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Home Staging 101: You know you are a Stage-aholic when...

"My name is Kate Hart and I am a Stage-aholic...."

Laying in bed this morning my husband confided in me that he sick of talking about staging and has bet me that I cannot go 1 day without discussing the business, blogging about the business, or researching the business. I lasted about 30 seconds. He thinks I have a disease and need to enter a 12 step program. The first step in getting help is admitting that you have a problem so Chris and I invented this test. Please read below and give yourself a point for each YES. Stay tuned for our 12 step rehab program.

1. Do you often get excited when you hear about or see the following items:

FAKE APPLES, RAFFIA, MOSSY BALLS, ROLLED UP BATH TOWELS, WINE GLASSES ON A TRAY, OR ENDLESS JARS OF COLORED VEGGIES IN VINEGAR SOLUTION

2. Do you find it hard to control yourself when you encounter the following?

THE 2 FOR ONE FICUS TREE SALE AT YOUR LOCAL CRAFT STORE, THE BED IN BAG SALE AT YOUR LOCAL HOME STORE, THE CLEARANCE DECOR SALE AT TARGET, THE HIGH END NEIGHBORHOOD GARAGE SALE

3. Do you find yourself unable to relax and enjoy yourself whenever you go to a family member or friend's home and cannot resist the urge to "FINE TUNE" their decor? Give yourself bonus points for ACTUALLY FINE TUNING THE ROOM!

4. Does your significant other come home at least once a week wondering where the mirror, painting, large ceramic rooster, child's bed, FILL IN THE BLANK went?

5. Is your automobile full of of the following items? Empty lattes cups, yesterdays uneaten lunch, furniture moving pads, bubble wrap, marketing materials, and left over and broken staging items such as candles, coffee table books, lamps with no shades and mismatched bedding?

6. Are you unable to objectively look at photos of homes in the Real Estate section of the newspaper or online without mentally staging them? Has the fun of house hunting been taken away?

7. Are you no longer grossed by the following? Mysterious stains on bedding, strange odors on carpeting, metallic flocked wallpaper, multi colored shag carpet, mountains of pet hair, mouse droppings in the kitchen, bugs in light fixtures, and personal "accessories" in bedside tables?

8. Can you look a home owner in the eye and say with a smile that, "Although your (hummel collection, 500 beanie babies, gun collection, 4 stag heads over the fireplace, nude photos of you when you were 8 months pregnant, vintage star-wars android collection and children's hand drawn mural on their bedroom wall) is lovely BUT it does not quite reflect the tastes of your target demographic that we are marketing to, and since it is so precious we need to remove it immediately so nothing happens to it.

9. Do you walk into your local big box nationwide retailer and the sales people either greet you by name, bring you an extra cart, or mysteriously go on break when you arrive so they do not have to help you load your car?

10. Has your garage and basement somehow turned into a self storage unit and your husband now has to park in the driveway and cannot extract the lawn mower because it is blocked by the art and the bedding for next weeks job?

BONUS QUESTION:

Does any of the following make you act like Meg Ryan at the diner in When Harry Met Sally? Seeing that your client has removed the barkalounger from the formal living room, having a Realtor/Client call you and tell you that their home sold in 1 day for multiple offers, finding out that the furniture rental company has your items in stock and will be on time for today's delivery.

Score:

1-3: You are not a stage-aholic yet. Obviously you need more experience witnessing the above and touching strangers bedding. Take this test in 6 months and reexamine your mental state.

4-7 You are in dangerous territory. Make sure to talk to a loved one about your impulses and try to manage your desire to purchase large quantities of art and bedding at a discount. Check back often to reassess.

7-10+ You are an addict and you need help. Repeat after me "My name is XXXXX and I am a stage-aholic" Do not worry, you are amongst friends and have a support group here on Active Rain. Check back for our 12 step program when I am allowed to go online again in a few days!

Posted by Kate Hart on 03/10/2007 09:11 AM

Comments (34)

staging, vacant homes, staging addiction, staging quiz, home staging, kate hart, staging test

Originally posted at: Home Staging Pennsylvania- Hart & Associates Servicing the Main Line, Philadelphia, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties. : Home Staging 101: You know you are a Stage-aholic when...

34 Comments on Home Staging 101: You know you are a Stage-aholic when...

MAR

2007

YIKES !... You just reminded me that I have a truck full of pillows..., assorted artwork, ...tables,, bedding,, ironing board,, ladder,, paint cans,,, plastic bins conatianing who knows what !!! And I have to go to town to go to a trade show to help my husband with his new solar energy venture .. !... And I gotta get that stuff outta the truck so we have room to bring his display stuff home !!!! AND I'M LATE !!!

Thanks Kate !!!

AV.. ( now where does he think HIS junk is gonna go ! sheesh... )

Ha Ha!!! I am roaring about this!! What a perspective.

My name is Kimberly and I am a Stage-aholic!! Where do I sign up for the 12 step program??

~Kimberly~

HA! How about when your friends look at each other and roll their eyes when you start to talk about JoAnn Fabrics' recent sale on silk greens? "You guys...no really...let me finish..." So we'll support each other when we don't have any friends left?

Kate, this was awesome! Tanya & I went to the linen sale today and got a SEVERAL great deals! Tanya had her best friend with us. We both were screaming that we got all this Nate Berkus stuff! Her friend was like who is Nate Berkus. Then both of us said in UNISON! WHO is NATE BERKUS? lol She was like you guys are addicted! WE ARE!

OMG... Thank you for making me feel so much better!! There are not many stagers in my area and except for the two that I personally trained none of them seem to be of the "sharing" nature. They don't return phone calls, emails, etc. I thought I was alone in this. I'm so glad to know that I'm not alone and there is help out there. Sign me up for the 12 step program... WAIT! On second thought, I LOVE this way tooo much and want to stay a Stage-a-holic.

Seriously though, I cannot tell you how many times I've had to put the kids in the car and realized that first we would have to unload it... art, tables, sliders, tools, steamers, etc. Of course grab a garbage bag for all the fast food and soda/water bottles too. I'm always on the go and do entirely too much eating in my car (or seller's homes!).

Thanks so much for the great post!

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! In my pre-staging days my cars never saw the light of day when they were parked. Now, I can't even remember the last time they were in the garage. I think I am in deep trouble in a month when its time to start mowing the grass....

#8 is my favorite. Its a true art to tell someome with a straight face & sincerely, that their baby's placenta in a jar on the fireplace mantel is "incredible" but should be put away for "safekeeping" while the house is for sale.....

I am afraid that I have not hit bottom yet but it is possible that it is not far away.........I guess one test would be if you are online right now that might be a sign (A Saturday night at 9 PM CST)

MAR

2007

Kate... it think it is time you hit the stage...

THE COMEDY STAGE!

My new name for you is Shecky Stager!

Man your brain just NEVER stops. It amazes me how you can capture reality and do it with humor... cause girlfriend sometimes it AIN'T that funny.

Laugh It Forward...

Oh yea one more thing...

Hi my name is Craig S. and I'm a Stage-A-holic.

We now can close this meeting with... "God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot stage, courage to stage the things we can, and wisdom to know the difference."

For all that are interested... we are meeting after today's meeting for a latte at Michael's... silk ficus trees are on sale.

Ughhhhh.... I can SO relate. In fact I often wonder if that intervention team from that TV show is going to pay me a visit one day.

Yee haw - a sale on ficus trees. I'm all over it.

Kathy

Hello Kate, My name is Val and I am a Stageaholic..................

I loved this Kate! Who amongst us cannot attest to at least some of these indicators?! Life will never be the same for any of us ever again!

Last evening I was sitting in the Living Room enjoying a nice glass of wine after an especially long day, when I began reflecting on a house I have to go see today (yet another vacant!). I started looking around the room and wondered whether I should use my sofas and some of the artwork in order to save this guy some money (he was already resisting the estimated, un-viewed, cost!)....I think I might need to go away somewhere for a while until I can start thinking rationally again!

VAL

Kate, I am not a Stage-aholic, but I know too many to count. I'm forwarding this on so they can seek treatment. Another terrific insight into our souls!!

Kate, Kate, Kate---alas ye know me well! There is an explanation, you have to have a genetic predesposition to the addiction and when you actually try it for the first time you are hopelessly hooked, addicted and unable to separate staged from unstaged. Its all you think about day and night. Items mysteriously diappear, your home does not look the same and money seems to be missing. Your mind is not your own, it is taken over by thoughts of staging when nothing else is taking up the space. Even the car can't seem to pass a sale anywhere for fear we may miss a bargain on an indespensible table, chair or linens, and it makes sudden turns in the middle of the road. HOWEVER I am not ready for a 12 step program, I intend to enjoy my insanity until it interferes with my ability to function as a driven stager.

C Ellis

Kate - what a wonderful post! I have to agree that you need to go on a comedy circuit - that is, right after you have completed your 12-step program!

Wanna know what's scary? After writing the book (did Kate tell you she was a featured stager in 301 Simple Things?), I now look at everything differently and can relate to many of the things listed - and I'm not even in the business!

Oh, and you might want to add:

Are you on every freecycle list in your surrounding area and have hired a full time assistant to check the posts every 5 minutes so that you can be the first to respond and get the ficas tree?

Hi Kate, My name is Janice S. and I am a Stage-aholic. So glad I am not alone. My illness has expanded to offering help at local restaurants that just don't feel right!!! I need help!

Hi Kate - My SUV is right now filled with 4 trees, ledge plants, 2 5x8 rugs, plates and plate holders, 2 parson chairs, 1 mirror, 8-10 wicker baskets, 1 bakers rack & a vacuum cleaner!

Add this question: Does your family disappear when you pull in the driveway with your car packed tight and ficus trees waving through the sun roof ?

Thank you all so much for loving this as much as I do! The placenta in the jar would be a challenge even for me!! We are not alone in our condition. Please share this will fellow stagers who may need help. KH

MAR

2007

oh no what if i got a point for every one? haha

great post!

cheers,

cindy@staged4more

Hi Kate,

Craig is right girl, you need to take this on the road, I read your blog yesterday and I couldn't stop laughing, especially the part about when my husband comes home and our house is half empty! I really am a stage-aholic and if I was not sure yesterday, I am today!

I was sitting in church today and a girl was singing this really pretty song and I was watching her and listening to the words and I started to think how great those trees and greens on stage behind her would look in the vacant house I'm starting tomorrow and where did they get them?? YIKES!!

Hi Kate...your post is TOO FUNNY!! You had me rolling!! How clever you are to put together a 12 step program for us Stage-aholics!!! I'm so glad to know that I'm NOT alone in regards to #5 and #7. Because my van is constantly filled to the brim...my family knows to take the other car. Am I the only one that clears enough space out in my van when my teenage son calls to be picked up from the movies THEN upon arriving...realize he has 3 other teenage friends with him that needs a ride home SO I'm in front of the movie theater with my hatchback up rearranging all my staging crap to squeeze everyone in? hahahahaha! Yes...my name is Teresa and I AM a Stage-aholic and my family is ready to send me far far away to try and de-tox it all out of my body but there is no cure I hate to tell them.....

Thanks for the belly laugh today!! If we all end up getting together one day....you have to do the comedy spot! :)

Kate

Do you think your 12 step program will work for Salvation Army junkies?

17 points...there weren't that many questions on the test!?!

<hanging head> my husband is right...i need an intervention. wait! no one move - i'm looking at the flooring and i think it's time to replace it! quick, someone hand me my car keys! lowes has a special order sale going on till 3/25!!!

OMG, I eat, sleep and breathe staging! Seems like I go to bed thinking about staging and I wake up thinking about, well, you know what... Thank God I love this profession because sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy. Nice to know I'm not alone in this world...

Great post Kate.

MAR

2007

Kate: Question...are you a Stageaholic if you lay in bed at night and re arrange furniture in your head...?...lol

I am a Stageaholic.....But i love it!

~Dawn~

MAR

2007

Kate,

I thought about this blog this morning when, while driving to a job, I passed 4 gorgeous black asian-style chairs from a Chinese restaurant that is no longer in business. I jammed on my breaks and pulled over to claim that treasure when I realized that my SUV was already so loaded with furniture and accessories that I didn't have room for 1 chair - never mind all 4!

Panic was starting to set in because I really wanted those chairs! My mind started reeling....how could I get them home, how could I get them home?

Then I did the only thing that I could in this situation.....I phoned my niece (with the nice, big, empty Envoy!), woke her up, and asked if she could go pick them up for me!

I am so ashamed..................I think that I may need help! Can you recommend a good 12-step program on Long Island?!!!

VAL

Val:

that's too funny! i do the same thing and my husband just sits in the car, slinking down in the seat as far as he'll go, and then shakes his head at me the whole way home... :o)

Would this all qualify as an obsession we share? a new manifestation of OCD maybe?

So, here's a quick follow-up to the chair story (above)....my niece and I went and picked up the chairs (actually it turns out there were 5 of them!) and while we were loading them into her SUV, a gentleman came over and said he had 30 more, would I want any more of them? I said, 'Yes'! 'Yes'! and that I would be back!

Now, mind you, I do not have a single inch more of available storage space for the 5 chairs that I had loaded into my niece's car, so what the heck would I do with those and 5 more?

I had to leave the chairs with my niece and go to an appointment for a vacant - had to go over the proposal with the owner. All the while that I was there (and I had to do some major negotiating to land this one!) I kept thinking about those chairs! I decided that this client just HAD to hire me because I had an SUV loaded with inventory sitting outside and a good portion was suitable for this particular house. I do believe that I pretty much willed him to accept the proposal and book the job, and he did! As soon as he signed my contract, I told him that I had some of the furniture in my car and would it be ok to bring it in now - to which he replied in the affirmative. I did have him 'sign-off' on my contract that he was already in possession of 2 end tables and a bistro table (also included values for each).

As soon as those 3 large items were out of my car, I took off to go claim my other chairs! I now have 10 in all and up until an hour ago had no place to store them. I am fortunate enough to have a sister who just built stores locally and she agreed to let me keep them in the storage room for the time being.

Now, you tell me....am I a 'sick puppy' or WHAT?!!!

VAL

Val, this is HILARIOUS! I would say I'm guilty of some similar behavior -- unfortunately --- or is it fortunately? I go to auctions & big sales -- recently I bought 3 living room sets -- I'm talking couches, chairs, ottomans, etc. I didn't have a single place to put any of them! They were such good deals though I couldn't not buy them. The first thing I did when I got home was find a home for them. I'm always asked what I do with all the furniture I own. My answer, and I'm quite serious, is to store them in other people's homes! I find that when I am faced with storing several homes worth of furniture and accessories that I'm much more hard charging at finding work than when my closets are empty. Of course that said, when I'm completely out of everything then I'll get 5 emails all of them with vacant homes.... all of them want the home staged yesterday....

Val...OK I think I have your storage problem worked out. Go back to one of those vacants that you bid but did not get- find one where the owner is too cheap to stage. Then get them to let you to use that home as your storage space. No cost storage........

MAR

2007

Actually, James and Melissa, you might be on to something here....and I think that I know JUST the house! It's co-owned by a realtor and has been on the market for over a year..EMPTY! I could make a deal with her that I'll 'stage a few of the rooms' with my furniture and accessories, with the understanding that if something is needed elsewhere, I'll be de-staging at that time. This could very well be a 'win-win' situation!

You guys are BRILLIANT!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!! :) Isn't Active Rain 'the bomb' (as my kids would say...translates to 'awesome'!!!)...we LEARN so much from each other!!!

VAL

OMG this is funny this topic starts! Just last night I talked my way into a staging of a house in my neighborhood that of course, I want to sell. Lets RAISE those property values kids! So, I am de-staging a different house tomorrow & have no idea where to put some stuff. So, I told the Realtor & Seller that I would put in some accessories and stuff for free (and I reduced the staging fee by like $100) but with the understanding that if I need them I have to take them out. The Realtor & Seller jumped all OVER that (who wouldn't?) and now, ahhhhh, some of my stuff now has a place to live besides under a tarp on my porch....

Oh - another question: Am I a staging addict when I constantly rearrange my inventory so that it looks better on the shelves in my basement (which is full already)?

Karen,

I hadn't even thought about charging to put my stuff in the rooms - but you're right! I will be adding accessories, so I guess I should charge a little something!

Oh, and as for the basement storage area at my house...how sick is it that I get a thrill every time that I go down there because it looks like the storage area at Bed, Bath and Beyond? Packages of curtains, drapes, tablecloths, etc. are all packaged and placed in pretty, lined baskets and stored on shelves! I feel like I never have to leave home again to shop!!! :) And it's a pretty sad state of affairs that I get upset when I have to open packages in order to use the 'inventory' in a house and then when it's returned it has to be stored without the package (because who can ever get the item back into the bag?)!!

I hate to tell you guys, but never mind our artistic and creative abilities - I think we're all a bunch of 'shop-a-holics' at large!!! Staging simply justifies our buying and spending!!! C'mon - admit it...haven't you ever told your significant other that you bought something 'for the business', but "I'm going to let us enjoy it for now until it's needed"?!! Heck, I just did that the other day!

VAL

MAR

2007

I have had so much fun reading all of your comments. We had a CRAZY week here with 3 stagings, lots of snow and rain and people not showing up to work so this kept me going. Val's story about the chairs made me scream- I need 2 of them for a home next week! I too have found myself letting clients "borrow" things at a reduced rate because I had no room left at the storage unit. I think I hit the ultimate low this week when I heard my 5 year old tell my 3 year that he had to be a good boy or "Mommy would take his toys and put them in a staging room for some other kid"! I have been known to loan out some stuffed animals, playhouses and train sets to clients. My boys then see the pictures and are surprised to see that the little boy has the same toys as them. Isn't denial the first warning sign? KH

Kate, you are too funny. I recently helped a friend move and she had really improved her home magnificantly, she only had one showing and it sold, boom. When I was helping her clean the house for the new owners she was horrified there was mouse 'poop' under a big oak desk we moved out and I told her 'don't worry about it I have seen and cleaned much worse, where's your vacuum and Lysol?'. I must be a stage -aholic as well.

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