Find a Lifestylist®

I do love being a Lifestylist®, and getting the opportunity to travel across the country meeting new people and spotting new trends. Recently I was up in the 1,000 Island area of NY and spent a day just driving and looking at the magnificent architecture and natural beauty of that area.
When I found this little cabin tucked by the river I fell in love - especially with the brightly colored Adirondack Chairs in the front of it. Of course I took a picture and never forgot what a great, happy look this was.
Then the other day I was walking through Home Depot and found these bright, happy chairs and I had to have them! Especially since they were only $12.00 each and maintenance free. I love what a difference they made in the backyard of the Idea Factory - even when I'm not out reading a book or birdwatching on them I love just being able to look out the window and seeing the burst of color.
It's easy to use an accent of color to wake up any space. It can be done with pillows in a living room, towels in a bath or with plates in a dining room. Great, fun design doesn't have to be expensive - you just need to be brave enough to try different ideas out.

When I work on a model home, my first priority is bringing the outside in - what's going to make the buyer feel like what he experienced before he walked into the model continues into his model experience?
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.

One of my favorite lifestyle items that many people don't think about is towels. Think about how many times a day you use one, but when it's time to make a purchase we spend more time worrying about cost and color than value. A typical family of 4 owns 15 towels, and we tend to hold on to them longer than maybe we should. My parents own a lake house and received 20 beach towels that were promotional items at least 10 years ago and we still use them!
My favorite store to buy towels from is JC Penney. They always have sales going on, but you can get a luxurious bath towel in beautiful current colors for under $10.00. As a Lifestylist® and model home merchandiser I buy a lot of towels for my job, and JC Penney is always my first stop for this purchase. Their sheets and bedding can't be beat as well. Instead of buying all of your towels the same color, try buying coordinating colors. That way you can mix and match, and each family member or houseguest can have their own color so you'll always know which is yours!

One of my favorite new resources is yelp.com - an online resource that can help you find restaurants, hotels, nightlife and shopping in your local area, or wherever you are traveling to. Members review and talk about stores and services and help you find where "the locals" go. I've tried this in several cities and have gotten great suggestions. One of the great things about traveling is getting to try new things, and with the yelp app on my iphone I'm good to go! It will also help you find the closest gas station and emergency services if you ever need them.
You can also also go directly to the reviews of a member you like or trust - please check out this Lifestylist's reviews on Yelp here.
This is another great resource that can help you save money and time when you are making your travel plans. Let me know what your profile is and I'll follow you as well!

Looking for the perfect home to enjoy lake front living all year long? Look no further - this beautiful 5 bedroom home is what you have been searching for!

Lifestylist® Suzanne Felber and photographer Lisa Stewart visited this week to stage, photograph and help the owner market their home. See why Lifestylist® Marketing can give you the edge you are looking for to help you sell more homes.

Take a look at the You Tube video of the home, or contact Norma K. Smith for more information.

We did it! With a lot of help from the wonderful team at Champion Homes of Texas, Lifestylist Design Inc. was able to complete 4 model homes in a week's time. And the response has been tremendous - retailers have been flocking to the Champion Sales Center to see these amazing new XTreme floorplans.
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!

We are making progress!
On of the toughest things to do when you have to merchandise or stage a home quickly is find the right furniture for the space. I don't like to stock furniture because then you end up putting things that just aren't quite right into a space because you have them. Lucky for me, there is an IKEA in the area so after having no luck even with being able to rent and make budget for this client, I decided to see what I could find online. IKEA is truly a lifestyle, and as a Lifestylist® I know this is a great resource for designing homes with lots of personality.
In the last few years, the IKEA website has become very user friendly. It's well organized, easy to find what you are looking for by room, and they also have great inspiration photos which can be a huge help. A new to me feature is the Shopping List. You can add an item in your shopping list and by doing so and entering which store you'll be picking up at the site will then prepare a list that not only has a photo and cost of the item, it will also tell you specifically where in the store that item will be! If you have ever been in an IKEA store you know that because of the size of the stores and all of the great room vignettes it can easily take you an entire day to shop. But you'll never go hungry -they all have a great cafe that is as reasonably priced as their furniture in them and also a take out area if you are eating on the run.
With the help of the website I was able to make out a very detailed plan for each home and know exactly where I would find it and if it was in stock. When I arrived at the store I was able to pull everything and get it to the delivery window in 2 hours so I was thrilled! I think that was a record for me but I stayed focused and only bought what I knew I needed. When you are working on XTreme Homes with XTreme budgets the key is to only buy what you know you need or your budget can go off target in one shopping trip.
For you all not used to the IKEA experience - be warned - their great pricing comes at a cost. Most of their merchandise is "Flat box" which means it is designed to take up the minimum amount of space when it is being shipped. After you purchase the item most of it will have to be assembled, even the sofas so keep that in mind if you aren't especially great with a screwdriver. They do have outside companies you can contact to put your items together though but this would drive up your costs. The other thing is that you are literally shopping in a warehouse, and you have to pull the merchandise from the shelves and bring it up to the check out lines. This may not be a problem if you are only buying a wicker chair, but if you are buying houses of furniture be sure to bring help and a truck to take it home in. I used their delivery service but didn't have a great experience so I'd only use this as a last resort.
Everything got delivered yesterday, they are finishing up the houses today and hopefully I get to start making them look like home tomorrow! Can't wait to see how they end up.

Tony Lucas, the designer for Palm Harbor Homes and I had a great conversation when we were in Las Vegas for the MHI Congress and Expo. We were talking about the green revolution and what consumers are willing to pay to "do the right thing" and Tony used a great term - Shades of Green. We all want to make a difference, we just do it in different shades.
Living and working in a 1942 factory helps you find out quickly how important energy efficiency is, and amazingly enough there were some ideas that were designed into my home that make a lot of sense today. I always wanted a concrete home, and the Idea Factory is made of cement blocks and stucco. It really helps with sound and it does tend to keep the heat in during the winter and the cool in during the summer. We had no insulation anywhere and with a flat roof it was hard to add but we did.
The Idea Factory came complete with a 1956 Carrier air condition that used water cooled freon - similar to what many commercial buildings still use. the water takes the heat away from the air by the freon, travels outside and is then cooled by traveling across fins that let the air cool off the water. The cooled water is then returned to the system and the process starts over again. This is a very amateur description of the process, but I knew nothing when I bought this place but after the first summer I quickly found this system was worth keeping.
Imagine doing the inspection of your new home and having the inspector see this wood, falling apart structure that is a main component of your air conditioner. Obviously they were not very excited - water and raw wood are not a great combination. I saw it as a Lifestylist® Designed challenge, signed all of the papers and it was mine! Fortunately I have great team members that are used to my ideas, and we came up with a new design sculpted out of concrete and metal that is not only functional but a work of art as well. With hard work, a lot of head scratching and even more creativity today we started it up and it is purring like a new machine!
This is my shade of green - incorporating form, function, elbow grease and paint to come up with a system that has cut my cooling bills by over 60%.  Plus it looks great and I love the sound of it outside my kitchen window. I can't wait to do more green projects to my home, but until I can afford more I am very conscious of  how shade can help my bills and letting the trees overhang my roof, keeping the cooling up or heat down to save on utility bills when I'm not there, and turning off lights if I'm not in the room.
What is your shade of green?

Today was a great day - I got a lot of work done on my gardens then we went to our local farmers market to pick up some goodies for the week.
The Home Idea Factory is in an area of Dallas called Oak Cliff and we are very fortunate because we are close to town but it's an older established area that is really coming into it's own. Some amazing restaurants have opened, I've heard there is now an organic coop and now we even have our own coffee company - Oak Cliff Coffee Roasters. So today we picked up some coffee, and sampled our way through the local farmer stalls at the Dallas Farmers Market. Local peaches were just coming into season and there also was a bounty of tomatoes, onions, squash and cucumbers. It's going to be a healthy tasty week around here!
Some vendors are only there weekends and we discovered the Lucky Layla Farms which had amazing cheeses. I bought the Fresh Campesino which was perfect with my tomatoes, avocados and cucumbers for lunch. I'm going to make some homemade ice cream to use with the peaches for dessert.
One of the best things about being a Lifestylist is getting to explore what's out there and figure out how to make it approachable and accessible. I was amazed how much I saved by buying at the farmers market vs. a typical grocery store - I got 5 huge beautiful tomatoes that were picked that morning for $1 each! My goodies helped me make a quick and healthy lunch for under $1.50 per serving.
We have got to support our local farmers and businesses. The Lemley family has been bring exceptional tomatoes, peaches and other produce to the farmer's market for over 30 years. I know that a lot of the better restaurants in town also buy from them and I can't imagine a summer without their goodies. It's exciting to have all of these choices now and I plan on supported them so they are here for years to come.

I know I've shared my Wegmans love here before, but it's great to see I'm not the only one who is crazy about this company and the great people who work there.
On my recent visit to Rochester I stopped in at the Pittsford store to get my goodies to take back to Texas with me - whenever I get the chance to head that way I bring an extra suitcase and cooler so I can bring all of my favorites back with me. One of my new favorites is the Nance's Hot Mustard that I haven't seen anywhere but there and now that my Texas friends have tried it they all want me to bring back some for them as well. I had probably a dozen of them in my cart and I think 3 or 4 employees stopped me and joked about I must be from out of town if I'm buying that much Nance's, and we talked about what a great store Wegmans is and how lucky Rochester residents are to have that resource in their own back yard. After grabbing my Killer Brownies, Ultimate Chocolate Chip cookies, Carrot Cake, and the classic slice of Ultimate Chocolate Cake, I checked out and headed to the airport. Trust me, the minute you walk into a Wegmans no matter what store or city you are visiting you can feel the positive energy and enthusiasm these team members bring to work. I'm not sure many of them even think of it as work, more like a calling. You can't not be in a great mood by the time you leave, especially if you were fortunate enough to bring home some of the fruits and vegetables straight from the Wegmans farm or a beautiful bunch of fresh flowers.
It was great to see on my receipt that Wegmans was on the Fortune's 100 Best Companies to Work for list for the 13th year. I know if I lived in Rochester I would love to work for them. Congratulations to the entire Wegmans team for this great honor. If you see someone strolling through the aisles with a basket full of Nance's mustard, it's probably this Lifestylist - please come over and say hello!

American Custom Builders is inviting neighbors and interested buyers to it's Sneak Peek Sunday today from 1-3pm. Take advantage of the opening to view our latest Lifestylist Designed home and see for yourself this fresh approach to home building and design. All of the furniture is from the local Ashley HomeStore and consumers can go and purchase almost everything they see in the homes themselves. This new marketing approach to model home merchandising is proving to be very successful - come and see the results!

Our latest Lifestylist Designed Home debuted at the Great Southwest Home Show a few weeks ago and the response has been tremendous. The home was for Champion Homes of Texas, and it was a chance to show what the new Champion Homes is all about, and if you haven't take a look you need to  - great homes with great value and style.
Take a look at the article we wrote for MHMSM about the show to learn more about where the factory built housing market is heading.

Be sure to check out the article in Elle Decor about Alice Cottrell's apartment this month. I'm honored to have this very special designer as a friend, and this is someone who get's the lifestylist concept. Her apartment is beautiful, but is also designed to make her beautiful rescue puppy Charlie feel right at home. Home Interiors that are right sized is definitely a growing trend - this home is only 700 sq. ft. but is designed to accommodate every need of the residents.

My bags are packed and I'm almost ready to go - tomorrow I'm off to Las Vegas to be a speaker at the 20th annual MHI Congress, and of course I made my reservations with the help of  my Travelocity Gnome.
Held every year in Las Vegas, this convention brings together that biggest and brightest names in manufactured and modular housing. This year keynote speakers will be Jim Clayton - founder of Clayton Homes and Harold Gross of Market Research Answers so I know everyone that attends will leave with lots of great new information to grow their businesses with. I'm honored to to speaking in from if this group for the 7th year and I hope to be invited back for many years to come.
This year I'm speaking on how a Lifestylist approaches the fast paced world of Social Media. I bought my first domain name in the early 90's and I've always been intrigued with this very cost effective way of doing marketing. Now I have expanded the Lifestylist Brand to include a presence on various blogs, Blogger, LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, FourSquare,Yelp and You Tube. Is it worth the time investment to manage and update all of these? Absolutely! One of my great new clients, American Custom Builders found me through my Lifestylist Blog so I feel investing the time in keeping up with Social Media pays dividends to my brand and my business.
If you happen to be in Las Vegas next week, come and join us at Caesar's Palace. If you mention that you read this I'll give you a copy of my new Do-it-Yourself Guide to Social Media and Networking. See you there!

Hey y'all! Just got back from Tunica, MS and the South Central Manufactured Housing Show. Part of what being a Lifestylist is all about is experiencing life to the fullest, and even though I went to view housing trends, when I saw that bus with Paula Deen's face on it beckoning me to the casino and her signature buffet, how could I say no?
The show and Ms. Deen's buffet are both housed at Harrah's  Tunica. I had stayed there in the past when it was The Grand Casino and let me just say the buffet was anything but grand, to the point that it may have been some of the worst food I have ever had. But love Paula, love her show, so decided I'd give it a go.
I went for lunch, and honestly I thought it was a great value. I think it was about $14.99, and I would have been happy if they just would have brought me up a sleeping bag and I just stayed there for a few weeks. I next to never do buffets because I don't like feeling like I have to over-eat to get my money's worth, and usually the food isn't that great quality. That was not the case here. I knew I was going to have to stay to bite sized portions if I was going to make my way to every station, but from the salads on everything was sooooo good I could have just eaten that! I'm very picky about fresh, and everything seemed super fresh and almost made to order. I wanted to try things that were Paula's signature dishes and they were even better than I had hoped. The cheese biscuits and hoe cakes were out of this world! And the Mac and Cheese.... I've had some great Mac and Cheese but this was one of the best.
There was an entire seafood selection that had mounds of shrimp, oysters and fried goodies, The Lady and Sons station had wonderful southern specialties including yams, fried green tomatoes, ham and fried chicken. And THEN there was a BBQ station and of course dessert. Had to try the Gooey Butter Cake and it lived up to it's name and reputation, but my favorite desserts were the peach cobbler and bread pudding. The only shortcomings for me were the fried pickles and the fact that they had Kool Whip for the dessert items! I didn't realize it wasn't whipped cram until I tasted it and it ruined the experience.
The Paula Deen brand was visible everywhere, and it should have been. Loved how they had recipe cards at some of the different stations so you could make some of the various things you tried at home, and while you were waiting there was a Paula Deen Gift Shop.
The restaurant was beautiful and definitely had Paula's southern charm and a very welcome feel to it. I loved every minute (and calorie) that I spent here, and may have to plan a trip back just so I can do it all over again! If you want to make a weekend out of the journey the casino also offers "Paula Deen Suites" that would complete the experience.

Just when you think you've heard and seen the worst customer experiences that you could possibly imagine, a company and it's representatives prove you wrong. I have written before about my disappointment with how I was treated at Best Buy, but that was nothing compared to what they put me through today.
I have just returned from a full week of travels where I met with great clients, got to work on fantastic projects and attended the Tunica Manufactured Housing Show. Today I spent the morning working with Champion Homes of Texas and one of their retailers. Champion understands what customer service is all about, and that's why I love working with them. They understand if the client is successful we will all succeed, and we are all in this journey together. I got to help put together a new model home that is going to be incredible, and also got great feedback as well. Be sure to stop by at Trinity Homes in Abilene and see our beautiful new home!
While I was in Tunica I had heard from Best Buy corporate. They apologized for all of the confusion and promised to call the store where I purchased my projector and have them resolve the issue. I was feeling good about things and thought Ryan handled the issue and my concerns well.
Then I made the mistake of ruining a perfectly good day by going up to the store to change out projectors. I thought it was only going to take a few minutes so I was going to call in my dinner order before I went in - fortunately the person that was with me wasn't as optimistic and she was right. We went to wait in the return line - there were two people in front of us. After standing there for about 5 minutes I asked the other people in line if anyone had been working there and they told me the woman who was working there walked away when they got into the line. I walked to the front of the store and asked if anyone could help us and he told me that three people were working in that area and I needed to just "go back in line and wait my turn".We gave up and ended up sitting on the floor - Tunisha who had left before I guess finally got the hint. Guess what - they had nothing in the system about my issues, and the manager said that no one from corporate had called about my issues and they couldn't do anything. I had Ryan's phone number with me and they called - not there. Then they informed me that what was on my receipt wasn't what I was bringing back, and the projector I brought back only sold for $349.00 and my receipt was for $649.00 so it couldn't possibly be what they sold me.
But wait! It gets even better. James the manager (who said that no one up there had talked to Ryan) calls corporate and puts me on the phone with Katie who was in Ryan's department. She informs me that it's impossible for what I bought to have been rung up wrong, I didn't buy the projector there and pretty much called me a liar. So now I have a 7 month old product that doesn't work that I paid for an extended warranty for that they won't honor. I wasn't sure what made me angrier - finding out I paid $876.00 for something that they said should have cost $349.00 or being called a liar.
So I come home, look up the suggested retail on what I have and it's actually $699.00 not $349.00. So sucker for punishment I am I call the Best Buy store. When I press 3 for sales help, no one answered the 2 times I tried so I called back on the Geek Squad line and got James. I told him the pricing he had for my machine was incorrect that it matched what was on my receipt, and he said that couldn't be right because their system showed it at $349.00. Trust me, there is pretty much no such thing as a $349.00 home theater projector, especially made by Epson. So the system that is never wrong was wrong, but Best Buy refused to even entertain this notion.

The moral of this story? The person with me found something she really wanted and was in line to buy it, and I told her that she would be walking home if she spent a dime there. I purchase a lot of electronics for my clients homes plus our Lifestylist® Designed recommends products for the home. You know that I will be very clear where anyone who asks should not make their purchases.
Then we have the other end of the spectrum where companies like Champion treat their clients how they like to be treated and respected. I had a million things to do today, but when Champion asked me to come and meet with their client I did because I appreciate their business and I want them to succeed. I will always be referring Champion Homes of Texas, Youngs Manufactured Homes in Hobbs, NM and Trinity Homes because I know that whomever I refer to them will be treated with respect, and they will get a great value for their money.

I would love to hear your customer stories - good and bad - and I'll share the best ones here. And if anyone would like a great deal on a projector that doesn't work, give me a call :)

The start of daylight savings is the perfect time for your home to "spring forward" with lighter accessories, accents and even window treatments. Slip covers for furniture and accent pillows are an easy way to change the look and mood of a space. Use a duvet on your bed and get a lighter color and fabric for the warmer months, and a darker, dramatic color for those cooler fall and winter days. These are easy to change out and store, and you'll feel like you are living in a new space!
Pottery Barn and West Elm always have great covers for pillows, and they are often on sale. They are sold with or without the pillow insert so when you aren't using them they don't take up a lot of space. I am also big on having my dining table set, and a pretty spring arrangement and fun napkins, placemats and plates can really put you in the mood.

One of my favorite foodie events that I attend every year is finally here! Savor Dallas started last night with the wine stroll and it couldn’t have been more perfect - perfect weather, perfect locations, perfect food and of course perfect wines!
My favorites were the Cakebread Cellars wines, Fedora, and the food and team at the Dallas Museum of Art.  People go to events like these for different reason, but I see it as a great opportunity to get to meet the different winemakers and chefs and really get to know what makes their creations special.
The Cakebread host was amazing. So gracious and willing to share his knowledge. They brought 5 different wines to try and I would have loved to try them all, but with the wine stroll being only 2 hours with over 60 participating companies sadly I had to keep moving. But he did share a DVD that is a Virtual Visit from Vine to Wine with me that I can’t wait to watch and learn from. And the Cabernet that I tried? Stellar!
Fedora is one of my favorite restaurants, and I was thrilled to see them on the stroll at the Nasher Sculpture Center. A beautiful backdrop to beautiful food. I still remember the dish they brought last year because it was a work of art with pomagranate sprinkled on it and tasted great as well! This year they brought a Bruschetta that was divine and I would have loved to have had more than one but I’ll just have to go back and sample them at the restaurant.
Fedora has been very generous about giving back to the community, including HomeAid / HomeBuilders Care. One of the owners was at the wine stroll serving - loved getting to visit with her and being able to thank them for all that they do.
I also absolutely loved the chef and team at Seventeen Seventeen in the Dallas Museum of Art. I wish I would have gotten teh servers name because she was so helpful, and when I told her I wanted to get some photography she brought out fresh food and helped us guard the goodies from all of the participants who couldn’t wait to sample! But what really won me over is when Executive Chef  Jason Ferraro came out and introduced himself. I’m not sure restaurants understand how much of an impression it makes when the chef takes the time to come out and greet you. It makes you feel so special, and it makes the dining experience personal.
There is so much more to talk about, but I need to get ready to head to some of the seminars and the Grand Tastings this evening. Hope to see you there!

Earlier this year Pantone named blue, or turquoise to be exact the color of the year. I'm wondering if the winter Olympic committee had consulted with them because blue is definitely a color we are seeing a lot of as we watch the winter games. I love the shades of blue and green that were chosen for the Olympics -it just goes to show how much of a difference the right colors can make in the appearance of an event, branding campaign or even a room. Using navy vs. aqua on a wall makes all the difference, even though they are both blue.
@home Builders hired The Home Idea Factory to merchandise a new model for them, and shades of blue were used in various rooms. This home was around the corner from the previous model which was in different colors, but the challenge was to use as much from the old model in the new one to keep costs down. Everything from the old bedroom was recycled in the new one but we added new bedding and headboards. The kids bath was merchandised with accessories from Target that were on trend and budget conscious. Buyers could actually go out and buy the items they saw and fell in love with in the model home. This new model home has character and personality and lookers became buyers - a community which only sold a few homes a year had 8 sales in snowy November and they now have a waiting list for the next phase.
Color  can affect your mood, and happy colors create happy customers.