The Trailer Diva

I saw this quote in a wonderful ad by Brandon homefurnishings. It shows a photo of a chameleon and talks about adapting to furnitures’ new retailing environment. With as quickly as our world is changing these days, our ability to adapt and evolve can mean the difference between being successful or extinct.

Today’s consumer has an increasingly short attention span. If your product doesn’t offer them what they feel they need and are looking for was well as being an exceptional value, they’ll keep looking until they find someone that does.

Make time every day to search out emerging trends and “what’s hot” in your market. One of my favorite tools is Google’s Alert service. This is available at no charge and is an easy way to be in the know on any subject that is important to you. It’s also a wonderful way to monitor what is being written about you and your company. A company has numerous times has used my trademark Lifestylist without my permission. By using the Google Alert service I’m able to see when my trademark is being used by someone other than me many times.

It isn’t always about how much you spend, but how much you think. Learn to use the resources available to you and success will follow.

One of the questions I always get asked is exactly what is a Lifestylist, and what is unique about the Lifestylist Lifestyle. The second most asked question is what makes me a Trailer Diva!

The Lifestylist philosophy is that “It’s all about You” - the clients life and style is what dictates how a Lifestylist works with you. My favorite example is I had a client in Phoenix, Arizona that was a major Phoenix Suns fan, and their team colors are orange and purple. The client wanted their entire home done in these colors. What they wanted is what they got, complete with a child’s room with a hardwood floor striped like a basketball court.

I just spoke to a friend who’s dog had just dug up her entire garden and her daughter slammed the door on the neighbor’s hand - all in about 30 minutes time. Her needs and lifestyle are completely different from my Son - no kids, no dogs, and lives in front of his computer. What my style is wouldn’t work well for either of them which is why I need to understand the client and what their “hot buttons” are. It’s takes extra time and sleuthing to achieve this - many times the client has trouble putting into words exactly what they are looking for but they know it when they see it. I take the responsibility very seriously - a person’s environment can truly change their lives in a positive or negative way. If someone is happy in their home their quality of life improves.

Next to being a mother, becoming a Lifestylist is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. I’m looking forward to expanding the concept and what it offers in the years to come.

Not only is the physical Home Idea Factory getting spruced up these days, our websites are in the process of having some exciting changes done as well.

Lifestylist.com will feature even more tips and ideas for the homebuilding and remodeling industry, and thehomeideafactory.com will have fresh new Life & Style sections to help you become your own Lifestylist.

We want to know what you are looking for when you visit our sites. Email us at: z@lifestylist.com and let us know your thoughts.

The only good thing about the heat that we get here in Texas is that it’s still May and my tomatoes and radishes are ready to enjoy! The basil plants are about 3 ft. high and it looks like it’s going to be a great year. This is the first year I’ve experimented with peppers and I have a few that are almost ready to pick.

My home is a live-work space that was built in the 40’s to house a printing company. When I drove past it the first time it was love at first sight - a large building (I originally thought it might have been an old YMCA) with a Southwest feel. It had only been owned by 2 owners and needed quite a bit of work but I had to have it. It has lots of light, cement walls, high ceilings and land that I can grow things on but it is also very close to Dallas.

I’ve now owned “The Home Idea Factory” for four years and have accomplished some of the major remodeling projects that I wanted to do - a new kitchen and bath. Before I could start on those projects I had to rewire and plumb the home which lead to the bathroom being in the only area that had plumbing to it when I bought it - the kitchen. Finally, I have a real kitchen and a real bathroom! Thanks to the miracles of IKEA, there is hope that for the first time in years I can be organized.

I’m also realizing that I am a creature of habit. When you move to a new home you don’t have the history of where you “expect” something to be - when you remodel, you are used to going to the same spot for something for a number of years. I’m still going to the old spot where the refridgerator was even though it’s now across the room, but it’s a small price to pay for having my new, organized kitchen and bath.

I spend a lot of time doing research on trends,and it seems like one of the fastest emerging hobbies is cooking. People are starting to turn away from boxed, “quick fix” meals and are swinging the other way towards great homemade food. Food is love - when made by our own hands it can nourish the soul as well as the body. People are wanting to spend more time with their families and friends in the kitchen.

As a Lifestylist(r), my job is to listen to what my customers want and help them customize their envirnoments to achieve that quality of life. Every day people are paying more attention to how their kitchens can function -not just look pretty, and asking for help in coming up with the perfect space for them.

There is a woman on the FoodNetwork named Sandra Lee who came up with a concept called Semi-homemade. Her show is about using store bought ingredients -usually from a can or box - and fooling your family and guests into thinking that it’s really homemade. Why even try to fool someone? It’s like lying - a lot of times it’s easier to just tell the truth than to make the effort to fool or deceive. Why not just do it right from the beginning?

I’m enjoying the new trend of Cooking with Kids - parents are seeing the value of good nutrition and that it makes a difference in how their kids act and feel. When the parents cook healthy for the kids they cook healthier for themselves. We have research today that we never had before about what chemicals and preservatives do to us so we have no excuse. Cooking healthy is usually less expensive and can be just as fast. And it can be a great creative expression for the kids as well. I have a nephew who loves Alton Brown (I do as well!) He makes cooking fun, and gives a lot of excellent information in a relaxed setting. Kids think he’s really cool and see how a lot of cooking is about science - how different ingredients interact can make all of the difference.

Last week I was at the Manufactured Housing Show in Hershey, PA and it was nice to see that kitchens and cooking are just as important and on trend in that industry. I saw homes with kitchens that could rival those in a $1,000,000 home - brick ovens, 2 dishwashers, refridgerator drawers - it was all there. It was rewarding to see that spending time in the kitchen will continue to be more important than ever.

There is nothing I enjoy as much as getting together with a talented group of people and sharing ideas on homebuilding. The Southern Arizona Homebuilders Association in Tucson, Arizona asked me to be an instructor for their Institute of Residential Marketing course last month, and I jumped at the chance.

When we all work together we will all succeed, and this group was very giving with their successes and challenges. Individuals from Oregon, California, Nevada and Arizona attended so there were viewpoints from all over the West Coast.

As a Lifestylist(r), I like to stress how important it is to make a model home feel like a home that someone wants to live in - not just a designer showhouse. It should be filled with vignettes of hobbies, dreams and Lifestyles that the potential new homeowner might experience in their new home. It truly is about Living the Dream.

It was really fun to open up the classes eyes as to what Patriot Homes and Manufactured Housing is now bringing to the market. There are still companies that build “shade and shelter single wides” but more offerings are out there for great looking workforce housing that is achievably priced. As the labor force gets smaller and smaller, it will make even more sense to build homes in a central, protected environment.

Life is like a box of chocolates -you just never know what you’ll find in the middle. If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be “decorating trailers” I would have called you a liar. But here I am in Hershey, Pennsylvania working on some homes for a manufactured housing show and I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.

Why manufactured housing instead of traditional built homes? Manufactured / PreFab/ Modular/ FactoryBuilt homes are cool! In this crazy semi-homemade world where we’ve been told it’s OK to take shortcuts, it’s nice to see homes built the way they should be built - with attention to detail, engineered, and built to suit the customers lifestyle.

Where will I go from here? I’m looking forward to seeing this type of building grow into its potential, and being able to be a part of the success.