I love Z Gallerie – they are my favorite “go to” source when I am working on a new model home. They are masters at offering personality pieces that help make a room or home memorable, and they also stock those big exciting works of art that you can never find when you need them. But on a recent visit they made me think of them for something I hadn’t purchased from them in the past – furniture.

Z Gallerie started out in 1979 as a family run poster shop which has quickly grown to include 54 locations in 18 states! Their beautiful stores have expanded into becoming a one stop shop which make it easy for consumers to get everything they need for their home in one place. The stores are organized into different color stories which make it easy to find everything you need. They offer great accessories and furniture that are so unique people would think you had them custom made.

Speaking of personality pieces, as soon as I walked in the store I fell in love with two chairs I think I’m going to have to have – “Eddie” and “Bella”. Eddie was just stunning in leather that was the perfect shade of teal, and Bella was a pearl grey fabric that was just sexy. You know you found something you must have when you can’t stop thinking about it, and that’s the case with these two chairs.

Make Z Gallerie a destination for your next shopping trip, and let us know what you fall in love with.

Teresa’s is all about family and the wonderful handmade food so the interior had to have as much personality as the family does. To do this we designed tables made of handmade tiles – over 20,000 of them all that we made by hand. It was an extensive amount of work but the results were definitely worth it.

The episode airs on the Food Network - check out dates and times for your area.

As a Lifestylist®, I spend quite a lot of time touring homes in different cities looking for new ideas and trends. Last week I was in South Haven, MI meeting with a client and discovered a great store – Props – who’s slogan is: “Your Home is Your Stage… Add Some Drama”.

So many times the drama is missing from our homes, and the customer loses interest in the home before they finish their tour. Here are some inexpensive Lifestylist® Designed ideas that  you can use to add some drama to your model homes.

Color Color can be a really easy way to wake up a home that has been sitting on your lot too long. Paint is one way, but you also do something as simple as changing out the pillows on your upholstery to give a room a new look. Artwork is also a very effective way to change the feel of a room and make it more memorable.

Emotion Do your homes pull at the potential buyer’s heartstrings or just leave them uninspired? Accessories and textures can add warmth and emotion to a home. One of my favorite staging tricks is setting the dining table and having it look like the new buyers are getting ready for a dinner party. Plates, napkins, and glassware can only cost a few dollars each but can give your home a festive feel that the buyers will remember.

Shake Things Up Have you ever noticed that by moving furniture around and changing out accessories you can make the room have a completely different feel? Freshening up your homes might not cost you a dime – it might take a little muscle.

These are only a few ideas that we would love to share with you. If you don’t have the time to work on your models yourself we would be happy to provide the services necessary to make your sales center more dramatic. The Home Idea Factory is All About You, and we would love to become your “go to” resource for all of your design needs.

Feel free to contact us to find out more about what we do at: info@lifestylist.com

This year this annual event will be held at WaterSong in Penfield August 14th – 22nd. Sponsored by the Rochester Homebuilders Association this 9 days will not only highlight these 5 beautiful homes but there will also be an abundance of wine tasting, cooking demos and decorating seminars.

Lifestylist® Design has teamed up with @home Builders three different years to participate in this great event, but my favorite home was definitely the Ronald McDonald Show House we did a few years ago. We teamed up with the amazing group of volunteers from the Ronald McDonald House and merchandised a home using furniture, artwork and accessories that were donated to Ronald McDonald for their annual ABC Sale.It was truly a Lifestylist® Designed home -  I spent three months going over images they would send me of new donations and digging through their warehouse to find the perfect items for this home and by the end we did!

It was a fun challenge to show how you can do a beautifully decorated home using only “gently cherished” items. The best part was @home Builders then did an online auction and visitors to the home could bid on each room. All of the proceeds then went to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. From this, the dinner auction prize and other events that @home Builders did with the home they were able to raise over $25,000 for the charity. To see photos and get more information about this show house, check out the website we designed for it.

The Ashley HomeStores are getting social! They have launched new pages on Facebook and Twitter, and to get these pages kicked off they are doing an amazing promotion.  Just click the “like” tab on their Facebook page and not only will you be able to get great information about the latest decorating and furniture trends, but they will also make a $0.25 donation to City of Hope for each Like!

City of Hope is a cutting-edge research and treatment facility for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.  Ashley Furniture has donated $4 million to this wonderful non-profit facility already and with your help they can continue to raise up to $10,000.00 for this worthwhile cause. To like the page, please go to: www.facebook.com/AshleyHomeStore. Let them know that the Lifestylist® sent you!

The new model home at Timber Banks is attracting traffic and buyers. Just yesterday I got an email from the @home Builders Design Center saying that a buyer wanted to replicate the model down to the furnishings and draperies! Fortunately with out new Lifestylist® Designed homes that’s possible. We have been working with the Ashley HomeStores and JCPenney to use merchandise in the models that people can buy themselves and make our paint colors available through the builder. Lifestylist® Design Inc. also provide training to the on-site sales team on why we used specific colors and played up a specific lifestyle so they will have lots of great speaking points to share with potential buyers.

If you are preparing to do a new model home or need to update your existing model to increase traffic and sales, contact us at: answers@lifestylist.com

My son just gave me the perfect example – he is buying a new home in Florida, and was troubled after seeing the new model home because they didn’t like the colors or feel of the home after it was merchandised. It bothered them so much they actually considered canceling the sale. The colors and the lack of lifestyle felt like they could have been in any city in any community, but it didn’t have the warmth that they anticipated their home would have.

At Lifestylist® Design we focus on lifestyle, and what they buyer hopes to experience in his new life in your new home. We just finished doing a Lifestylist® Designed home for @home Builders in Baldwinsville, NY and I thought I’d share the thought process on how we came up with this home.

Timber Banks is a new incredible planned community near Syracuse, NY that features an 18 hole, Nicklaus designed golf course, river frontage with it’s own marina, clubhouse, and a stunning, natural beauty all around you that you can call home. It seemed only natural that I would bring this lifestyle and the colors I saw all around me into the design of the model. We went with some of the foggy greys, clear blue sky, river rocks and eco-greens that we discovered on our walks and as a result when you are in the home it truly pulls the outside in.  Plan a visit to the Timbers yourself and see what we accomplished – contact Teresa Carpenter with @home Builders for more information at:  315-635- 6006.

I take what I do very seriously, and that’s why I became a Lifestylist® instead of just a traditional designer.  Helping a buyer visualize how amazing their life can be in their new home when they move into a new community can make the difference between them buying my client’s home or buying a pre-owned home or a foreclosure. Introducing the buyer to the new schools, neighborhood activities and other reasons why this would be the perfect place for them to live is a great reason to have a merchandised model – unfortunately not many builders take advantage of this opportunity.

What makes your models stand out from the rest? I hope this will give you some new things to look for when you are anticipating doing some new model homes.

The Home Idea Factory is a perfect example of this. Living and working in a 1940′s building has lots of different challenges – add to that all of the animals we rescue and grandbabies – what you end up with is a need for something that is easy maintenance & a lot of style as well to make this Lifestylist® happy. I’ve been looking for years to find the perfect flooring for my media room which is my favorite room at the factory and where I spend most of my time. It is large so tiling or wood was cost-prohibitive, I knew carpet wouldn’t last since the dogs enjoy this room as well. I also wanted something with some sound barriers since the photography studio is below. When I discovered BeauFlor I knew I had my answer.

Believe it or not, this is a resilient vinyl flooring that is available in wider widths which means less or no seams. It also doesn’t have the paper backing that many vinyl floors have which can add to mold issues, and it is “lay flat – stay flat”. The patterns are absolutely amazing – I have been in homes that have BeauFlor in them and I have seen customers get on their hands and knees to see if the flooring was real tile or wood – actually it looks better in some cases! Plus you get the cost savings of a resilient flooring and the savings on installation – what more could you ask for?

Champion Homes of Texas has been using this flooring in their homes, and the customers love the look and how easy it is to care for. If you get a chance, be sure to take a look at this product in the nearest Champion Homes to you, or contact Syntec Industries to learn more about this amazing product. I can’t wait to have it in The Idea Factory to spend less time cleaning and more time enjoying!

This week really proved to me what a difference a great management team and leadership can make in the success of a company. I can’t say enough about how everyone stepped up and did whatever needed to be done. Even though we had to work on Saturday and Sunday in 100 degree weather there wasn’t one person who acted like there was any place they would rather be. The loyalty to their company and attention to detail really shows in every home that they build as well. No matter what price point the home was, it was still XTremely well constructed and I would be proud to call any of them my home.

If you are looking for and XTreme Home to call your own you should check out these new homes. Contact Marc Medders at 800-414-2605 for more information and tell him The Lifestylist® sent you!