Join us EVERY Friday at 1pm. EST with CSP hostess Diva GINA MCNEW

Every week we explore the many facets of the real estate home staging industry. Our guest will entertain, educate stimulate and motivate you. In our brief history, Diva in the House has had exciting guests, such as HGTV stars, Donna and Shannon Freeman, Christopher Lowell, Sabrina Soto, Mary Butler, Christina Ray and we have been fortunate to learn from Staging and Real Estate Industry leaders such as Christine Rae, Lynelle Hartman, Carol Julius, Shell Brodnax, Bill McNulty, Dewey Sadka, Jessie LaFalce, Patricia McGreevey, Cathy Lacy, and more!

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Today is not Friday? That’s okay! We have archived the shows for your listening pleasure!
Past Shows – Click here

Our HOST...

Host Diva Gina McNew and CSP President Christine Rae.

Host Gina McNew is owner of Diva La Difference interiors. She is a member of Certified Staging Professionals, President of the Atlanta Chapter of The Interior Design Society, An Advisory Council Member and Certified Trainer of the Dewey Color System and a certified Real Estate Home Stager and InteriorRedesigner.

2008-09-19

Special Guest: Diva in the House is Going to Australia!!! .

Come spend an hour getting to know Australian's Janne and Janelle. Two women with a big desire to bring the Professional Staging program to Sydney. As Janne explains, "Jenelle and I took the plunge and both decided to head to Toronto in August to do Christine's course. It was fantastic! There is nothing like face to face teaching to get the most from your time and money as well as the hands on experience of staging a house as part of the program was just an amazing way to understand the process.

We learned so much about staging and, as Christine says, we had a few 'Ah Ha' moments that had never crossed our mind when we started.

Now we're home again and raring to go!! We are armed with our fantastic kit of goodies to help with our business and we are happy to say that we are looking at starting training here in Australia in February next year by bringing Christine out to Sydney to run the first training course. We're very excited about the whole adventure and we can't wait to get cracking!"
Tune in to hear their exciting adventure!

Janne and Janelle   Website

Jenelle & I met at The School of Colour & Design where we were both studying our Diploma in Colour Consulting. While we were there we found that we both lived in the same suburb of Sydney and, after a few chats, found that our kids actually went to the same school (pure coincidence!).



When we graduated we both went out on our own. We always got on well in class and kept in contact afterwards. We were both finding it tough to get work and were feeling isolated so we decided to team up and create The Colour Designers (see www.thecolourdesigners.com.au) and have continued like that for 3 years. As well as colour, I do interior decorating and Jenelle does personal organizing.

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2008-09-12

Special Guest: John Gidding of HGTV'S Designed To Sell Series.

They say you have to spend money to make money. Nowhere is that more true than in the high-stakes world of real estate, but who wants to sink a fortune into fixing up a house they're trying to sell? Designed to Sell shows how to turn a tired house into a showpiece by giving sellers a $2,000 budget and a team of experts to transform their house into the hottest property on the block. Find out if all the hard work pays off with the ultimate goal: a bigger bottom line. Chock full of interior-design ideas, home-improvement tips and real estate insider secrets, Designed to Sell has something for everyone.
Join me as I interview John Gidding one of the Designers from Designed to Sell as we talk all things Staging!

John Gidding, Designer from HGTV'S Designed to Sell   Website

Born in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1977, John Gidding attended American schools in Turkey and then Switzerland before moving to the United States for college, where he attended Yale University. An enthusiastic art and math student, he was immediately drawn to architecture and went straight through to Harvard Graduate School of Design for his master's degree in 2003.
Gidding has worked in architecture and design firms around the world. His experience ranges from residential and institutional architecture to landscape architecture and urban design. His television career started as an offshoot of modeling, which he started to do to pay for graduate school. Having done runway for Armani and Gucci, he was cast to be one of the host/designers on ABC Family's Knock First, a design show for hip teens wanting to update their spaces.

Following the success of his first TV show, he moved to New York City to start his firm, John Gidding Design, and has done numerous residential renovations there and around the country. Keeping one foot firmly in architecture, he is thrilled to bring his breadth of experience to Atlanta, Ga., to join the Designed to Sell family.

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2008-09-05

Special Guest: A Chat With the House Doctor~Ann Maurice.

Tune in to enjoy an hour of conversation with Ann Maurice, aka The House Doctor. Ann speaks about how she started her home staging career and the fabulous television career that soon followed. Known as " The Queen of Cream " to her UK audience...Ann is anything but neutral about her love and passion for the Home Staging Industry.

Ann Maurice   Website

Californian interior designer Ann Maurice has a truly unique combination of skills and experience that set her apart from others in her field. Prior to her ten-year Interior Design an Home Staging career, she spent thirteen years selling Real Estate in the San Francisco Bay area.

Twelve years ago she introduced the concept of property presentation to the UK on national television. As TV's House Doctor, she has gained a host of avid fans worldwide that tune in faithfully to watch her transform British homes. She has since become one of the top property / interior design faces on British Television, whose programmes attract in excess of 2.5 million viewers per episode

The House Doctor programmes are now broadcast in a number of countries including USA, UK, South Africa, New Zealand and Canada and are rapidly gaining in popularity as in the U.K.

Ann has published six books 'Ann Maurice, House Doctor'; 'Ann Maurice, House Doctor - Quick Fixes'; 'House Doctor - Instant Makeovers'; 'The Best of House Doctor', 'The Property Book' and 'House Doctor: A-Z of Design'.

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2008-08-29

Special Guest: An Interview with Matthew Finlason of the new HGTV Show THE STAGERS.

The Stagers goes inside the hectic world of professional home stagers as they rush to transform a problem house into a showroom — often in just a few days. Amid the tantrums and turmoil are tips and touch-up ideas you can put to work in your own home.
Enjoy this hour with Matthew and I as we discuss the new show, and exchange Staging Tips and Tricks!

Loud, outspoken, and endlessly entertaining, professional stager Matthew Finlason has an eye for design and a knack for breathing life into any dull space.
Born in Jamaica and raised in Canada, Matthew's father introduced him to the family construction business at a young age. Through this experience, Matthew learned the ins-and-outs of property development, literally, from the ground up. Matthew soon discovered that, like his decorator mother, he had a talent for designing and dressing finished 'show-suites' to attract buyers.

When his family returned to Jamaica and later relocated to the Cayman Islands, Matthew remained in Toronto, to work as a landscape designer while pursuing his university education. Then at age 18, he began spending his summers away from university in the Caribbean to develop residential and commercial property with his family. Today, from his base in Vancouver, he continues to act as a designer and consultant for family real estate projects in the Caribbean, Toronto and Vancouver.

In Vancouver, Matthew is known as a prolific designer, renovator, property developer and stager.