table, art; they’re all good swapping ideas to give a room a different look. Lighten your space by removing heavy rugs to simplify a room. Change the sitting area to a new focus from the fireplace view to taking in the nature from the view out the window. By giving your space a new perspective, it gives you one too.

“Give your space a new perspective with a new furniture arrangement. By giving your space a new perspective, it gives you one too.”

— Julea Joseph

Pull out that Sewing Machine. - If you have forgotten how to use it, YouTube has hundreds of instructional videos on how to sew and use your machine. Sew up a new pillow cover, table runner, or add contrasting fabric trim to a ready made window panel on the edge, top or bottom. Re-purpose table clothes, napkins or tea towels into usable yardage.  Fabric can too transform a lampshade, or cover an ottoman. 

Pull out that Sewing Machine.

Discover Your Styling Skills.  After you’ve painted the back of your bookshelves, you’ll need to fill it back up.  Refill it with accents from other spaces, organize your books by color, or even recover them with bright papers. Small art that was lonely hanging on a wall, can find a new home on the bookcase back, or perching on an easel decorating a favorite table. Style an entry table with accessory, or seasonal odds and ends to tell a story - books are great to add height, color and interest to a vignette.

Discover Your Styling Skills.

Need additional inspiration or help with styling and decorating? We now offer consultation remotely.

-Julea

RESOURCES

https://www.acehardware.com/onlineorder

https://jclicht.com/jc-licht-open-coronavirus-response/

https://www.sherwin-williams.com/homeowners/special-offers

https://www.lowes.com/l/store-pickup.html

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7 DIY Last Minute Christmas Ideas

1. CAKE PLATTER || MASON JAR CENTERPIECE -  

I have a thing for cake platters (One of my “good bones” decorating accessories) The original post featured mod podge and Epsom salt to make the frosted look.  Last minute look - pour epsom salts, sugar or fake snow into jars, add lighting.

Photo: Remodelandolacasa

2.  USE WHAT YOU HAVE!  - From empty bottles and a bit of ribbon, to food - try shopping your home for last minute decorating inspiration.

Photo: Source

3.  FANCY FOLDED NAPKINS -  Super easy and a creative way to dress up your table.

Photo: Source

 4. Orange Pomander Balls - Old school tradition, heavenly scented and read the backstory on the tradition, it will be a great conversation starter.

Orange and clove pomander. Photo by Wendy Piersall/Wikimedia Commons.

5.  LAST MINUTE APPETIZER - CRANBERRY AND BRIE CROSTINI

The original idea has you making your own cranberry compote , I’d just doctor up store bought - but the idea is just perfect.

Photo: neighborfoodblog

6.  LAST MINUTE GIFT - SPICED NUTS This one I can thank an old friend who made these for me years ago when we lived in San Francisco- we had backyard rosemary year round. I use pecans or walnuts, but feel free to use your nutty favorites, or what is in the pantry!  Perfect for a hostess gift, this tried and true recipe is easy and fail proof.

Photo: William-Sonoma

7 RECYCLED CAN DECOR - Clever idea and great tutorial.   If you don’t want to make it too complicated, just use a black sharpie and one coat of white spray paint.

Photo: lilyardo

Happy Holidays to you and yours! - Julea.