April 2, 2014
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Top Four Issues to Consider When Scheduling Decorating Updates During Extended Absence from One or More Properties

By | Uncategorized | No Comments

This week is High Point Furniture Market and Spring has sprung. Many of our Guests are finalizing plans for extended absences around the world in some combination of Vacation, Humanitarian, Mission and/or Sabbatical Work and we are scheduling decorating to be completed while they are away. Lists finalized, budgets approved and CFA’s (cuttings for approval on fabric, trim and finishes) are posted by mail.

All is good, there is Decorating hope in the air.

Front door with entrance hall of house

Things we like to accomplish while you are away include:

  1. Updating the decor in your main home
  2. Refinishing floors in a rental property Read More
March 25, 2014
2

Decorating a Family Trust Owned Property, Solving Problems Virtually by Ann McDonald, IIDA, NAPO

By | Design Fundamentals, Extended Absence, Income Property, Multi-Generation, Succession Living | No Comments

How We Decorate a Family Trust Owned Property over the Internet

Decorating a home is complicated enough. Add some storied family history, a new family member, a new board appointed trustee by way of Grandfather and the next generation with ideas of green vegan living in a changing environment and the mix can become toxic. What was once a lovely destination cabin on the remote plains of the middle west used for hunting and fishing is now the epicenter of Family Battle Chapter #13, all over a set of Quilts and the next phase of use: green living.

Log cabin ranch-style behind pines

Capable of destroying legacy and leaving shrapnel for generations, this simple plot is enacted hundreds of times over in varying degrees in board rooms and over skype calls in Small Family Foundations world wide every month. Does not matter if it’s the America’s version of the middle west or a Yurt in the middle of Turkey. Seriously. The issues are the same. Legacy intersects children with trustee and/or wife  and/or over authority and stuff. The story is as old as Abraham. Older actually… Read More

March 4, 2014
2

Luxury Custom Design for Estates, Trusts and Homeowners with Multiple Properties

By | Design Fundamentals, Extended Absence, Income Property, Multi-Generation, Succession Living | No Comments

2014 has been a year of edits. As my team and I looked over the past to note what we did best at Couture Chateau, it came clearly into focus.

We design rooms to entire estates that are under the ownership of private trusts or families and owners who handle and manage multiple properties as part of their portfolio.

We do so entirely online.

From idea to implementation, from management of installation, coordination of staff, storage, delivery to training of household staff on execution and maintenance of a finished look within a room or entire estate, my fabulous team at Couture Chateau and I had developed a system that worked.

Our guests (old school clients) love the flexibility, the 24/7 access, the follow up and the understanding of how life is really lived in 2014. Read More