Thumbs Up

“Hiring Sue and Manon is like hiring those mythical fairies who spin straw into gold. You leave your plain, humdrum house and return to a fantastical elegant castle. We hired Sue and Manon to stage our house for sale. They did such a great job that we engaged them to stage our new condo to stay. “Stage to Stay Put as they term it. When staging a house for sale, the goal is to remove the owner’s imprint so a potential buyer can envisage their living in the home. We were concerned that staging to stay would not reflect our tastes. On the contrary, Sue and Manon carefully listened to our requests. Most of our large furnishings were re-used, and with new accents came to life once again. Cherished pictures and paintings also found their way into our new home. Some new items purchased were one of a kind, adding to the overall elegance. We give two thumbs up for Sue and Manon. If we had more thumbs we would use those too." - Dennis and Libby

“We recently moved into a new house and hired Sue and Manon to help us with the interior design of our new home. We moved from a small bungalow to a two storey house with the hopes of using our existing furniture, but also knew we had to source new pieces to fill the rooms and walls.

Sue and Manon have a great talent for design and after seeing our existing furniture and new home, quite quickly assessed what we would need to fill in the blanks. They also spent time getting to know us and listened to our wants and needs which enabled them to source product (furniture and decor items) that we absolutely love, and fits beautifully with our existing furniture.

Moving can be a stressful time so it was nice to have Retreat Home Staging and Redesign’s services at our side as we unpacked and began to set up our rooms. They work extremely hard, and are very quick at pulling everything together, whether it is putting together furniture, hanging pictures on the wall or placing decor items around the house, they knew exactly where to put everything. After being in our house for a few days, our family and friends thought we had been there for months based on how organized and beautiful the house looked.

We are extremely happy with their services, Sue, Manon and Jan are amazing to work with. We had complete trust in their expertise as designers, and are very impressed with how organized they are - they come with everything needed to set up your home and get everything in working order. I love my new home and would recommend their services to anyone looking to stage their home to stay or sell…you will not be disappointed! I will definitely utilize their services in the future.

Thanks Retreat Home Staging and Design for making our house into a cozy home!” - Denise & Steve C.

“If you’re looking to ‘Stage to Sell’ or ‘Stage to Stay Put;, then I would highly recommend Sue and Manon from Retreat Staging!

I hired Retreat Staging for a ‘Stage To Stay Put’ to redesign and furnish the main floor of our home and they didn't disappoint!!! It’s so stunning and absolutely beautifully painted, designed and furnished! Sue and Manon picked out the paint colours and all the new furniture including accessories and kept our personality and very dirty dog into consideration when choosing the new purchases. It was top service from start to finish and I didn't have to lift a finger and totally stress free! They managed ordering of all furniture and accessories, delivered, put it altogether and took out all the boxes and garbage and all I had to do was walk into my beautiful new home! Family and friends are absolutely amazed on the transformation they did and how much warmer and cozier our home is now! I would’ve never been able to pull this together the way they did. Needless to say we are doing a lot more entertaining as we love showing off our new design!! 

Thanks Sue and Manon - you guys definitely changed our home for the better!!” - Astrid B.

“Hi Retreat, mission accomplished! I just wanted to tell you that Rose & I were so pleased with you and your team and the fantastic staging job done. You came up with some amazing creative ideas that we never would have thought of. Your staging helped us get the price we wanted and we’re very grateful for that! Cheers!” - Rod & Rose

“Last week was one of the busiest and most exciting times in my life - for many reasons - and you played a very important role in that assessment.

From the moment you took your first walk through my home, magical things began to happen. Your creative ideas burst forth spontaneously as you suggested new decorative possibilities for every room we viewed.

On August 11th when you and your team arrived to begin staging the house, my son and I sat visiting on the patio, staying out of your way. When you appeared a few hours later to invite us inside, we were amazed. Pure joy! Every room glowed with such beauty and creativity that I was hard-pressed to hold back the tears. My daughter in Barrie DID shed tears when her brother sent her pictures even as he was walking around looking at everything for the first time.

So many miracles created by moving furniture around, by hanging such a variety of beautiful art work, by lamps everywhere shining brightly, by plants of all sizes & shapes appearing in every room, by the newest furniture surprises (such as the plexiglass chair in the kitchen) . I could go on & on with the marvel of it all.

Heartfelt thanks to you and your team for the memories I will cherish forever of the beautiful dream home you created, right here in the house where I have lived for 49 years! With deep appreciation for your decorating expertise,” - Grace W.

“We heard about Sue and Manon from a friend and were very happy with their work 'Stage to Stay Put'. This is my first house in Canada and it looks perfect because of these two. I love the colours and furniture selection and they met all our criteria as space was a bit of a challenge. They made it into a beautiful cozy home 🏡 💕. I recommend them for stage to home as they are so good at it 😊.” - Aarushi

“I worked with Sue and Manon on a recent home sale. They OVER delivered...making updates to the home as needed and ensuring everything was staged to perfection. The home sold within days and I thank Sue and Manon + their team for such a great effort. Can't wait for the next home with this group!”
- Taylor Jones of Taylor Jones Group

“It is our great pleasure to recommend Sue Taylor and Manon Messina to any individual or family who are looking for highly professional interior designers to help them sell a home or decorate a new home. From the day we met Sue and Manon, they impressed us with their talent, creativity, professionalism and dedication to what they do.

They decorated our whole four-bedroom house in such an impressive way that, despite the location on a busy road and the asking price being on the high side, it generated lots of interest from potential buyers towards our property. Honestly, when we walked into our house after Sue and Manon had been done with it, we could not recognize it. The space had undergone a true transformation. It looked super spacious, modern and luxurious. The furniture pieces were chosen with careful attention to every detail and the accent decoration pieces looked stylish, sophisticated and tasteful. This played a significant role in attracting serious buyers and allowing us to achieve success in the process of selling our home fairly quickly.

We are pleased to highly recommend Sue and Manon as interior designers. Based on our experience, we can confidently confirm that they take pride in providing their clients with the best possible service.” - Igor and Inessa

“These ladies are amazing. They were a joy to work with and all their finishing touches made our home picture perfect. We sold in 18 hours, over asking! I’d highly recommend.” - Amber W.

“Sue and Manon were amazing! Moving is stressful but they were reassuring and gave me confidence that everything would be okay. They had a vision for the house and came in quickly and transformed our house into an absolute gorgeous space. They tried to use as much of our furniture and decor as possible. I could not believe that with many of my own items, my house looked like one of the houses in a magazine but still cozy and warm. Super nice, super energetic and they did a fantastic job! I would highly recommend them!” - Andrea H.

“Hey Sue and Manon ;

I wanted to take a moment to tell you how impressed I am with your work. You have an incredible ability to take any space and transform it into an attractive and inviting place that anyone would love to call home. I’m 100% convinced that your staging is the main reason my listings are selling so quickly even in this challenging real estate market! Keep up the good work 👌😎” - Tony S.

“I decided to surprise my husband with a main floor makeover this past Christmas. He finds clutter very stressful and since both of us work fulltime and have no style sense, I brought in the experts from retreat. They were enthusiastic and had great ideas to transform and update the entrance, living room, dining room and bathroom of the house. I liked the fact that they try to use existing furniture and décor to keep costs down. In one day, they filled the inside and outside of the house with holiday colors, greenery and cheer! My husband loved the calm, beautiful uncluttered rooms and I loved him happy and in the holiday spirit!  I highly recommend calling retreat home staging & redesign co. for your next redesign project-I know that I will! ” – Pam G.

“You MUST get these ladies to come and stage your home. Not only are they personable, energetic, efficient and fun to work with – they are fabulous and know what they are doing. They made my house stunning and as a result, the house sold for well above asking and more than larger houses in my area. Every person who came to the house including competitive agents commented on how beautiful the house was and how well it showed. The return on investment was 10 fold!” – Molly S.

“At a loss of what to get my daughters for Christmas, I decided last minute to surprise them both with bedroom makeovers. Even though the time line was tight, retreat home staging & redesign co. took the challenge head on! In little time, they created two very unique bedrooms to suit the unique personality of each of my daughters. I was delighted that the team made it a point to reuse and repurpose existing furniture, while at the same time adding in fresh new details and pops of color to update each room. To see the look on our girls faces when they opened their WRAPPED bedroom doors, was priceless. I would recommend retreat without hesitation ”  – France B.

“Our family was “upsizing” from a tiny two bedroom condo to a 3 bedroom home.  We are a family of 5 with 3 children under six, which made the moving process a little more hectic and we needed help! We had the privilege of Sue and Manon’s “stage to move” services (who I credit for the quick sale of our condo) and loved their vision and style, so we had to have their help with our new home! They joined us on one of our home visits to review the layout and colours of the home and went over our style, furniture requirements, and budget.  Their professionalism and positive attitudes immediately put us at ease and we knew that we had made the right decision.  Over the course of the next few weeks, they sourced and purchased all the furniture and decor for our home.  They thought of the little things like our children’s favourite colours, interests and can’t live without items.  Finally, the BIG DAY arrived!  Sue and Manon arrived (3 day’s after we moved in) and kicked us out for the day while they got to work.  When we returned all we could say was “WOW!” We were at a loss for words, our home was perfect.  The attention to detail and understanding of our taste was never lost in translation.  They created one of a kind art work for our children’s rooms and the master bedroom oasis we’ve always wanted and dreamed about.  Each room was comfortable and practical but delivered the WOW factor!

 I would recommend  Sue and Manon to anyone.  They took what would normally be a stressful time and made it enjoyable.  It was so comforting to only really have to concentrate on unpacking and leave the design in their more than capable hands.  If you are a first time home buyer or someone who is looking to spruce up your home, you can’t go wrong with these fabulous ladies!!!!” – Lauren P.

“As a Realtor, I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to sell a home. However, I knew It would be difficult to be objective as real estate, not staging is my area of expertise so I called in a Sue and Manon. They went from room to room adding the detail and making changes that made my home look better than it’s ever looked. I can’t say enough about what a pleasure this “dynamic duo” are to work with. Not only do you get two for the price of one; they are fun, creative, and work with the home owner to minimize costs and create a look that will bring in the prospective buyers and make them want to stay…and own your home.”
– Donna C.

“I hired Retreat to help me with the daunting task of giving my physiotherapy clinic a much needed face lift. New paint colour, new carpet, some construction, basically a whole new look for my practice, all a little overwhelming when life is already too busy with running a business and a full family life. Sue and Manon were up for the challenge, listening to my thoughts and opinions as to the look and feel I was looking for. They went beyond my expectations. They created a space exactly as I envisioned, but with the added details that brought everything together and created both a professional and warm environment for both my staff and my clients to enjoy. I have received nothing but rave reviews as to the feel and look of my practice. Thank you Sue and Manon I definitely could not have done it without your help and great advice.” – Anna P., BScPT

“My wife and I were very pleased with the service retreat home staging & redesign provided.  We had been having a really hard time finding long-term renters for our country home.  retreat enthusiastically rose to the challenge and provided staging (on time and within budget) which resulted in securing a long-term renter within 5 days.  I highly recommend their services to anyone looking to stage, redesign or update their homes.” – Patrick K.

“In just three weeks - from start to finish - with Retreat Staging and their Remax rep Brian, I sold for asking - just over $1 million. Brilliant! 
I was building up north so time was critical. I had to sell my house for the highest price in the shortest time. 
Sue and Manon at Retreat Staging guided me through the process so thoroughly that I was able to declutter and pack up most everything in one week, address any fix ups and touch ups with their team member Ron, watch their moving team put most of my goods into storage, then witness the incredible transformation via Team Retreat’s tasteful design. The place look beautiful- so much larger- and it just popped. My friends were blown away! 
Brian their realtor was by my side the whole way. From the Wednesday when the listing went live, I waited until Sunday of the open house and I had a great offer. By Monday, one week later the house was sold! 
The competition is tough out there... you need Retreat Staging to get the absolute best offer. I’m not going to lie - it’s hard work to comply with their advice - but it’s totally worth it!” - Shelley C.

“My experience with Retreat Staging convinced me that it was a very useful aspect of selling a home. Sue and Manon were super-efficient at tidying up my house and placing the staging items in each room. I learned a lot of about the importance of good lighting and leaving corners visible to increase the sense of space. Staging improved the look of my home in the brochure and the 360 degree virtual tour. Over all, staging helped ease the psychology” - Vandra

“When we went to sell our house we were introduced to Sue and Manon, and their electric attitudes! We were so amazed how well they reused what we had and tied it all together by reorganizing and simple touches. 
Soooo when we got our new house we upsized and ended up with some empty rooms. So, we went back to Sue and Manon to ask them to help us pull everything together. They listened to our likes and dislikes and rough ideas. They were magic! 
Picture tv show style big reveal with the home owners crying we couldn’t imagine our house looking so great! 
I would one million percent recommend Sue and Manon for staging both to sell and to stay! You will fall in love with their style and their amazingly awesome personalities!” - Sara L.

“As a Realtor, I use Retreat Staging regularly. Sue and Manon and the whole crew truly go above and beyond. They are fabulous with homeowners and have a friendly, no pressure approach. They are always there to help, are flexible with work schedules and come up with creative solutions when needed. These ladies work hard!” - Kristy W.