If you’re reading this, I want to thank you for your interest, and support in 2012.

It was five years ago this past weekend-December 31, 2007-that I became a small business owner, and registered The Refreshed Home with Westchester County. Yes. December.  2007.

Not sure if anyone really had any sense back then of how badly the economy was damaged, or how long the aftershocks would continue. Even if they did, it just didn’t fit into my timetable.  Having given myself permission months earlier to make my escape from mediocrity at the end of that year, it’s doubtful even the Four Horsemen could have deterred me. 

After the economy, the other thing I had under-estimated was all that’d be entailed in establishing my brand. Naively, I thought the aura of my past positions with pedigreed employers would linger-perhaps manifesting  as a soft glow, accompanied by the gentle tinkling of windchimes?-automatically drawing clients to me, like children to an ice cream truck in July (sigh).  

A major shout out to Rick Whelan, design and branding zen master, and founder of Ditto!Design!  is in order.  I came to him with the name of the company, a color scheme, a bag of trinkets and magazine photos that represented what I wanted others to know and sense about the business; and the rest is history. You’re the best Rick, thanks for getting me on the map, in such an appealing way!

2012 saw brisk demand for some specialty services: Accompanied Shopping, Accessory Rental and Remote Consults.  A series of workshops led to some nice local press, and one of my stage properties was featured in the NYT over the summer. It was a strong year for The Refreshed Home in many ways that don’t end up on a ledger sheet-but here are some that did: 

2012 saw 22 TRH properties close, with a combined selling price of $14,906,134.00

• $850K of that were two remotely staged properties
• Three were 7-figure properties, and one was just over $200K.
• Several had multiple offers, two went over list.
• Two needed to rent furniture, everyone else used what they had
• The average was $677,552.00; the median price slightly less, $655,000.00

Additionally, three more properties, with a combined selling price of just under $1.35M are in contract, scheduled to close early 2013.

Not too shabby!  So again I say-if you are reading this, I thank you for 2012…2011…2010…2009…and 2008!