I would love nothing more than to sit here with you and say that every luxury staging runs flawlessly, but little snafus effect even designers with YEARS of experience. Items have been forgotten, things have been damaged, and every now and then, a piece of furniture simply does not fit like we had intended. But its okay! Our experience, designer eye, and connections give us an edge in the hiccup department. We take the challenge on with a positive outlook. Through years of experience we have seen it all and are quick on our feet to think outside the box and come up with a great solution.
Walk throughs sometimes even surprise our careful planning. We love every time we get to partner with Tammy Heckart and Northridge Homes. One of our favorite features of working with them is the ease of access that they give us into the homes, because we are industry professionals. It makes our job simpler, and more efficient… most of the time. When we were first contacted about staging their newest property, I was already in the neighborhood for another client meeting. It worked out perfectly where they could share the garage code with me, and I could go walk through the property without having to take someone else’s time away to meet me at the house. However, with the ease of already being in the neighborhood, comes the fact of not having my tape measure with me like I normally would. As designers, we live off of floor plans! Typically, I take a couple quick measurements of the spaces to use as a reference when selecting furniture later. However, being a designer makes me creative and a great problem solver! In our profession being tall is an asset! MY measurements in particular have been extremely helpful. My shoes from heel to toe are just shy of 12 inches long. So if I need a quick room measurement, all I have to do is physically walk the space and count my steps. Additionally, I am just barely over 6 feet tall. So I can quickly find the height of windows by just merely standing next to them.
Finding measurements without a tape measure is a cake walk when compared to timing issues, but this is nothing the EED team can’t handle. In a fast paced industry such as luxury home staging, if you can’t keep up, you quickly fall behind. This particular staging was already a little different than normal. Instead of our typical morning time slot with our movers, we agreed to an afternoon opening in order to complete the staging a few days sooner to accommodate our clients timeframe. However, when our movers morning job went a little over, the rest of our schedule was slightly shifted. I was able to meet our movers at our storage unit to load them up and send them off to the house. Unfortunately, I had to leave to make my previously scheduled afternoon appointment. The great thing about being surrounded by highly skilled, motivated, and flexible designers at EED is one of our other designers had already cleared her afternoon to help us complete the staging. Originally, she planned on helping with some last minute tidying and photos, BUT she came in and took charge! She was able to guide movers, hang artwork, set up the bedding, and place accessories. However, she did have to leave early to go pick up her daughter, so our fearless leader and owner came to the house while the movers were finishing up until I could arrive from my appointment. Being surrounded by the best in the business gives Elizabeth Erin Designs an edge to complete your staging efficiently and beautifully. I stayed until the staging was complete and pictures could be taken. Normally our shots are taken during the day, but the afters were clearly taken at night for this staging to allow for flexibility. Want to see it during normal daylight hours? Check out the listing on Zillow.
One of my favorite spaces after photos were taken was the first floor office. Sometimes offices can prove difficult to photograph, and square offices are particularly challenging. When you are living in the space, most people choose to face the desk towards the wall. This creates a larger open space in the center of the room and allows the homeowner to easily hide any cords. However, in luxury staging we tend to have the desk face the door you enter the space from to show it well. This creates an impact by providing a tone of a grand executive space. In this staging, we decided to have the desk face the wall, but we didn’t want it to lose its visual interest. We centered a beautiful rug in the middle of the space to tie the desk, accent chair, and bookshelves together visually. Another key feature to note is the use of visual height. The utilization of tall bookshelves, window treatments, and a larger piece of art hung above the desk, keeps a buyers eye moving upwards toward the coffered ceiling. A great selling feature to this property! We always highlight the unique selling features of every home we stage with our luxury designs.
Each property has its own challenges, and some challenges turn into the best outcomes. Don’t forget though, that behind all the stunning pictures is a lot of professional work that sometimes can go unnoticed. Huge shoutout to all of the people that make what we do possible! Our amazing Realtor connections, unbeatable movers, and all of the great ladies that make up our EED team. I could not do it without each and every one of you!
Check out what else our team has been up to by following us on our social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram. And don’t forget to check back in two weeks for my next Katie’s Corner blog. I am going to answer all of those commonly asked questions. If you have a topic you want us to cover, let us know by shooting us an email at office@ElizabethErinDesigns.com!
Until next time!
