Setting the Stage

When I get really excited I tend to say, “Oh my word, oh my word, oh my word!!!”  Sometimes I even jump up and down and do a little happy dance.  So you can imagine how I felt when a realtor in town who is a friend of ours called on Tuesday asking me to help her stage a house that’s going on the market in a few days!  Holy cats!  As it turns out, my friend has not been overly happy with her current stager; apparently she’s somewhat pricey and struggles to be flexible in her staging design.  Since I’ve worked with my realtor friend in planning a baby shower and buying a house, she has a pretty good idea of what my style is and decided to see if I would join her in executing our very own stage.

I got the call at 3 pm on Tuesday, and she needed the house staged by 12 noon on Thursday.  Within about 30 minutes of her initial phone call, she showed me the house layout and then handed me a wad of cash to go out and purchase furniture!  She kept saying, “I trust you and I really like your style—I want you to do this for me.”  Picture my jaw practically hitting the ground as I mentally freaked out.  Yes, I was on cloud nine, but I was definitely sweating the super short time frame—and the fact that I’ve never staged a house before!  Of course I had to call my mom and practically scream the good news to her—hardly letting her get a word in edgewise—as I flew across town to look for a sofa/love seat, chair, area rug, and ottoman.  The funny thing is that my mom always helps me pick things out and actually purchase them, because sometimes I get stage fright (pun definitely intended) and hem and haw without being able to make up my mind.  I knew this time I would have to be more decisive…eek!

There are many confusing details to this staging story which I won’t bother to share, but just know that finding great furniture at a reasonable price at the last minute is…difficult.  For example, I really thought I had found the perfect linen sofa—modern, clean lines, fantastic price, ready to be sold on the spot—when a sales lady informed me that the sofa was actually located in the wrong area of the store, which meant it had to be ordered and wouldn’t be available for at least a week. (In case you're wondering, that's not the price of the sofa--that was the price for a three piece set.)

Yeah, that wasn’t happening.  I needed to be able to walk out with a sofa in one hand and a chair in the other.  In the end, we found a sofa and chair on super clearance at a local furniture chain, so they were willing to sell them to us off the floor.  It didn’t hurt that they had two of each piece in stock.  I snapped a photo of the sofa, but I didn't get one of the chair.  You'll see it all together in the staged photos below.

As it turned out, my friend needed a few more pieces that we couldn’t find on such late notice, so she ended up renting some of our furniture—so fun, right?  You might recognize our dining room table and parsons chairs, along with our ottoman, tray, glass hurricane, and wicker end table.  If the layout feels a little sparse, that was intentional.  You can’t necessarily tell from my photos, but the house is actually quite modern.  We wanted to keep the space open, rather than feeling cluttered or overly traditional.  Also, the table was used to serve wine and appetizers, so it wasn’t quite so bare on the day of the initial showing.  And don't you just love those huge, bright white plantation shutters?

Oooo--I can't forget to mention the cool light fixture hanging above the dining room table.  After seeing our dining room light, my friend decided she needed something similar for this house.  I think it's fantastic.  While my friend had already purchased several of the accessories and some furniture herself, I was able to do some of the hard and fast searching for her when it came down to crunch time.  Often the thrill of the hunt is my favorite part of shopping, and this challenge was no exception.  I can’t wait to help her out in the future—yes, there might be a future to this!  And it involves being paid!  So.totally.awesome.and.unexpected.

Although these pieces may not be exactly what I would have picked out had I had a bit more time, they were available and worked great for the staging.  I spoke with my friend today about the initial showing to the realtors, and she said they loved it!  And...she even mentioned that a local real estate agency asked who had staged it for her!  Can you believe it?  I know…me neither.

While I’m certainly not counting on this to be a regular thing, I am so happy that I had a chance to try my hand at it.  I have lots more to learn, but the opportunity fell into my lap and I was able to jump on it.  Now here’s hoping the house sells in a snap when it goes on the market!