Helping someone sort through years of memories - both good and bad - and decide which ones to keep and which ones to part with, is definitely not for the faint of heart!
Staging homes for sale is the most emotionally challenging part of my work. As a Westchester County Interior Decorator and Designer, most of my clients hire me to help them make memories. But when I stage a home, I am most often called in to dismantle them.
I'm currently working on a staging project in Ardsley New York where it's going to take a lot of lovin' from all of us! As Realtors my readers, you know the drill. Parents live in a house for 50 years and raise two sons. Birthdays, holidays, snowstorms, heatwaves, mother's day, father's day, camp, school, trips, bar mitzvahs, graduations, weddings and divorces - all took place within these walls. And now, the mother is gone, the father in a nursing home and the sons? One is a lawyer living on the left coast and the other a 
doctor living on the right.
Naturally, my client the doctor, needs all the help that he can get. And I am there, right by his side. We are psychologists in this businees, ready to talk and work through the process. He has no need for shovels as he lives in an apartment, and how many ladels and spoons can he fit in his own NYC kitchen? So, we sort, we wrap and we box - separating what he will KEEP - either personally or in storage for the grandchildren when they have homes of their own. We box and we pack what will be given to those who NEED - clothing, utensils, bric a brac and furniture-placing it in the garage for the Vietnam Veterans to pick up shortly. And lastly, and most difficult, we hire the dumpster to fill with what remains, so that the work of updating and staging can actually begin.
Naturally, this house has been neglected for the last 20 years - old shredding carpet covering hardwood, peeling wallpaper and chipped paint, copper appliances. And formica and paneling in just about every room. There's lots to do to get this place "resale ready" and as I call in the troops we are ready for the challenge! The cost/benefit analysis has been done with the Realtor and we know how much we should do to bring this house into 2014. It isn't cheap and it isn't easy, but our commitment is there. And as we forge ahead, my client understands that the fruits of our labor will be within his reach. Talk about "light at the end of the tunnel"!
You are seeing the "Before"photos in this post and I will gladly share the "Afters" when the house is ready. But there is no question in my mind-staging a house is a labor of love.
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