I recently had the privilege of working with the Washington DC chapter of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals on our World Wide Staging Services Day project. Each year, all active Accredited Staging Professionals (ASPs) dedicate a day during the week of September 12-17 to community service. We were so pleased to work with Homestretch Inc., a local organization whose “mission is to empower homeless families with children under age 18 in northern Virginia to return to stable housing and self-sufficiency by giving them the skills, knowledge and hope they need to become productive participants in the community”

This was the first year I’d had the chance to be part of this great event. Our team of 15 ASPs and ASP Realtors converged at the small apartment early on the morning of the 17th, ready to transform the home through Staging. The tiny, three bedroom was home to a single mother, a teenage boy, and two teenage girls, the youngest of whom shared a room with her mother. There was no kitchen table, as it had been broken some time ago, with the remains of the top propped up so that one end could be used. The family had no place to have a meal together! We were about to change all that! Armed with artwork, new kitchen accessories, and bedding, our team got to work.

Furniture was graciously donated by Brook and AFR furniture rentals. Finally, the family could eat together. The team put their creativity to work, moving furniture, accessorizing and changing the entire look of their home!

The family was so thrilled and overwhelmed with the results. We were really able to impact a family in a way that allows them to feel more comfortable in their surroundings. For those of you who have experience being displaced, or having to live in a place that you weren’t at all comfortable, you have then the smallest idea of what it might have been like for this family.

I am so very proud as an ASP to be part of the Staged Homes family, and fortunate to have such outstanding and generous members of our local IAHSP chapter. I have learned so much from my fellow stagers, and continue to be thankful for the opportunity to be part of that community. Owning your own staging business can be a solitary endeavor if you are going it alone. It’s not like owning a franchise, or starting a partnership. It’s YOU and just YOU. Having these relationships to share our successes and learn from our mistakes is invaluable, and I just thought I’d take a moment to express it.

Leigh Newport

Staged by Design

www.staged-by-design.com