PREPARING YOUR HOUSE TO SELL WITH STAGER DESIGNER, LINDSEY CHILDS
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In today’s episode, I am interviewing Lindsey Childs. Lindsey is a creative visionary, started her design career by accident. Specializing in residential remodels and custom draperies, Navy & Gray Designs is located in Macon, GA, providing design services to the surrounding area and throughout the Southeast. When she isn’t creating a new space or managing a project, Lindsey enjoys spending time with her two children, hosting dinner parties, and visiting with friends on her front porch. She is also an advocate for offering trade education to students as they decide on a career path.
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– Alice
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VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Alice: Hi, Lindsey. Welcome to the podcast.
Lindsey: Hi, thank you for having me.
Alice: You're so welcome. I'm so excited to chat with you now where tell everybody where you're located.
Lindsey: I'm located in Macon, Georgia, which is just like two hours south of Atlanta. So dead center part of Georgia.
Alice: Okay. Do you guys have nice weather right now.
Lindsey: No. We're hitting Summer season of horrible humidity, rainstorms, and then like it was raining 15 minutes ago and now sunshine.
Alice: Oh my gosh. Okay. Well this is why so many people want to move to California, even though everybody says they're moving out of California. We do have really nice weather that we can't complain about for sure. What was that I'm sorry.
Lindsey: That's the one thing about, Georgia I don't love the weather, so.
Alice: Oh, I don't understand. I can't handle the extremes because our weather is for the most part pretty mild. So like you don't ever have like the super, super cold, then you get these crazy rainstorms at other parts of the country definitely has like raining here generally is a quick sprinkle and it's gone, which is why we're also in a drought state. I know, take the good with the bad. So now tell me a little bit about what's happening in your neck of the woods. Like, is it as crazy as everybody else.
Lindsey: Yes. Yeah, for sure. you know, houses go under contracts the first day. There's multiple, offers bidding. More people are paying thousands over just to get the house. So it's absolutely crazy.
Alice: So that's either good or bad for business. Yeah.
Lindsey: Yes. both. I mean, I'm staying busy, but there's also such a low number of houses going on the market. So the demand is just so high and there's just not that much to buy right now.
Alice: So in that case, because this is kind of a, it seems to be an issue that's happening across the country, which is, again, if you're selling you're in a great position, you're buying, it's obviously a lot more challenging. but from a selling perspective, are you getting any pushback from realtors or even the homeowners about not needing to do very much to put their house on the market.
Lindsey: It's definitely people who are always like, you know, I can list my house as is, and honestly this market they're going to sell it, but you know, they have less money on the table and it's kind of the same concept of list your house without a realtor. You might miss something, list your house without a stager, looking at it, giving you professional input of what needs to be there in order to add value to the sale. That's what I try to tell clients. And I have some great real estate agents I work with who understand that and communicate that to their sellers. And, it really does pay off when they listen and do everything there, you know, the house needs.
Alice: Yeah, I always wish that there was like equal. There's a way you can actually like true experiment, like same exact house side by side one is done properly. And one just decides let's just throw it on the market and see what happens and see what the real results are. Because that's the only way that I think, I mean, we have lots of statistics that show us that, you know, preparing your house to sell, staging it, you know, renovating it for resale is going to get you the, the top dollar that you're looking for. but to see a true number, like how much you're actually leaving on the table, it would be eye-opening for a lot of people I think because, if it doesn't relate to them specifically, sometimes I think people just brush it off as no, we'll just take our chances. You're like, all right, well, you know, more power to you.
Lindsey: Yeah, no, exactly. I did have one client, a couple months ago, I guess we listed in March that, he had had, he bought recently, so he knew what his house was worth. And, I went in and I gave him this list. Basically we had to take an orange countertop out. We had to do some painting and, I'd already decorated part of it. So we had a great color palette, but because he knew what his house was worth if we were going for this. But once we did all these little upgrades per se, just to really make it appealing, it ended up appraising for more than he thought it was worth and selling for that. So in that case, it really did add value and he had, I think, three over list price offers within like 12 hours. So, you know, I can't tell you that that would have happened to the orange countertop because you know, none of that stops people from buying a house, but at the same time, you know, when everything is done so well and that we switched out from marble and it just looked beautiful and it wasn't a crazy expensive thing, but it was something that would really attract a buyer being like, Hmm.
Lindsey: But you know, staging is all about value to the house.
Alice: Yeah. Because countertops is for a lay person. What seemed like a big deal, like, oh, it's going to be expensive. It's going to take a lot of effort to replace. But if it's already done for you, then yes, obviously it's a lot more attractive and it makes it that much more attractive, to everyone. Yeah. Orange county, not the, not the thing nowadays, nowhere in the country.
Lindsey: No. And we got lucky cause there was carpet on the floor, but pulling it up, there's actually some really cool retro tile. So I was able to play off of it and change the light fixture. And so, you know, it looked like a million bucks in the end, but you have to have the vision and the, you know, the gumption to go do it and change it. So,
Alice: So what are some of the recommendations that you generally, make to your clients about updating their homes
Lindsey: Most of it is paint and lighting here. I think everyone has a trend in their market as far as like what kind of real estate it is. we have a lot of basically suburb kind of country type homes that were built that people didn't really upgrade a lot. So, the ones that do go to like the cooler, more neutral color palette and update their lights to something other than the low, special, or the blue light special, really do so. Wow, it's a market. We're not the blue light special, but people want those houses and you have to think about what your buyers are looking at. They're looking at Instagram, they're like an HGTV. They're looking at beautiful homes and that's what they want at the end of the day. No one wants to go home to brown floors and brown walls and brown couch with yeah, they want cute. Yeah. And you know, everybody deserves to be happy in their home. And so much of the colors in lighting and texture of Oak, all this feelings and emotions and that creates a better sale.
Alice: Absolutely. And especially since over the past year, I don't know when you guys started. I don't know if you guys have restarted doing regular open houses to the public yet. I think over here we just started in the last two weeks or so, but for the past year everybody's been buying online. So they're, they're looking for properties online. They're only basing it on the photographs that they see or the video tours that they see. So whatever is going to catch their attention is going to stop the scroll when they're, you know, when they're looking for different properties. the one that looks the most attractive is the one that's going to get the most attention. So if it'll fall, if it looks like what they already have at home, that's not, that's not what they're looking for. Even if you don't think they need to do much for their own home, when they're buying a new home, all of a sudden it's like, oh, I don't want that. And you're like, okay, all the more reason you need to do something with what you have.
Lindsey: Yes, yes. No. For sure. For sure. Yeah. We, I don't know that we've really gone to open houses yet, but I feel like things are selling so fast. They don't even need them. So I think they literally just book appointments and I tell my clients, I'm like, we're going to get your house in perfect condition. We're going to shoot photos. And then you need to leave for two days because you're not going to keep this up and they're just going to be showing your home. So,
Alice: No, I that's funny how you say that they're not going to maintain it because I actually had clients many years ago who they didn't even sleep in their beds because they knew there's no way they're going to be able to make the beds back up the way I had them set up. So they slept on the floor.
Lindsey: I had a client to that counter top guy. He did that. He, I think he slept in a sleeping bag. Like I can't miss the bed,
Alice: All areas. You've got to know what your strengths and if you know, there's no way you can recreate it, then you know, it's like you said, the market is so hot. You're probably going to sell very quickly. So that little bit of effort and a little bit of sacrifice is going to gain you so much more in the long run. So if you've got a camp out on your floor for a day or two, you know, sacrificing.
Lindsey: My parents, I was like, I'm not keeping two kids selling a house. Like we're going to, we're leaving. Cause it's so intense. It's intense. And then every, like, I don't want to clean anything else.
Alice: No, it's true. You don't want to be yelling at your kids, pick up your toys, put pink, do this, do that. You know, it's so much more frustrating than it needs to be. you know, for many people I used to say, you know, if you're able to leave the property, for the time that your house is on the market, then that's less work that you have to do. Then when you come home, the house was sold. You could just go back to living your life. not worried about putting dishes away right away. Not making, you know, if you're not wanting to make your bed. Although I do highly advise people that to do that, you know, but you don't have to have the model home bed, you know, you can live your life.
Lindsey: Yeah. Make your bed, make your bed close. The toilet seat, empty to the sink. Yeah. Just some simple things.
Alice: I just love that you say close the toilet seat because this is the biggest controversy of all time searching for MLS photos. For those times when somehow the photographer, the realtor, the whoever just leaves the, not even just the lit though, not the scene, but the whole lid, like close it. Take the photograph. Like who wants to look at an open hole That's not attractive to anyone. It's not attractive to me on a regular basis, but especially not when you're trying to sell a property.
Lindsey: Yeah, no, it grosses me out every time I see it, I'm like, oh my gosh. And I joke too, that my hobby now is looking at listings to like criticize like, oh, I would have done this. I would have done this. Or, Ooh, that looks really good, but it's kind of a hobby to be like, oh my gosh. Like, you know, and sometimes it's little things too about some, like if they've just taken a little bit of effort and I understand people are overwhelmed, people are busy, but I'm like, that's why we exist. We, you know, the stages industry exists to do that. But simple things just like fluff your bed. De-clutter, you know, put pillows on the couch, you know, fresh flowers on the table. Maybe like so many little things make such a huge difference. And that's where even those little things they've left money on the table.
Alice: Yes. No, I agree. I mean, sometimes I understand your cash strap. You don't have a lot of funds to do it, but it doesn't cost you anything to clean your house. You know, I'm a proponent of, if you're not a good housekeeper, cause not everybody is you should hire that out for sure. Right Like it's worth every penny to have somebody else come in and clean, deep, clean your house so that there's not, you know, dusty baseboards and dirty vents and you know, sticky cabinets like that. That's not by.
Lindsey: Yeah, Exactly. Yeah. Have you noticed that the people with the cleanest houses are always like, oh, my house is so dirty. Oh, it's so messy. I need to clean it.
Alice: I know that self-deprecating, I'm like, no, trust me. I see a lot of houses.
Lindsey: I, it cracks me up and like, you really great. Like your graduate's fantastic. Like do you want to see some pictures
Alice: Yeah. What are your thoughts I mean, one of the things that I've noticed more recently, and I don't know if it's because the market is more saturated now. but when I was looking, because I was literally trying to look for MLS photos with the open lays, because it's such a big for me and I wanted to do something about that, but I was noticing that there's some crazy looking stagings out there and I don't know who's doing them. If it's the realtors who decide, well, I can do staging. or if they're newbie, stagers, cause you know, it's, it's an open market. You can come on in and hang up a sign and say, I'm going to stage your house. And there's so much work out there these days because there's so many homes. but not everybody is, just cause you call yourself a stager doesn't necessarily mean, you know exactly what you're doing. or you know what you're doing in many cases out there. Are you noting any of that in your, in your
Lindsey: A little bit It's not anything crazy. I mean, I think there's definitely some, some of them I see they're really beautifully done. and they're almost like overly designed homes that are staged. and that I'm like, it's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. But if you're selling a home, you're trying to get the most people to look at it. And a lot of these times these are the high dollar homes that have the just small portion of people that are even looking to fit the criteria for that. So I've kind of seen as the opposite way here of they're beautiful. But sometimes when it's too decorated and too perfect, then I think that closes the buyer off too. Cause they're like what That's not how I live or I couldn't live there. So, yeah, it's not relatable. Exactly. Just like over here too, you know, nobody wants to go to a house with 14 deer heads on the wall. So, you know, we have a lot of that. You need to take all those down, take down your football preference. Nobody wants to know, you know, everyone's so offended, like pull the bulldog out of the front yard. You're like, yes, no Georgia bulldogs because you're trying not to let people think about that.
Alice: That's so funny. Cause yeah, recently I've just noticed a lot of, and I don't know, again also, I don't know who the photographer is. So there's so many different players right In the real estate game. There's different people that doing different pieces of the pie. And it's kinda like if you were my photographer, even for just a headshot, let's say, and there was a piece of hair out of place. I would want you to point that out to me. Or like if my lipstick is on my teeth, I would want you to point that out to me, the same goes to a property, right So if there's something out of place, like I've seen this and it bugs me because I have so many pet pees where you've got a dining table and somebody pulled a chair out, but they didn't put it back in.
Alice: And it's not even to the rest of the chairs that are in place. Right Like I think that that is the photographer's job to notice those things, not just go room to room and just snap, snap, snap, and not pay attention to all the different elements. but at the same thing, like if the toilet seat is up, put it down before you take a picture of that bath. If the towel is out of place, you know, notice that. but I've seen things where, okay, so the bed is made, but it's not really made like these ruins comforter over the mattress and you called it a day.
Alice: I don't understand that it kills me. So I think there's gotta be a lot more educating of that to, to the open market about, you know, there's a difference like you, you have to understand that not everybody is meant to do this. Not everybody has the eye for it. And you know, thank you so much for making the effort. But if he just did a little bit more, you would get such a better result. And then therefore that's going to, I believe garner you an extra thousand dollars, $2,000, $20,000, whatever the case may be. Right. Because those photos live on the internet and as blasted across the country for millions of eyeballs to see, I wouldn't be so embarrassed if that was my house. I mean, I know that's just me. Maybe I overthink or should worry about that.
Lindsey: Yeah. I agree. I actually was having a conversation with realtor realtor today and they commented how they do so well with the numbers and the assessment of the property, like the business side. And I said, well, I really approach it from an emotional side with the buyers as well, because if you've lived in a property for a long time, there's so much to saying goodbye to a home and you know, taking those steps. So I think sometimes those lines are hard for realtors to talk about maybe with their clients, because most people, I mean, they left their house. They're like, oh, it's great. It is worth all this money and just list it tomorrow. Like I go in and I'm like, what are you listening Oh, Friday. I'm like, did you look at him Did you, you know, you know, a lot to do, you're not going to be ready Friday.
Lindsey: Okay. but I think there's, I mean, there's almost a collaboration that needs to take place between all of the players in the game, because I like to tell agents, you know, I want to come in and work with you as a teammate. So you can refer me to your clients and say, I'm sending my stager in the realtor and I will have a conversation prior to it just to discuss the listing because we have some views of like, what do you think about this, this and this. And then I can also take that approach to the client and put my spin on it. And then a photographer that I use has a great checklist. That is just like, these are the things you need to do in your home before you take photos. And so I think that should be a staple that everybody gets before they lift at home.
Lindsey: You know, just the, basically the toilet seat make the bed clean. You're saying, and people really need to be held like handheld and given it, but it also needs to be like a team effort of making sure the bases are covered because it benefits all of us at the end of the day. Like, I don't want my name on a house that looks terrible when I've done work to it. And you know, the photographer and realtor the same way, like you want to sell great properties and you want to attract new business with that as well.
Alice: So what do you say to somebody that, cause I've heard it for over the last two decades, I've heard it all, like literally get a phone call and say, oh, I have this property. I want to get on the market. I'm like, okay. So when are you planning on doing that Like you said this weekend and it's like, Tuesday that they're calling me. first of all, I'm not available to come see you right away. And second of all, it takes a little more time to really produce a product that is marketable, properly. Right. Done. Right. Like you could slap it together and just kind of show her everything in the garage and call it a day. But really that's not benefiting you in the long run because you're leaving money on the table and that's so shortsighted.
Lindsey: Yes. Very correct. Very true.
Alice: So what do you think of somebody in that case Like, okay, first of all, obviously you haven't seen the house yet. You have no idea, but based on experience, you probably have a good idea that it's going to require some level of work. Yeah.
Lindsey: Well, and I would, I would tell them that, you know, in a lot of ways I compare saving your home and listening on the market to the first date. Like when you go out on the first date, you want to impress that person. So you do your hair, you get your makeup, you have your nails done, all that takes preparation. Like you want to put your best foot forward because also when people look at your home online, the old statistic used to be, they make there might've been six seconds. Whether they want to look at your house or not. I think that's probably changed in, you know, during the pandemic, just because people have been inundated with so many photos, but you know, it, that first looks at first interaction matters so much. And that's why I think you should really take the time to step back and make sure everything's done or any, if there's anything major that could possibly hold back the sale, then that needs to be addressed and just not rush into listing on the market if you're not ready.
Alice: No. Agreed. So let's talk about that property that you just did with the orange countertops. What were some things that you guys did in that particular house that made it so much better That he was able to have a very successful sale
Lindsey: First of all, he hired me to be the designer when he moved in initially. So we got a great color palette to start with. He was smart, but, yeah, so he already had kind of the grays and the whites going and it fits the house and the character and just kind of everything because not every house should be gray. I think the kitchen cabinets were painted, so this is a smaller house and it was, you know, he could do it. we added hardware, so I added Lucite and gold hardware. Cause I was like this. It's also knowing about who's your target market and who we're appealing to cause probably a younger couple, probably not a family, but it's like, let's put some trendy cool things in here. And I was like, great. Like I want this hung the light fixture. And then the biggest change I think that really came was he had a basement and I ended up staging it as an Airbnb and put up some peel and stick wallpaper. And just that I like that's one of my favorite like contrast pictures of like, you can look at an ugly brown wall or you can look at a really cute print and a tree and you know, tables and chairs and you know, like get a feeling for what the space can be. and you know, people are looking for different things too is if you want to have as investment property or you have a teenager to live downstairs. So that really made it.
Alice: I wish we had, we don't, we don't have basements here in California. I wish we did. That would be so cool. Just to have like extra, like an extra space. That's literally kind of like the square footage of your property, like the, the, at least one single level, but then it's underground and it's a way to get away. And how handy would that have been over this past year for shelter in place
Lindsey: I know, I know they're not as popular in Georgia. I mean, there are a few, but they're not like every home, but yeah. Yes they are. If they're finished. They're great. A lot of them, I would say here, unfinished and a little, like, you know, heebie-jeebies basically an addict under your house is what it becomes.
Alice: So that's kind of like a garage. So I've been doing a lot of garage make-overs over the last year where the garage is unfinished. So you it's really this ugly place that you never really want to go to. It's where you throw all the stuff that you don't want to look at and you pull into the garage, you get out of your car, you go into the house. Like it was literally just a storage place. But when I redid my mind and I've redone it a few over the last year, it's so nice to drive in. And like it's light and bright. It's clean. It's not scary. Like, yeah, you're probably going to get cobwebs, but not to the extent that it was before. Like, I don't know, just changes your perspective of, you know, how you feel and how you interact with a space, completely changes. And I wish more people really could experience that because that could happen in every room in your house. Right. But there's always that one space that you're like, Ooh, I'm not going out there. but then you, you do a little something and then it just, it's like a 360 degree difference in how you view the space altogether.
Lindsey: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I just painted finally got my bedroom painted from a dark gray that it was when I moved in two nice creamy, light, bright color. And that has made such a world of difference of like, you know, it's relaxing, it's soothing and calming. And that's also knowing, I think, as a person, what kind of colors you like and what feeling you want to have in this space So I'm not a big fan of dark gray dungeon, like cold room. So,
Alice: So you probably wouldn't like my living room, but I did do it a very, very dark charcoal, almost black, like, because we don't get a light, a lot of light in that room. It looks very black, but in the sunlight, that same color is actually just a dark gray. and not even that darker gray, but I love it because it's so moody and I love a moody space and it just transformed has really ugly fireplace into something very sophisticated. And I'm like, damn, why did I wait so long to do it It looks so much better. Like I was staring at that ugly wall for so many years and it didn't even take that long. You know, it's just one of those things just going to make a decision, I'm going to do it. And then once you do, you're like, why did I wait so long to do it
Alice: Which brings me to the point of, there are so many people that actually like do a lot of this renovation work or these upgrades to sell their property. But how much better would your life be if you actually got to enjoy some of those upgraded spaces prior to selling your house are you seeing a lot more people wanting to do that now Like for instance, your client that you worked with, who you were designing a space for him and it just so happened that he ended up selling the house. Right. And so here was that much far ahead in the game. and then they don't feel gypped because I know a lot of my clients used to feel like, oh man, I'm doing this for someone else. I'm like, well, you could have done it sooner. Yeah,
Lindsey: Yeah, yeah. I've had so many clients do the same thing they almost get. And I think I would too, like once you put so much money into something, then you have to walk away from it. You're like, this is so nice. And I didn't get any of this. It has, there's so many emotions to it. But, yeah, I have a client now who is a fabulous project and I can not wait for it to come together, but that was basically their choice. She was like, my husband doesn't want to leave the property and we've lived here for a long time and I want it to be everything I've wanted it to be. So we are renovating things, painting everything, transforming it. And we're not, we are keeping them in their style and their home intact because I'm like, I don't want to take all of the character out of your home, all of your memories, but when you can just elevate the home and bring the colors in and, you know, make it, that, that thing you've always wanted, it's like as simple as trade out your laminate countertop for, you know, court's countertops or something like that.
Lindsey: Like I think that's one thing that people don't think about the impact and just the day-to-day living, what that does for you and how great it can be. So, and I think with the market too, people are really looking at what can I do in my home. So I enjoy it. because I can't find something to buy because people are buying their homes and going to an apartment. I'm like, sure, that's great. You sold your home and you sold it for a lot of money or sell it quickly, but like, where are you going And, you know, going from a great house to an apartment, I don't think is I guess. Yeah.
Alice: Unless you really, you just, yeah. If you needed that money for a different reason, that's, that's personal choice, but going from a, a home to an apartment, there's so many limitations that people don't realize that you now have, that you can't do in a rented space, especially in an apartment type of dwelling versus in your own home. Yeah. That's interesting to me because I would feel like right now, because having to have stayed in your own home for the past year, you would want more space than less, unless you're totally downsizing because you, you need to, and you have no need for a big, huge space anymore.
Lindsey: And I would say most people are not downsizing. Like they're upgrading. There's definitely still that, you know, there's always going to be a group that's going to downsize, but I feel like here everybody is like, well, my money, you can get so much more instead of buying the bigger house and more acreage, or maybe moving to the place they really wanted to be. And I think that's fabulous if you can get the house and the lifestyle and what you want and afford it. That's great. I do worry about the people buying them that, are not going to upkeep them for what the value is because they got into it so fast because of the market being so fast, like I'm waiting for the buyer's remorse to hit because these people are buying houses in 24 hours.
Alice: Let's have more older homes in your area. Right. Because yeah. Are there a lot of new builds or are they basically, are they generally like older properties.
Lindsey: A lot of new builds. It kind of depends which way you're going. making itself definitely doesn't have too many new bells and it has a lot of, I mean, historic antebellum properties. so there's historic homes. There's a bunch of like 1960 seventies ranches. there in the north and south are really booming and there's a lot of new builds there. So it's a very diverse area as far as what home you can buy.
Alice: Okay. And do you guys have a lot of, do you have more like single family properties out there or are townhomes and condos a thing in your spin in, in your neck of the woods
Lindsey: The condos Not so much. okay. It's definitely like single-family homes. Downtown Macon has definitely been re revitalized in the last few years and there's some really cool apartments going in and, you know, kind of like lofts and stuff like that. and just that, there's definitely a shift there. We think they opened like four, four breweries and making like the last year. And I was like, people really like beer and football here, but, I think everybody's ready for like, I don't know, just to have a culture and just to have like an identity and, you know, build that community. And there are a bunch of young families, so it's fun to see how they, they move in and kind of change the, the areas and, you know, everything keeps evolving. So,
Alice: No, I mean, that's great. I think, that's kind of happening across the country where a lot of these older parts of the, the areas are starting to get revitalized and bringing in new blood and just new energy. And especially after a year of not being able to do anything, people are itching to go out and socialize and be with people and just do stuff. I know I see it over here. Although I think people are having a little bit of a, challenge kind of readjusting to realize I'm not really sure how to navigate the new. Are you doing things any different now than you then you did pre pandemic Like, are there, things within home staging or even decorating or, renovating that people are starting to request more than they did before
Lindsey: I don't know. I mean, I've gotten a lot of master bathrooms lately, so I think people sat back. I'll tell you this, the one trend that started that I did not basically, no, Georgia got locked down and we're all sitting at home with our kids. Everybody's got to start paving their driveway. Like, I can't tell you how many driveways I saw. I was like, that's what you chose to do Like $20,000. I don't know. I was like, okay. A lot of people have done their master bathrooms and it just kind of buried. I think if anything, people are much more what they want in their home and they want to be happy in their home. And I think that's why a lot of people are moving because they're not happy in their home. And they're like, we don't like this, but they were barely home to begin with. So when you see what it is, you know, you upgraded remove.
Alice: Yes. Yes. And do you, are you guys noticing a lot of people moving out of your area or are people just kind of moving to different parts of the same area
Lindsey: There's definitely people moving around parts. I would say one of the biggest things here, if you have kids is, so that makes, you know, certain counties and areas of hot commodity. Some people have to stay in a certain district because of where, you know, their kids in school. So yeah, it's kinda just a shifting. I feel like it's kind of a shifting up of far as like what size house maybe that they can have people moving, like their dream home forever home. there's a lot of people building, they bought land and they're building, so yeah, it's just kind of a big, not so much one moving in or out.
Alice: Okay. Do you, do you see any people coming in from out of state is your area like a, do you see a lot of transplants from other areas Cause I know like for California we constantly have people, oh, I'm leaving California. It's just too expensive. They're, they're pissy about every little thing that's happening here. And yet I still see a lot of people on the road. So clearly not enough people are leaving.
Lindsey: Yeah. Not as much in Macon, Atlanta. Yes. There are a lot of people coming in from outdoors, which I'm like, I'm not sure why it is hot. Like maybe they haven't thought this through and lived through a summer yet. So we'll see how that goes
Alice: And shows that makes it more attractive.
Lindsey: Yeah. I know a little bit more of a culture shock because I feel, I feel like Atlanta is the cool, like hit sibling and making is like the still like, Hey, y'all still very laid back. very Southern, just it's funny, but you know, it's, every area has their thing. And so it's fun to get great restaurants that we go eat at. And then I come home and I'm happy in the suburbs. So yeah.
Alice: Yeah. Your area sounds cute. It sounds very quaint and that's not something that we have where I am at anyway, we don't have the various small town feels like you'd have to go further away. And then when you go to these small towns, they don't necessarily have a lot. So I mean my own little bubble here in, in, the bay area where, you know, we we're, we're a major metropolitan area. So we have access to a lot of things, which is also why housing prices are astronomical. And people find it very appealing to want to move here. You know, the weather and the access to lots of culture. You can get any kind of food that you want. and we have access to a lot of things. So when, what I've noticed when I worked in other parts of the country is what do you mean
Alice: I can't get this tomorrow. I'm still used to being, having access. And you know, I remember I was in Texas and somebody was telling me, well, this is located in this other town. I go, well, how far is it And it was, I forget what they said. I think it was like, a couple of hours. I'm like, well, I could drive there. It's not like if I need it that bad, I'm willing to drive to go pick it up. But you know, I think the mentality and other parts of the country is that you just don't do that. I'm like, I'm not waiting a whole week for you to deliver this to me. If I can get it in the same day, you know, like I'm willing to do that because that's what I do. It's not a big deal or we have access to like, everything could be overnighted and you pay a little bit more, but then the instant need or instant gratification is available to me where I may not be available to other parts of the country.
Lindsey: The shutdown definitely, pushed grocery delivery and food delivery actually became a thing. so now all the time, I'm like, this is amazing. Why did this not exist before And why didn't we way to figure this out Like, this is amazing. Like pull up and order your food and they come out and they really stopped doing that here. They're like, no, you can get out of your car and just walk inside now.
Alice: Yeah. Yeah. Hilarious. I, I think we we've touched on a lot of these things. I'm just looking at some of my questions here. My notes. What would you say has been the craziest thing that's happened to you and your business this past year I mean, obviously the pandemic has impacted people in various ways, but was there any one thing that you can remember You're like, oh my God,
Lindsey: That's the one, the list of questions you sent me. That's the one thing I was like, really I look back and I'm like, but I looked back and I was like in 2020, I did two of my biggest best projects. And it felt like is this going to happen is going to happen We don't know who's going to happen. And then all of a sudden, like actually shot buses for 'em in the same day. And it was, you know, wow, these projects, we pulled them off, you know, we, we did what we had to do and figured out how to make it happen. And so I'm like, wow, I'm still here and I'm still in business and I'm still doing this and it just keeps growing. So it's not anything, like crazy funny, I'm trying to think of something, but
Alice: That's okay. Everybody's experiences are different, but yeah, that's, that's amazing that despite a pandemic year business continued to flourish, which is amazing. And you're doing great things in your area, which I think is what everybody hopes for. Right. Because, you know, unfortunately there were a lot of businesses that were impacted home improvement, whether it's good or bad. I mean, because depending on how you look at it has done really well. In fact, it's one of the biggest, industries right now. but we're also facing many challenges with getting the materials and you know, is at a shortage and, wanting to do something. If there's anybody out there that's wanting to put their house on the market, you know, this is something you're doing, even if it's not next week, start prepaying for it now because it's going to take time to do it properly.
Alice: And also if you need the repairs, if you need those upgrades, the people who are available to do it is not waiting for you to call them they're out and about, and they're working. So, and then, you know, collaborate with someone who is in your area that is knowledgeable about the, about all things design and specifically about how to better market your property so that they can lead you in the right direction. So you're not, you know, wasting money, doing things that are not necessary or doing the wrong things that someone's going to come in and say, oh, sorry, you painted it that color, but that's really not going to work. And you got to do it all over again because nobody enjoys hearing that.
Lindsey: No, not at all. And I think that's one thing, sellers that it takes time. So I worked on a huge property, these 8,000 square feet. So it was a really big house, but, I've met with the end of January. We started prepping everything in February and I think we prepped and then stage, it took about three months to get it ready, but she had an office first day. So, you know, it's kinda like, that's amazing when you do it, it pays off. Yeah. And nobody wants to hear that and be like, oh, you have a few months, but anytime I do a consult the timeline, and then I'm like, do you have anybody lined up If you do get into books, like right now, we're waiting more for trades to be available than we are at, you know, for other things. So,
Alice: Right. Have you ever, been in a situation where you're I go, yeah. My brain like completely forgot the thought. I'm like, w as you were talking, I'm like, I want to ask her this. And then like,
Lindsey: Yeah, I had a great story earlier and I was like, I was going to tell all of that. And I'm like, I can't remember what it was. I don't know.
Alice: Yeah. I know I was in the shower this morning and as I was listening to something, I'm like, oh, these are some good questions. And then like, I I'm like hurrying out of the, trash-talker write it down before it like disappears from my brain, which is something that happens quite often these days, which is so freaking annoying.
Lindsey: I talked to Siri in the middle of the night and give her reminders on what derive mind me the next morning. I'm like, Hey, tomorrow at nine, remind me to do X, Y, and Z. And my brain is trapping and I'm thinking of all the, to do list to do.
Alice: Oh my goodness. have you, oh, because you are in Atlanta and I think a lot of the home improvement hubs are based in, well, you're not in Atlanta, but it's relatively close to that. Easier for you to get materials. Are you experiencing challenges out there as well
Lindsey: It's not been too hard yet. I have started kind of jumping on things a little bit faster. there's an order I have to call it a day about to be like you, for sure ship this. Right Like we're really shirts in the mail and we'll also learn, like, it can say, oh, sorry, we ran out of that and we'll tell you later. and really it's not. So that's part of the design side too. Like, you're you want the time, but he has to figure out what is here and what's available. So I've kind of figured out where my availability is and you work from that. But I mean, right now I'm waiting on lights for our house and we're literally waiting on the carrier. They're like, they've shipped, we're waiting. It's they're two weeks behind. So, yeah. So transportation has, the logistics have been quite a challenge and you know, there's problem with Amazon stuff. Cause we actually have an Amazon, I dunno like a giant distribution center south of us. so that's not too bad, but you know, big stuff, furniture, freight, anything like that. there's definitely delays there. So that's been,
Alice: I think it was last summer. I was waiting on window, covering sows, shutters, blinds, everything to arrive. And it shipped, like you said, you're tracking, it is shipped. It was local. It was here. It just never would get to the house. And every single day was said it was on its way. And I'm like, what the heck I think it took two weeks, almost three weeks. And I even went down to the FedEx, which have a call it center to find out like, okay, where is this I'll just pick it up. Like, I'll get a truck, even have to do multiple trips. I'll just, can you just set it aside and I'll get it because if you guys are that slammed, dude, I can't wait. Like every single day we're waiting for this material to be delivered and it wasn't getting delivered and don't even ask me what happened.
Alice: I have no idea. Then one day we're in the garage, we're all doing stuff that extra rolls up. Oh my God. We were, so I started jumping up and down screaming. We're helping the guy, I load everything. I mean, we had like 30 boxes of stuff that we've been waiting on it. Cause it was a, it was a new build property I were working on and all the new houses have like a bazillion windows. Right. And he couldn't explain it. I'm like what happened He goes, I don't know. I'm just, I'm taking over this rope for someone else. I'm like, dude was just driving around in the truck with this material. Not delivering it. I don't know why. And the house is located like a half a mile away from the distribution center. There's no excuse. I don't understand it. But
Lindsey: Yeah. And I think that's where it's even more important now to have somebody involved from our side projects because we understand all of that and we also understand how to cope with it. And like I'm entrepreneurial, you're used to kind of figure this out and let's go this way. And that's like a daily occurrence if not hourly occurred sometime. And you know, I love being that go-between for a client and a contractor to help them make the process that much easier because I mean, my FedEx guy too, he's like, it's crazy. They're paying us extra to work on Sundays. You know, there's just so much stuff that people are ordering. Cause people also went Amazon prime, CRA crazy, I think. And just ordered some stuff so,
Alice: Well, that's why they're giving you like promotional credits for like not having it next to their
Lindsey: All together and take longer and save money. I'm like, you know, so I did order a, a new cell phone and I don't know, a couple of months ago. And they were like, oh yeah, it'll be today. You know, then we'll have somebody come out and help you set it up or something to transfer something. It never showed up. And they're like, oh, well we delivered it. And I'm like, I walked around the whole property. I've been home all day. There's nobody here. Like nobody's been here and it was deliberate. The next a neighbor called a different neighbor and was like, Hey, do you know what this unmarked white box is on my front porch It was my cell phone. Unfortunately left it out. And I was like, okay. So like, like I'm glad nothing happened.
Alice: We have a lot of problems with people with theft at, from Amazon delivery. I think people just follow the trucks and wait for them to drop it off or to follow the deliveries. And then they just grab whatever. I mean, I was so mad because someone I live in a gated community it's fairly safe here. I don't usually have that issue. I have everything delivered here, for sinks to, you know, to everything. Like if you weren't going to my front porch, you get some good stuff. But somebody stole a book. I was so mad. It's a book, not a big deal, but I really wanted that book. And I saw it on my ring app that this dude came in at like 10 30 at night, stole my book. And then apparently he opened it and realized, well, what am I going to do with this Leaves it on, on the curb, like further away from the house and my, when my daughter left one day, she saw it and she brought it back to me. I'm like, see what is wrong with me But they're just randomly out there swiping things, hoping to get something good that they can turn around and sell. And I don't know what
Lindsey: I know. They would get like a lot of toilet paper and
Alice: Commodity. It's true. Yeah.
Lindsey: True. True. I don't know. I have so many lights too. And I just had my garage painted funny enough, but I moved everything inside. So it looks like there is a cardboard Christmas tree. It just like stacked up. I'm like the life of a designer where we just have all these boxes. I'm sure my neighbors are like, what does she do with all this stuff here Like all the time dropping stuff off.
Alice: I secretly love it. It's like every day I get a little something it's fun.
Lindsey: I know. Okay. This is done. Okay. Great. Now moves to bed. Yeah. No, it's fun. It's exciting. So
Alice: Yes, constantly project managing. That's what we do life. Okay. Well, pretty much everything I have. I mean, unless you have any last minute, tips that you want to offer, you know, homeowners, as they're preparing their houses to sell, like even in a, in a hot market, we could definitely do a little extra to put a little extra back in our, in our pocket because it's worth it.
Lindsey: Yeah. I would say neutralize as much as possible. So, you know, take anything sports related, you know, in my area, you know, mounted deer head. but yeah, just really like not for homeowners, not to try and overly like stage their house like that. When you felt like you didn't need 14 teal kitchen accessories on your kitchen, like we just want to see your kitchen, like clean kitchen counters are fabulous. but really right before you show up, make sure your air is on, make sure your lights are all on in your house. Like make sure it smells good. Like don't cover anything, but like your house, you should, it should be welcoming when people walk in it to see it, the whole baked chocolate chip cookies type thing. maybe not that, but just even having it smell good and fresh, like that is essential for making a buyer have emotion and then, you know, bring you offer so you can sell it.
Alice: I agree. Quick question for you when you said, you know, neutralize it, I feel like sometimes people take that to the extreme where it ends up being, too much of a vanilla box where there is no personality. So what are your thoughts on that Because I feel like sometimes when everything is a little too plain and not exciting because it is totally neutralized, there's nothing memorable about it. So is there anything that you do in some of your properties that, that you would recommend people do in their own homes
Lindsey: Yeah. here we tend to have more brown boxes like brown on brown, on brown, then white boxes, probably California versus a little bit more trendy. But, yeah, I would just say even on, like I tell people too, like your home, the head of color theme, because if you think about, you're looking at photos online, they need to connect and tell a story. So you want to kind of keep that going. You know, obviously a kid's room is different. Like we know this place is, but like your kitchen, your dining room, then your master really should coordinate as far as like the, the times and the color. And that can be as simple as go buy some throw pillows and pick to do, you know, I'm just saying maybe in gray and you know, there's your color. and then also please add white to your space here. People need like, so much, like just buy a white throw pillow or something like that. And just break out, break up the monotony. I would say the color story.
Alice: Is there a lot of wedding, your area Is that why Okay. And they against and Tom completely opposed to painting the wood out
Lindsey: Yes and no. Some of them are, some of it, I, I feel like the builders in this area just said build our brown is great. And so for the last like 30 years, that's all they painted. And then now they picked non-offensive gray, which in my opinion is still like too dark. I'm like, there's a good gray and there's like a cult, Daryl gray. So just finding that happy medium, but really the houses are just older. So it's almost like we're kind of stuck in like the 1990s, two thousands times capsule. And we just need to, out of it a little bit, take away the red dining rooms and you know, people like neutral, calm colors and that appeals to them. And if they really don't like it, then they'll paint it when they move in.
Alice: I do feel like sometimes it's, it's harder in areas where they're kind of stuck in their ways because that's just what everybody's always done. And I've had people, especially men freak out like you can't paint wood. I'm like, sure, you can, it looks great. The thing anymore, like nobody wants to have oh, cabinets and you know.
Alice: Boards and yeah, that, that, that's not it. And it's, that's not appealing. So, but all the more reason, like, especially in your area, because that is so typical when you do something that's atypical, it stands out. So it's kind of easy for you to have that opportunity to make your house look different from everybody else's.
Lindsey: Yeah. One of the projects I did last year, we painted all of their Oak molding, white and her husband crazy about it. And the first idea and you know, the typical men love wood. And you know, a lot of people love the warm tone, but once we painted it and finished it out, he, his comment was like in here and like, like he loves the room and he loves the space and how bright and white it is. Cause it doesn't have to be, you still want those soft elements and just how much it opened up the space. And so I think people have to see the contrast and even the possibility of what their home can be, because that is one of the best before and after photos to show people like, if you paint this, you get this. And how would it impact that makes yeah,
Alice: No, I agree. Yep. Those are the best, best testimonials. And they're like, oh, I had no idea. You're like,
Lindsey: Yeah, maybe a little bit. So yeah,
Alice: I know. Right. Where can people find you Lindsey online
Lindsey: So I have a Facebook page. It's Navy and gray designs. I'm also on Instagram. I have a website.
Lindsey: Navyandgreydesigns.com. That's currently under hopefully going live. you know, next couple of weeks we keep thinking it's ready and then you have a few more edits and you're like to change this and do this but, yeah, Facebook, I do it. And then I've also opened up or it's a private group. It's a Facebook group for, busy working moms and just some life hacks, make things simple for us and just kind of connect mom. We do wear all the hats, do all the things and what can we do to make it easier on each other. So
Alice: We'll include that information in the show notes. So if you're listening to this or watching this and you can't remember what she just said, just check the show notes and it'll tell you where to go spending time with me.
Lindsey: Yes. Thank you. I really appreciate it. Thank you. I've enjoyed it.
Alice: Awesome.
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