Behind the Scenes

Today it is 65 degrees and sunny, so we are headed to the zoo!  I might even whip out my flip flops for the occasion.  In other news, it’s time I update you on the whole staging business, as many of you have asked about it.  Before I forget, let me say a huge thank you, as I received a ton of encouragement and support during this process.  And now for the nitty gritty details…

Unfortunately, I don’t know how much I’m allowed to share on the web, since this house is still on the market and there are likely privacy issues involved.  That said, I won’t be sharing many photos, but I will divulge a few of the projects that I tackled along the way. 

As it turns out, staging is not interior decorating.  It’s far more about minimizing, organizing, revealing the finer attributes of a room, and adding a few decorative touches here and there to enhance the space.  In a sense, you are depersonalizing a space.  The stager has to tactfully help the seller to part with their personal style, family photos, collections, etc.  Can you see how this might be a…tender process?  To get started, I met with the sellers one evening and completed a walk-through of their home.  They went through it with me the first time to explain the ins and outs of each room, and then I walked through it by myself, taking copious notes.  I also snapped some “before” photos for my personal portfolio and to remember what each room looked like when I was out running errands or brainstorming.  Then I raced home and typed up a lengthy consultation report breaking down what needed to be accomplished in each room by the seller and the stager.  I do love me a good list.  : )  Before slipping off to sleep, I emailed the consultation report to the sellers and realtor.  A few days later—after giving the sellers some time to get started on their end of the list—I popped back over to their house and spent a good chunk of time rearranging furniture (although being pregnant, the sellers did all the actual grunt work), organizing closets, and adding decorative touches from my personal staging inventory—which, at the moment, is pretty tiny. 

It bears mentioning here that I really did not have much of a staging budget going into this.  So I had to dig deep.  And fast.  My brain definitely worked overtime while I slept, because I would wake up in the middle of the night to write down ideas that I’d been dreaming about—and I’m normally a sound sleeper.  Digging deep meant using several items from our own home (Is that weird?  Turns out that many professional stagers actually did the same thing while getting their business off the ground).  I’m praying this house sells fast—yes, for the sake of the sellers and realtor involved—but also because I miss my lamps and art work and bowls and…you get the picture.  I’m pretty sure our neighbors thought we were moving out that week!  Here a few of my piles wait to be packed up…

But I didn’t just use items from our house.  I actually found some really cool art—textured and mountainesque—at a thrift store, so I snagged two pieces of it for under $15 total and then just spray painted the frames (Oil Rubbed Bronze by Rustoleum) to give it a more updated look. 

This black and silver mirror was also on super sale at Ross, because the mirror was unattached from the actual frame.  So I turned to my dear cans of spray paint (Oregano by Rustoleum this time—sorry for the horrendous final picture—promise that it looks really good) and also taped the mirror back into the frame.  Hodge podge?  You bet.  Will anyone ever know the difference?  Nope—although I tend to share my dirty secrets with you guys, so I’m counting on you to keep it quiet. 

And of course, I raided Pinterest for other art ideas, which led me to this herringbone paint sample piece, which I’d been wanting to try anyway.  It’s not a big piece, but it worked great in their entryway to add an interesting pop of color that tied in well with the green mirror. 

Clearly this would make a lot more sense if I was showing you pictures of the entire space, but alas, the scattered details will have to do.  At that point, I gave the sellers a few more days to finalize things on their end (more organizing, cleaning, etc.), and then I went back for a final walk-through.  I made a few final adjustments and then took my own “after” photos.  I also handed the sellers a very, very  final “to do” list, along with a list of things to complete before each showing.  I tried to make it as specific to their needs as possible by including items like, “Remove the strobe light from X’s room before each showing.”  Yes, they have little munchkins who have special things in their rooms—you can’t take everything away from the kiddos! 

Everything was finished within one week.  The realtor called me a “workhorse,” which cracks me up!  I’ll take it as a compliment—a trait I get honestly from my own parents.  The sellers were great to work with and did a ton of behind the scenes work as well.  They even rented a storage unit, which was awesome, as it allowed us to pare down and really simplify some of the spaces. 

And yesterday I got my paycheck in the mail—woot!  Today the mister and I are trying to figure out exactly how to break the paycheck down.  So far we’ve split it into percentages for giving, taxes, replenishing our checking account with money I spent on a few items, putting a lot back into future staging opportunities so that I’ll have more of a buffer when I make future purchases, and then paying myself a small amount.  (Note: We have a good friend who is a CPA, and she's been super helpful, especially as we traverse the tangled web of taxes.)  While we would love to save more of this money, we also feel like it might be necessary to put some of it back into the business side of things, as future staging opportunities have already been mentioned to us.  Over time, we likely will not need to put such a large percentage back into the business side of things.  Also, the realtors I’m working with are willing to purchase some items, so we’ll figure that out as we go.  The good news is that anything I buy, I get to add to my small staging inventory—and some things I’ll probably use in our own house.  We did purchase an earthy pendant for their dining room—which will stay with the house—but the realtor eats that cost in hopes that it will attract more potential buyers.  It’s a tad tricky figuring out who pays for what, which is why I tried to be extra saver savvy.  

Whew.  I’m exhausted just writing about all of it.  The good news is that I loved every minute of the process.  Do we know if this will lead anywhere?  Not really.  I’m not sure if I can handle a kid, teaching, the occasional stage, and all the other things we’re involved in.  I want to guard my time, but if there is one thing I’ve learned about being busy, it’s that you tend to get more done in the amount of time you have.  I adhere to the old adage, “If you want something done, give it to a busy person.”  There is something in me that loves to create, to renew, to inspire spaces and the people living in them, so for now, I’ll take the busyness.