"House sold for $35,000 over the asking price, and first day offers were accepted. I am very convinced the services of the Certified Staging Professionals yielded a lot more interest and a much better price. The house was looking it's best, and much more spacious than how we had it. I would recommend anyone who is selling a home to have it staged first. In my opinion, it made a difference of at least 5% in the final price. I am very grateful..."

John Marley, homeowner
Toronto 

A Mississauga Staging Experience - The life "Staging" that I experienced last Wednesday proved to be very powerful - every minute was filled with enthusiasm, electricity and emotion! Your CSP program must be very comprehensive as I found all of the students to be highly creative and extremely cooperative in a truly professional manner. They demonstrated the wonderful learning experience that can happen when shared with "enthusiastic and like minded individuals". The staging exercise certainly exceeded my expectations and totally thrilled our Sellers. The extensive details about furniture placement and colour selection have already helped us to move forward with a more sophisticated and attractively decorated home.

Peter Howell, Broker
Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Mississauga 

I would like to thank Martin Designs for contributing to our monthly newsletter. It has been a pleasure to work with Susan Martin whose energy, professionalism and creative spirit make her the only choice when choosing a staging consultant. Looking forward to working with you again.

Belinda Wilcox
CANSPEC BUILDING SERVICES 

RE: 3353 Colonial Drive, Mississauga, Ontario It is with great pleasure that I write this letter to thank Christine and everyone who participated in staging the above home on Thurs. Aug. 23rd - what an outstanding job they did. Whenever you are asked to write a letter of recommendation it becomes challenging to put your appreciation into words so that you do not miss anything, especially when such creativity and professionalism is displayed. Although the owners had worked extremely hard to prepare for that day and to put their home on the market to sell, it took the ingenuity and "spark" that this team provided to really bring things together. When the owners walked into their home after the staging had been completed, their reaction was truly like the TV shows - one of disbelief - "Is this really my home? What a great job they did." They could not wait to show off their home to their neighbours, friends and of course potential buyers. As a real estate professional, I saw a tremendous change in every room they worked in, such as: -Living room/dining room was an area with minimal furniture and yet they moved things around and made it look warm and inviting -The 4th bedroom was made into a bedroom by being creative with furniture they had (they made a bed with out having a mattress) -Master bedrooom was completely changed and opened up to look larger and more welcoming. When the team was finished, each room demonstrated the function of the room making it easy for buyers to start imagining their furniture in each room. This is very important as the Buyer needs to be able to very easily determine what a room is supposed to be immediately after they enter. Not only did they take time and care with each and every room but they also made recommendations with regards to paint colour and other items that would enhance the value of the home. The next thing the homeowners asked me was, "what happened to all of my belongings?" The team of Stagers knew that we needed to de-clutter and minimize the amount of items so that Buyers are looking at the house, not the cherished items in the home. The team took special care to pack each "nick knack" and put them in a box that was labeled and colour coded as well so that they owner could easily find their items should they need to. It is with all this creativity, care and professionalism that the home is turned into a master piece to sell. I would not hesitate to call anyone on this team to work with my clients in the future.

Susan Lancaster, Sales Representative
Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd., Mississauga 

Our master bedroom never looked this great! After deciding to sell our country paradise, we hired Martin Designs for a consultation. We were under renovations in our master bedroom already and with the help of Susan's staging proposal to prepare our home for sale, our master bedroom was transformed into a luxurious room. Now, for our children, the move wasn't an easy sell. They did not want to pack up and move since this was their "home" of "homes". On staging day, we left for hockey practise and the girls were very sceptical of their rooms being transformed. We returned a few hours later and the girls ran to their rooms to see what had changed. Our youngest daughter came running up the stairs all excited and could not believe what her new room looked like. She fell in love with the changes (including all of our own furnishings, with a few added accessories) and hoped that we could hire Martin Designs for our new home. Susan and her team did such a great job.

Homeowners
Mount Albert, Ontario 

Susan, Don and I just want to say a big thank you for everything you have done for us. We were very pleased with your design consultation and the house staging that you and your team did. Everyone is our family was totally impressed with the decorating. At first we were a little hesitant about renting furniture for a couple of our rooms, but in the end we liked the furniture so much that you chose, we ended up buying it. The service you provide is extraordinary and quite reasonably priced! You have attended to every last detail and followed up on little items long after the staging was over. I would not hesitate to recommend your services to others. Best of luck with your business,

Linda and Don
Uxbridge, Ontario 

Our condo sat on the market for months with no offers. We were given a staging proposal that included a little painting, de-cluttering and a few added accessories to maximize our budget. With a little ingenuity, three sets of solarium doors were removed which increased the square footage of the condo dramatically. The end result was that our condo sold in 2 weeks for 95% of the asking price. I would not hesitate to recommend Susan at Martin Designs for any staging project.

Tammy, homeowner
Toronto 

Dear Susan, Nana and I were thrilled with the staging of our condo. With your added support, we painted the recommended colours and our condo sold in only 8 days. We were so happy with the outcome, that we knew that we had to have you back to help us with our new home. Your were very professional, articulate and wonderful to work with. The space planning report that you prepared gave us so many ideas. Nana is going to enjoy shopping now more than ever. Thank you once again for all of the support and we would recommend you to anyone who is selling their home.

Nana and Tony, homeowners
Mississauga 

Dear Susan, We would like to thank you for donation to our sixth annual Grand Dessert Night held on February 27, 2008. Your generous donation enabled us to raise $25,000 for cancer research. The local community and friends of the Canadian Cancer Society provided incredible support for our Grand Dessert Night! As well, those attending this event enjoyed an evening of fun, friendship and delicious desserts. Thank you for being a part of our success and we hope that we will be able to count on your support again next year.

The 2008 Grand Dessert Night Comittee
Newmarket, Ontario 

We recently had an opportunity to view and benefit from Susan Crema-Martin’s talent and skill as a photographer. From still settings to bodies in motion, flowers blooming and even wildlife images we found her ability to capture the moment and the essence of a scene very valuable.

Reudor Gratch, President
RMG Innovative- Custom Home Builders,4 Taos Court, Richmond Hill, On L4C 0G5 (416) 716-3757 reudor@rmginnovative.com