The Real Estate Staging Association (RESA) is very proud to announce Kathleen Garvey of Enhanced Interiors & Home Staging, Ft. Myers Florida has been selected as the winner of the very first STAGER IDOL competition for Professional Home Stagers, the property merchandizing arm of the Real Estate Industry.
Kathleen went through 4 stages of the competition. First there was a public vote to determine the top ten finalists. Those top ten submitted staging projects in a report format and those were judged by the Celebrity Judging Team to move to the Final Five Finalists. The Final Five submitted another project and the round continued to the Top Three contestants. Those contestants participated in a final round of judging consisting of a phone interview with each of the celebrity judges.
Celebrity Judges; Ann Maurice; the House Doctor, Stephanie McWilliams with the HGTV hit show Fun Shui, Margi Kyle of TV's Desperate Designs reviewed the staging projects and award points to each contestant ultimately Garvey pulled ahead in points and was determined the winner.
Garvey will receive, fame and cash and prizes totaling over $12,000.00. Sponsors of the competition include Real Estate Staging Association, Certified Staging Professionals, Dewey Color Systems, Smart Stagers, Brook Furniture Rental, Kirkland's Home, Active Rain, 3 Ddream.net, Feng Shui Cure, Feng Shui Plaza, Village Workroom, Interior Redesign Industry Specialists (IRIS), Inventory Guardian, Stager Talk Magazine, Real Estate Shows, Trade Secrets, Diva in the house Radio.
RESA would like to thank ALL of the participants in our first Stager Idol Competition. This was an amazing ride of publicity and awareness for our industry and we could not have done this without all of you!
Woo Hoo!! That's fantastic news. Well deserved, Kathleen. I'm so very proud and happy for you. And to Jackson and Renee - you two did a superb job. There's no doubt in my mind that the task of selecting the Stager Idol (our very first ever) had it's fair share of challenges. All of the projects were incredible.
Congratulations, Kathleen.
Kathy
nothing more needs to be said -- excellent, Kathleen, and all the other contestants.
Bravo to you, Shell, and a HUGE BRAVO to RESA -- quite proud to be a part of it!
Congratulations Kathleen. What an honor considering your extremely talented competition, Jackson and Renee.
Thank you Shell for doing such a wonderful job of organizing this. I'm sure it was an incredible amount of work.
THANK YOU Everyone! It IS a great honour for me to win and it could've easily been won by either Jackson or Renee. There are certain professionals who stand out in this staging industry and both stagers are definitely incredible PROs to acknowledge!
We all worked very hard on this competition and gave our best! All of the other competitors are to be congratulated as well for submitting their entries into this first-ever home staging contest! It has been lots of fun and having the chance to chat with the judges was a highlight for me!
Thank you to Shell and RESA for the countless hours spent behind the scenes with the organization and follow-through on this huge endeavor. With the continued high energy and dedication from you and the many others promoting RESA, Home Staging as an industry will continue to grow exponentially!
The competition was fun and I am deeply respectful of the other Top 2 finalists (Renee and Jackson) and the other stagers who initially entered. Each year ahead, I believe Stager Idol will become bigger and better. I am certain more stagers will participate and continue to raise the bar for excellent Home Staging standards! Congratulations to all of the Stagers who made Stager Idol a success!
Congrats to Kathleen for doing such a great job representing the professional stagers in North America! Everyone did a great job and it was fun to watch the contest progress. Thanks to Shell and RESA for their dedication and commitment to raise the standards of staging that we all strive for.
Kathleen,
Congratualtions to you on this amazing award! I am sure the judges had a challenging time with all of the amazing finalists! I wish you the very best. You are are going to love the Dewey Color System when you do that. I wish you the very best and do us proud as you promote Stagers all around! That's terrific!
Have a Colorful Day!
Kathleen !!!Im so proud of you!!!!!!!!!
Congratulations to you and the 2 runners up, Renee Pratta and Jackson West, you all did amazing work and to me u are all winners!!!!!!!!
Kathleen you are the American Stager 2008...how does it feel to wear the crown?
LOL......Fernando and Melissa...you both are too cute! I have replied personally to the others (via private AR contact) but you have me smiling too much to not say something here!
Everyone has been so very kind! Fernando, the folks in my spinning and yoga class call me 'Kathleen the Tango Queen' and are now confused by which Queen to call me by! LOL....I will answer to all! Thank you for the Florida vote!
For me, it is a VICTORY for ALL STAGERs everywhere. Please know that I consider this honour very high and hope that any venue which opens where I can garner more attention for Home Staging, will hopefully bring more business opportunities for each one of you!
Melissa- Welcome back from vacation! Ready to go out on another one? A gigantic 'home staging' cruise would be a fun gathering to hang out on for sure! Time for me to join the gym's 'Boot camp' for a few weeks and get a little more 'bikini' ready for summer! I promised my mother she could come with me if I won...BUT...she snores soooo loudly! What am I gonna do? LOL....I asked her husband about it and he just shook his head and said '"You asked her to go with you!" (laughing)! Oh great. : )
Thank you again everyone! Jackson and Renee both bring excellent staging work to the forefront and I have had many people tell me how much they truly enjoyed learning about Home Staging via this contest. They loved the photos and the different styles as well! Again, I am thankful to RESA and the many sponsors who supported this grand opportunity! Warmest Regards-Kathleen
That video is awesome! I know I speak for the other contestants when I say that I was honored to be in the running with you. I never expected to gain such a great friend in the process.
Congratulations again, I know that you will continue to do our industry proud!!!
Hello Jackson! Thank you so kindly for your thoughtful post. Getting to know you during this competition was definitely a big bonus for me as well! Sharing our thoughts with each other during the many, many weeks of Stager Idol was a lot of fun and I feel fortunate to have gained your friendship and respect.
As I mentioned earlier, the winner could've easily been you and reviewing the many styles of staging represented certainly made it a challenge for the judges. All aspects of Home Staging need to be considered and it shows the general public what a talented home stager can 'bring' to improve their real estate presentation!
Jackson, I appreciate your creative work and know in my heart...you will always be a successful leader in this industry! Stage on.... Warmest Regards- Kathleen
WoW my timing is impeccable! This is the first chance I have had to wish you a sincere CONGRATULATIONS on AR to you Kathleen and I see that Jackson wrote in today too!
It was so much fun getting to know you both! As I wrote to you privately, I'm sure this win will only make you soar to new heights!
My very sincere best wishes you were a great competitor.
Thank You Renee! The competition was lots of fun and I am sure you have had people asking "when we all will be on HGTV!" : ) Actually, probably in the near future, it would not surprise me to see manymore talented stagers from Active Rain (and we already have a few stars!) appear on that network! Hooray for Staging!
Truly, I appreciate the camaraderie during the competition and know that marketing opportunities like Stager Idol help publicize Home Staging and its benefits to homeowners and Realtors. Most of us know that we are quickly blossoming as an industry and it is a garden which needs constant attention to grow.
Your talent and abilities set you apart as an amazing professional Stager Renee! Congratulations to you!
Again, this IS A WIN for ALL STAGERS...and I am proud to have shared the Top Tier of Stager Idol with you and Jax...and especially proud of the other professional entrants who took on the Stager Idol challenge by entering their work! BRAVO to ALL!
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Super - What a tough job those judges had! Congratulations to Kathleen! Happy Staging to All - Julie