Granville Island, BC

Staging is Like a Cement Truck - Vancouver Home Staging

I was sitting in downtown traffic yesterday. It was a miserable day. The rain was pouring continual buckets, and I was stuck in 5 o'clock traffic and a construction site. I looked over, and there was the cheeriest cement truck (sorry, ready-mix truck) I'd ever seen. Several thoughts crossed my mind, as I sat there, waiting for the officious flag person to switch their hand sign from Stop to Slow...

First, I thought, wow, design is really all around us. We come across it when we least expect it. Someone had the creative idea of painting a giant strawberry on that ready-mix truck. I love the whimsical sense of humour and the fact that the designer really thought outside the box.

Second, I thought, gosh, this is just like home staging. We take a run-of-the-mill or ordinary house, dress it up, and make it look extraordinary, just like someone did to this truck. You have to admit, this concrete truck sure stands out among the competition. And, just like staging, this truck is memorable, just like the homes we stage.

Third, I thought, interesting. This is the only working concrete plant on Granville Island, a public market that grew from industrial land. Therefore, to fit into the neighbourhood, the concrete truck embraced the whole fresh market environment. That's what we do in home staging. If we're staging a downtown condo, we make sure it fits into the neighbourhood, with the look and feel of a downtown, young, urban condo.

Fourth, Pat Benatar's song came into my head, but instead of humming "Love is a battle field", I was humming "Staging is like a cement truck" (sorry, ready-mix truck takes too many beats).

Home Staging can be as fun as Kids in a Candy Store!

What a wonderful collaboration I had recently. I just have to share with you all this wonderful experience.

I was invited by Lois North of Lois Interiors to help her stage a multi-million dollar listing in one of the most sought after areas of Vancouver. This condo is located very near where Goldie Hawn set up house while her son attended hockey here in Vancouver. I think you get the picture.

Staging this property was fun, of course, but the real highlight was in the afternoon. We were told by the homeowners that we would be able to go down to an exclusive art gallery, located on Granville Island, to handpick whatever artwork we thought appropriate for the condo. Are you kidding me?!! Talk about stagers in an art "candy" store.

Around 2pm, after playing Cinderella by steaming bedding and rearranging bookshelves, shifting furniture about and folding towels, we headed down to Becker Galleries. I slipped out of my indoor flat shoes, and into my high-heeled patent leather shoes, and off we went, not in a pumpkin, but in my van. We arrived at Becker Galleries, which is located at Pier 32, right on the water at Granville Island.

We went upstairs, and were greeted by Michele Becker, who personally helped us pick out some amazing art, that would look fabulous in the condo for sale. We chose some beautiful pieces by Don Farrell, a local artist who now lives on Vancouver Island. Four little pieces of his artwork were valued at $13,000, and we decided these would look perfect in the master bath! Another piece we chose for the living room by a different artist, was valued at $30,000. Oooh la la!

Here are some photos from our exciting sojourn. I hope you enjoy them. There are days when I just love my job!

This is the reception area at Becker Galleries.

Here is Lois North (in black) and Michele - Oh, gosh, eenie, meenie, miny, moe - which great works of art should we choose...

Thank you, Lois, for inviting me along - Bong, bong, bong - oh, gotta run - it's midnight!