Staging: New Info, New Approach, New Contact!

At C.A.R.’s annual convention this week I learned two new, very different but related, bits of information about staging that I want to pass on to you:  First one is important, second one fun, so keep reading to the end.

First, Attorney William Jansen discussed potential liability that homeowners and/or their agents could face from uninsured stagers.  Does the stager or staging company have liability insurance if a floor, door, wall, etc. gets damaged in the staging process?  Does the stager have worker’s compensation insurance if the stager or one of the stager’s employees gets injured on the job?  He reminded us that this is a new industry and that seller should ask these questions if hiring them directly; and Agent should find this out before recommending a stager.

Second, I discovered a new approach to staging at one of the vendor booths – “Online Staging”. Peggy Selinger-Eaton’s business works like this:  Homeowner takes photos of the space(s) to be staged, sends them to her digitally,  and she consults on what should be done to the rooms via a phone appointment.  This unique approach to staging costs $69 per room.  I wonder if a bathroom is the same price as a kitchen or living room?  I thought it sounded really creative and decided to call her to find out a little more before I passed it along.

So I call the phone number on the back of her brochure to see if I can use the promotion code in my blog for you, my visitors, to get the discount if you decide to give it a try.  A man answers the phone and I ask for Peggy.  He says there is no one by that name at this number. I verify the number and he says “right number…talk to my wife”.  I speak with his wife and it turns out she is a stager!!  This is no joke.  I’m having a really nice conversation with a person I reached by accident and she’s in the same business!  She’s in the same area as Peggy because it was the same area code.  So I’ll let you know of another stager/interior designer/home stylist in the East Bay named Janet Nunan since she so delightful to chat with.  I said I would make sure Sam Benson and Julie Joyce knew about her for their East Bay clients.

I’ll update this if I hear from Peggy and can post the discount code.  Also, I would consider her business eco-friendly because driving is not necessary!

10/16/07 update:  Peggy did call me!  She was so apologetic for not getting back to me sooner and yes, she very graciously extended the discount to us all.  The promotion code to use is MAR07OL.  It gets you ONE ROOM FREE (a $69 value).  I’m not going to leave the discount code up indefinitely, but I didn’t discuss that with her.  Let’s play it by ear.  Thanks, Peggy!