Our guest today is Linda Leyble. Linda has been in the home staging business for over 20 years. The owner of A Beautiful Staged Home, she specializes in creating warm and inviting homes for new construction builders and realtors. She also helps home sellers who still live in their homes by re-arranging and editing these homes to appeal to the target buyer in their area.

We want to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com and click “Ask Spark Joy” to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show.

While you’re there, sign-up to join our Spark Joy podcast community and get notified when each episode airs. You can also join the Spark Joy podcast community on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter at the handle @sparkjoypodcast.

Join The Spark Joy Club today!

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• Hear how Linda got her start in home staging and how she founded A Beautiful Staged Home.

• Learn the difference between decorating and staging and how the design choices you love may not spark joy for a potential buyer.

• Linda shares the importance of decluttering a home before staging. Buyers want to see that there is plenty of storage for their family and it’s a challenge if there are cramped closets and overloaded cabinets.

• What are some of the things that buyers are looking for when they are shopping for a new home?

• The importance of neutrals and muted tones. How to create a soothing environment that will appeal to the most potential buyers.

• How professional home staging, much like professional organizing, can be well worth the cost in time saved and the increase in your home’s sale price.

• Check out Dr. Phil’s wild home décor:
  Dr. Phil's Wild Home Decor

• What are some of the things that distract from a home’s appearance?

• The differences between occupied and unoccupied stagings

• What taste-specific decorating is?

• What kinds of things can someone do to make their home more sell ready on their own?

Linda’s's favorite home staging tip:
“Think as a buyer would think when looking at your home. Could a buyer imagine themselves and their family living in your home?”

What sparks joy for Linda:
She is excited about staging this gorgeous home. Take a look:
Linda's latest favorite staging

To learn more about Linda and A Beautiful Staged Home, visit A Beautiful Staged Home and on FaceBook: FaceBook: A Beautiful Staged Home

Gems:

• "You may love your style and taste, and that's wonderful, but a buyer may not and it could keep your house from being sold."

• "I was so excited that my father-in-law's home sold so quickly after my staging. I knew it was my calling."

• "Be sure to stay true to the overall style of your home when you are planning the decor."

• "Neutrals are always a good bet. Light colored walls make a room light and airy."

• "People are sometimes surprised at the cost of staging. But their home will almost always sell faster and for a higher price with good staging."

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

Special Guest: Linda Leyble.

This week KonMari Quick Tips episode is dedicated to tidying with kids! KonMari’ing with kids presents its own special opportunities and challenges, but it can be done and can even be fun!

So now, we want to hear from you. Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life.

Head over to Apple podcasts to subscribe and review the show, which helps us reach others along their tidying journeys.

To extend your tidying experience, you can join the Spark Joy Club!

Visit sparkjoypodcast.com and click “Join the Club” to become a member of the Spark Joy Community or join us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Thanks for tuning in and we hope your day, sparks joy.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

-The question from listener Heather that sparked our Quick Tips episode.
-How to determine whether to tidy your kids clothing after your own.
-Be mindful that all your child’s things may feel sentimental to them. Respect this, but guide your child in making choices.
-The importance of age and ability in guiding your child’s tidying experience.

KonMari Quick Tips:
-Tip: Utilize your kid’s natural love of their toys in teaching gratitude for the things they keep and the things they let go.
-Tip: Use a Thank You box as a means to create a physical boundary around the sorting process.
-Tip: Your kids will have different lengths of time they are able to focus. Keep sessions short.
-Tip: For artwork, consider using services such as Artkive to consolidate and preserve the most special things. Artkive
-Tip: Work with your kids to get rid of old broken crayons and paints in favor of things that encourage creativity.
-Tip: When organizing, encourage your child to consider that space is a precious commodity and consider which item is in it own space.

We are pleased to introduce the new Joy Sparker members of the Spark Joy Club.

Welcome!
Elisabeth Swim
Jonathan Perry
Janice Mellon
Melissa Woody
Robin Porter
Marte Rieser
Marla J. Williams
Rosanna Sutherby
Chelsea Lewis

Visit sparkjoypodcast.com and click “Join the Club” to become a member of the Spark Joy Community

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy

The KonMari Method is a practice that you can definitely apply to your home independently without the help of others. For those of you who were able to KonMari their space on their own based on the techniques that Marie Kondo outlines in The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, which was published in 2014, Congratulations!

That brings us to this: if it’s possible to tidy up on your own, why isn’t everyone already living clutter free life of joy?

In this episode, we discuss hiring a KonMari Consultant. Why, and when, it might be the right choice for making a great success of your tidying festival.

If you're just getting started with KonMari or need a refresher, we recommend you head over to Episode 1: KonMari 101 prior to listening to this episode.

We want to hear from you! Tell us your burning tidying questions or share stories about how KonMari has impacted your life. Find us at www.sparkjoypodcast.com and click “Ask Spark Joy” to leave a question or comment for a chance to be featured on next week’s show.

While you’re there, sign-up to join our Spark Joy podcast community and get notified when each episode airs. You can also join the Spark Joy podcast community on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter at the handle @sparkjoypodcast.

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

Joy Checks:
Karin- My client this week had a baby today! This family had just moved from an apartment to a new home under an accelerated time frame. We KonMari’ed their things prior to the move and we worked this week on organization in their new home. And, today she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!

Kristyn- I’m in the middle of a radio tour to be followed by presenting the KonMari method to 24 libraries throughout the Chicago area. For dates and times, check out the For The Love of Tidy events page: For The Love of Tidy Events Page

-Learn why getting and staying organized can be learned. Even if you have never been an organized person, KonMari is a life changing skill that can be learned and applied.

-Marie Kondo’s quote regarding learning how to tidy in Cosmopolitan Magazine Cleaning Celebrity Marie Kondo Thinks We Should Learn How to Tidy in School:
“One thing that I do think about is perhaps including tidying in education. Not necessarily that it should just be part of education, but it's really about creating a place where everybody knows how to clean. And so that could be in schools — or, of course, it could also be taught at home. But one thing is that in Japan, most schools have home economics as a class. And so to add more cleaning and more tidying and organizing tips into these home economic classes.”

-When it may be time to hire a KonMari consultant

• Analysis Paralysis
• Stutter Stepping
• Joy is just not clicking into place

-A refresher on how NOT tidying could be costing you money:
Spark Joy Podcast Ep 37 | The True Cost of Clutter

-Some of the things our clients say to us about how hard it is to reach out for help.

-The one thing we hear from almost all our clients. P.S. It’s never true!

-The misnomers clients hold onto that hold them back from taking the step toward hiring a KonMari Consultant.

-The benefits of hiring a KonMari Consultant:

• Accountability
• Physical and emotional support
• Project and time management
• Customized guidance and tools
• Real time, objective feedback
• Resources
• Expertise and experience that extends beyond the realm of organization

-The different types of services available from a KonMari consultant:

• Initial, free of charge phone consults
• In person consultations:
  • Individual sessions
  • Consulting packages
• Virtual consulting
• Workshops and presentations

-Here’s Kristyn’s Services page:
For The Love of Tidy Services

-Here’s Karin’s Services page:
The Serene Home Services Page

-How to find a consultant in your area:
KonMari Certified Consultants

Gems:
“I actually am a firm believer that it's just about whether you do or don't know the ways that you can declutter. It's not genetic.”

"There’s a societal norm that assumes we should all be able to keep our homes tidy-that it's just part of being an adult."

"Why isn’t everyone already living a clutter free life of joy?

"The good news is there are tons of information out there to help you change your story."

“Isn’t this the messy home you have ever seen?”

“I know I should be able to do this myself, but I have accepted that I just can’t.”

"If you’ve gathered information about KonMari from any and everywhere and you’re still looking for the best way for you to finish this journey once and for all, consider reaching out to a certified KonMari Consultant."

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy