Interview ~ Naomi Findlay of International Institute of Home Staging

 Meet Naomi Findlay, founder of The International Institute of Home Staging, which offers the first and only interactive online home staging and property styling courses in Australia, helping budding designers learn the art and business of making homes attractive to buyers.

“The courses offered are put together by a fantastic array of Australian design, styling and business mentors that provide great insight into what is a growing industry. It’s designed to teach other people how they can make money on their own property sales or start their own property styling and home staging business,” says Naomi.

Naomi founded the Institute after she enjoyed instant success with her own home staging business, SILK Home Staging & Styling. Naomi has been struggling to keep up with increasing demand, styling 100 houses over the past year and currently styling 30 per month. Soon after launching her business, Naomi realised there was a huge demand for talented home stagers in Australia. It also concerned her that there was lack of a code of standards for the practice, so she set about using her education qualifications and her expertise in home staging to develop the formalised online courses to help the practice evolve locally.

Naomi was kind enough to allow me to interview her for Looking Glass...

When did you decide to start "The International Institute of Home Staging" and why?

Running a busy home staging company (SILK Home Staging & Styling) I get the chance to meet and help amazing people and work with amazing properties every day. A week does not go by when someone doesn’t say to me “what a dream job…I wish I did what you do….. how great is your job, running around town creating amazing spaces… you are so lucky that you get to set your hours that work with your family”. It got me thinking that there was little available to help these people break into the industry so I wanted to develop a set of courses that could be used to either develop sound home staging skills to effectively stage your own home or to develop a thriving home staging company just like mine.

What does a typical day for Naomi entail?

I am a mother of four, and run three companies so my days are generally jam packed!  It usually starts at 5am with 8 month old waking, once the older kids are at school and the babysitter arrives I hit the road.  The beauty is that each day is totally different, from styling homes, creating sample boards, selecting stock from my warehouse, meeting with agents, project managing property developments or shopping for bathrooms and kitchens – it is all fun!  Then at 3.30pm I turn back into a mum and do lots of taxi runs to netball and soccer. Once all is quiet in the house I then get back into it, the flexibility of running my own race is perfect for my family.

Any exciting new plans for The Institute of Home Staging on the horizon that you can share with us?

Soon you will see the launch of the second course in the series of three.  This is the advanced home staging course that takes those who loved course one to the next level in their journey to be a professional home stager.  As well as the launch of rolling enrollment and payment plans.  With such an overwhelming response to out launch we have moved towards making it even easier for people to break into the industry.  Not only can you enroll at any time but you can pay your course off as you go!

What is your favourite part of teaching others about Home Styling?

The best part for me is being a part of helping students realize their potential.  So many students are in careers they do not enjoy and simply want the creative and flexible lifestyle that a home staging business can offer. 

What are you reading right now? 

A client of mine gave me a book she authored as a gift so I have just picked it up, “The Vagina Buffet” by S.J. Tierney

What are you listening to right now? 

I am a big fan of Adele

Finish this sentence: the perfect day of indulgence for me would entail...

...a run around the lake in the morning, a mid morning massage followed by lunch with friends and a spot of interiors shopping, a swim at the beach with my family and four children in the afternoon.  Then finish off with a BBQ and a glass of champagne in the evening!  I like to jam pack my days!!!!

Favourite place in the whole wide world?

I have been so lucky that my career has taken me all over the world and although I have many places that I could have surely stayed longer in, the continent that touched me the most was Africa! My 12 weeks there changed my perspective on so many things!

What advice would you give to any readers thinking of learning about Home Staging?

The best way to begin learning about the industry is to become familiar with the property market, interiors trends and even work experience with a stylist.  The IIHS hold student webinars every month so if you want to know more about available courses head on over to http://www.instituteofhomestaging.com.au and register your interest, we can then let you know when the next student information session is starting up!

~

Thanks, Naomi, for sharing your business savvy tips with us and allowing us to know a little more about you. Here are my favourite transformations that Naomi has done through her business SILK Home Staging & Styling...

Before & After - New York Pod

Before & After - 1800's Cottage Makeover

All photos courtesy of SILK & IIHS

You can see plenty more photos on Naomi's website, SILK Home Staging & Styling.
Be sure to check out the International Institute of Home Staging for more info on their courses.

Clare x

Check out my other interviews here:

Catherine - The Spring Blog & Shop

Betty Grumble - Gallery Burlesque

Onur Karaozbek ~ Gallery Burlesque

Memphis Mae - Gallery Burlesque

Frankie Faux - Gallery Burlesque

Evie Va Voom - Gallery Burlesque

Cherry Lush - Gallery Burlesque

Maleficent the Melancholy

"You poor, simple fools. Thinking you could defeat me. *Me*, The Mistress of All Evil!" 

~ Maleficent, Sleeping Beauty, 1959

Sleeping Beauty is one of my most favourite fairytales. It was my very first movie I owned on VHS (yeah, remember those?) I still remember watching it over & over again after my Grandma gave it to me for Christmas when I was knee high to a grasshopper. I was so fascinated by Maleficent & distinctly remember asking my Mum what "melancholy" meant after watching the film the first time.

Recently my friend, Tori, hosted a fancy dress party for her 30th birthday and the theme was "your favourite character or your idol when you were a kid." Naturally my first thought was Maleficent. I admit, I was a little worried about trying to pull off the makeup myself, but luckily my wonderful friend & makeup artist, Linda Moore, was on hand to help me out in that department. Ok, so she did all of my makeup really.

Here are the getting ready shots...

 If only I wasn't texting in the full length photos! A common problem for me...

I went with a Maleficent-inspired look by creating my own outfit by layering purple & black dresses together with a leather vest and black jacket that had the large cape-like collar. I created a crown with plaits in my hair piled atop my head rather than wearing horns. I know a lot of you won't be lucky to have a great makeup artist for a friend like I do, so I thought I would suggest a few pieces that you can put together to replicate this look as best as possible.

face paint and eye-makeup from Fancy Dress Ball / costume from Kaboodle / pimp cane from Balloons Galore / raven from Shopping.com

Face Colour & Purple Eye Makeup
 The key here is to try a few colours to get the right shade, or if it's too dark try removing some of the colour by dabbing a little off.

Costume
If you don't want to purchase a costume you could try layering black & purple pieces from your own wardrobe like I did.

Cane & Bird
It was really hard to find the right length and design of the cane, but this is not a big deal as you could just glue the bird on top of it, thus removing the need for it to look exactly the same. However, if length is a factor - then you could just use a curtain rod, as they usually come apart at the centre - however, if you plan on restoring its use as a curtain rod after your fancy dress party then it's probably wise to avoid gluing anything on top of it.

This is an ideal costume for Halloween as well as any fancy dress party. To top it off, Angelina Jolie is playing the title role in the movie Maleficent due for release in 2014. Very excited for that!

I will leave you with a few pics from the rest of the night...

The birthday girl was Mary Poppins, then we had James Bond, a cricketer, a pro dirt bike rider, and my favourite, Katie, as Carmen Sandiego.

Been to any fun fancy dress shindigs lately?

Clare x

Mother's Day

Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Happy Mother's Day! 

We celebrated at home this year with Mum & my Grandmother. A delicious BBQ lunch cooked by Dad followed by the most scrumptious chocolate fudge cheesecake that Mum baked. She can't even relax on Mother's Day!! I brought giant cupcakes over with Mother's Day chocolate hearts garnishing the top but she still felt the need to make dessert. That's Mums for you ;-) How did you celebrate?

Here's a little instagram shot from our day...

Clare x

Chrissy Amphlett

Credits: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Chrissy Amphlett had one of the sexiest, gutsiest, wildest, most rockin' voices on this planet. One of the best frontwomen this world has ever seen. Naturally she was recently named one of Australia's top 10 singers of all time. Sadly she lost her battle with breast cancer & MS on April 21st at only 53 years of age. 

Below is my favourite Divinyls song. According to her husband, Charley Drayton, Chrissy "expressed hope that her worldwide hit I Touch Myself would remind women to perform annual breast examinations."

Clare x

"That's Where I Will Always Be Waiting"

image via pinterest

I like to believe that our loved ones who are no longer with us in the physical form visit us in that place between sleep & awake...

Clare x

Interview ~ Catherine from The Spring Blog & Shop

Meet Catherine from The Spring Blog and now also The Spring Shop. Originally hailing from Toronto, she met the love of her life, who just happened to be Aussie, in Cambridge & after finishing their studies they rolled a dice & decided to move to Brisbane, Queensland together. A crafty, stylish little blogger, Catherine lets us in on her favourite recipes, crafty projects, her personal style & home decor style, health, beauty, gardening & best of all, her favourite things to do, see, & eat in South-East QLD via The Spring Blog. Recently she opened an online store filled with neo-traditional goodies, offering a range of affordable new & vintage home and food styling products. Some of which can often be quite hard to track down in Australia. 

Catherine was sweet enough to answer a few questions about herself, her blog & her online store for Looking Glass readers...

When did you start "The Spring" blog and why?

I started The Spring Blog two and a half years ago while waiting in Canada for my Australia immigration papers to be processed. I was so excited about the new life I was about to start (in 1-9 months, the embassy couldn’t be more specific) that I began blogging to catalogue my dreams for this big fresh start. I also began reaching out to Aussie bloggers, and becoming part of that online community right from the start made adapting to life in a country where I knew almost no one so much easier.     

What prompted you to open "The Spring" shop?

 Two things, really. First, since moving to Australia I’ve found it difficult to find (or find at a reasonable price) the kind of traditional wares I’ve always loved cooking with, entertaining with, and crafting with. I’m talking mason jars, bakers twine, beautiful paper tags, cast iron skillets… So I saw a gap in the market and thought I could bring joy to people like the ones who read my blog if I could fill it.

 The second thing is more personal. I want to live a creative, flexible, self-directed life and I just couldn’t think of an existing job out there that would tick all those boxes. I’ve had a deeply felt, totally scary feeling for years now that I’m entrepreneurial at heart – I find building my business and coming up with new marketing ideas just as creative and fulfilling as all the design, photography, writing and craft I do every day. So once I had the what and the why figured out, there was no excuse left NOT to start up The Spring Shop.     

What does a typical day for Catherine entail?

 It varies, and that’s what I love! I still teach part time, but I get whole days to dedicate to the shop and blog now, which is AMAZING! Shopping for new stock is the most fun part… Then there’re always emails to write, parcels to post, DIY ideas to develop, stock and projects to photograph, descriptions and posts to write, and social media platforms to tend… so what I’m doing changes hour to hour. I do have a regular practice called ‘hustle time’ when I put on my marketing hat and brainstorm ways to reach out and be of service to select brands, publications, and readers who may not even know about The Spring yet.

Any exciting new plans for The Spring blog / shop on the horizon that you can share with us?

I love exploring Australia so I’m super excited that a small resort on the Southern Tip of the Great Barrier Reef has asked us to come up as their guests and write about the fabulous experiences available for tourists in their area. It sounds like the perfect excuse for a mid-winter getaway to me, and I’ll let y’all know more about it as the plan unfolds. 

 What's your favourite product right now on The Spring Shop?

Obviously I'm deeply digging the whole range… but if I have to pick a favourite it’s the all natural long & elegant beeswax birthday candles we’ve had custom made in the USA. They’re so beautiful and 100% edible; the days of toxic wax drippings on our celebration cakes are over!   

What are you reading right now? 

The latest issue of Fete magazine… I’ve never been to South Australia, but if it’s anything like what’s inside that magazine, I’m a packing my bags right now!

What are you listening to right now? 

Otis Redding. Always Otis Redding.

Finish this sentence: the perfect day of indulgence for me would entail....

A two hour Thai yoga massage, all the fresh pressed green juice I care to drink, and having someone else to clean the juicer (and my house) while I’m in bliss-mode.

 Favourite place in the whole wide world?

Easy. Driving down a Simcoe County road with the windows down on a hot August afternoon. There’s just a certain quality to the late summer, the sweet smell of the cornfields, the warm breeze blowing, and the crunch of the gravel under the wheels… it’s home, it’s nostalgic, it’s perfection. You can take the girl out of Ontario…   

What advice would you give to any readers thinking of opening their own online shop?

 Be very clear about why you want to go into business. Entrepreneurs work twice as hard for half the money… so you gotta be in it for the love.

 Do everything yourself. There’s nothing that you can’t figure out using a combination of your own intuition, youtube, and the google. There’s a steep learning curve when you begin to create anything on your own, but you’ll keep costs low and gain a level of mastery over your own business that’s worth every hour of fiddling you put into it.

~

Thanks for visiting us Catherine! As a Sydney gal, I love taking a peek into the lifestyles of bloggers living in other Aussie cities. I can't wait to get my hands on a few goodies from Catherine's store, namely the pie set & some moonshine mugs!

~ Clare x

The Spring Blog

The Spring Shop

The Language of the Fan

Did you know that once upon a time it is believed there was a 'language of the fan' and that ladies, particularly in the 18th century, could convey much more than one might realise from across the other side of the room? I find this so fascinating! I have been reading up on it a little as I'm currently involved in a production of Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan, playing the title role. Above is the promotional image that my husband took. Anyway, back to the language... Here are some apparent examples I came across:

Touching right cheek - yes

Touching left cheek - no

Twirling in left hand - we are watched

Twirling in right hand - I love another

Fanning slowly - I am married

Fanning quickly - I am engaged

Open & shut - you are cruel

Open wide - wait for me

Presented shut - do you love me?

With handle to lip - Kiss me

In right hand in front of face - Follow me

Drawing across the cheek - I love you

Placing on left ear - I wish to get rid of you

Twirling in right hand - I love another

Credit: The Covent Garden Minuet Company

Photo Credit: Glenn Chiofalo 

I love how dramatic it seems. Can you imagine using this language nowadays?

~ Clare x

"It is absurd to divide people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious." 

~ Lady Windermere's Fan, Oscar Wilde