We picked raspberries in the early morning stillness today at Rockefeller Park.  

It was quiet, but steamy, and buggy; most of the fruit closest to the trail had already been picked. But many fat, ruby-colored berries called to me from the middle of the brush. Others whispered, hiding behind clusters of leaves, while still more beckoned, further on down the trail.

As an industry, Home Staging is in it’s fourth decade, but it’s ever-evolving, so I always look for analogies to explain what it is and how I work.

Here in Westchester County, center hall colonials are probably the most common floor plan you’ll see, followed by split levels. Buyers like them. They’re familiar with the layout, and know what to expect. You’re not re-inventing the wheel, it’s easy to show them to their best advantage, they’re great jobs! In raspberry-picking parlance these projects would be called low-hanging fruit.

But what about those plump shiny raspberries out of immediate reach? Why were they so appealing?

Could they possibly be any sweeter?  Or was it the challenge of picking them…the satisfaction of persevering and succeeding where others had passed by that just made it seem that way?

Working my way into the brush, there were thorns and poison ivy to watch out for. The ground was uneven, so the angle of each approach had to be considered.

Sweaty and buggy, I stretched and extended myself in different ways for each cluster.  It was hard work!  Do you see where I’m going here?

The Refreshed Home has found Home Stagings’ sweetest fruit to be getting challenging properties sold, and difficult circumstances remedied.

Good Home Staging speaks to the soul and spirit of each property, finding and celebrating what is special; that’s what buyers connect with. But it also supports sellers, and honors their process.  It is divinely satisfying to know you are righting that one teensy part of the universe.

When you bring heart to a basic condo, or life to a vacant home, you also bring hope to the owners. Replace the warmth that illness, death or divorce has drained-you also fill, and lighten the hearts of the sellers. Taking cute to polished and cozy, making sense of funky renovations or that odd floor plan will put more money in a sellers pocket while easing their minds.

I love being a Home Stager. Yes, this is how I make a living but it’s also how I make a difference. These are Home Stagings’ sweetest fruits.  

      July 2015, our last berry picking trip with sweet Bella Blue.