MANN REPORT: July 2009

before: This stunning carriage house was filthy, and appeared to not have been cleaned in decades.

after: We brought in our Magic Wand Cleaning Service to sterilize the house and cut through layers of grime.

before: Thick layers of dust and dirt covered every surface. Dangerous wires jutted from walls and dangerous holes gaped in floors and ceilings.

after: The result: the house sparkled. We made the most of the house's strong points, lighting them up. Simply cleaning and using light to accent positives made a transformative difference in the look of the property.

Staging X-treme:
In simplicity lies the divine. Or, Keep It Simple, Stupid (the KISS rule)

By Jill Vegas

Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
          —Leonardo da Vinci

Whether you are trying to sell a property, rent it or simply live in your own cluttered space, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when faced with a… mess. That “where do I start” and “this is impossible” feeling happens even to seasoned cleanup and design pros. But no matter how daunting the project, the key is to get back to basics. Take the project one step at a time.

Recently I was called in for a staging project unlike anything I've ever seen. The property was truly amazing: a 10,000-square foot, circa 1902 carriage house (the C.P.H. Gilbert Carriage House and Stable) located on the Upper East Side, hadn’t seen a broom or a mop in 100 years.  Sotheby’s called in Jill Vegas Staging to get the place market ready.

While the property is a grand gem, it posed some serious challenges. It had a dark creepy staircase---you couldn’t see while going up the stairs. During the Magic Wand Consult [Insert http://www.jillvegas.com/magic-wand.htm], we carried flashlights. There were holes in the floors and ceiling, with ancient electricity lines and live wires poking from the walls. One of our workers even got a little zap! The windows were filthy, and the air conditioning units had been installed in the 1970s.

The four-floor house presented a Jekyl and Hyde situation: the stable on the first floor was being used as a garage and there were rooms upon rooms of stored furniture we weren't allowed to touch. The owner’s live-in guest occupied two floors, a beautifully decorated, amazing duplex from the pages of Elle Décor.

And then there was the fourth floor: a mess! It held an old hot tub from the 70s, when the occupants clearly held parties up there. The room was open to the elements with gaping holes here and there. The owner didn’t want to spend a fortune staging the $15 million property, but the broker, Nikki Field, Senior Vice President, Sotheby's International Realty, wanted the property to be safe and presentable for buyers.

It was staging in the extreme.

So here’s what we did:
We picked the magical elements and features of the garage and lit them up. It was an intense cleaning job, and we brought in our white glove cleaning crew. They scoured the place. It sparkled so much when we were done that the owner’s live-in guest asked if the house had been painted.

The broker was very pleased.
“Jill Vegas and her team delivered the impossible,” said Field. "This was not your grandmother's staging project. Vegas had a cast of dozens helicopter-ed in. They cleaned, staged and prepared the listing for launch in a few short days, ahead of deadline and on budget. All the while, they delicately handled the owner's live-in guest."

“No challenge was too much for Jill Vegas’ imagination or her skill sets. Jill Vegas is my new stealth weapon and newest member of the Field Team.”

In the end, we were thrilled with the results, and it was a good reminder to us all: no matter how big the mess, in the simplicity lies the divine—clean, clean, clean, light up your property's strong points and fix the obvious problems (broken fixtures, loose wiring, etc). All the rest will fall into place.

Let us end this column with a bit of wisdom from Albert Einstein: “Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity. From discord, find harmony. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. Now stage, and prosper!”

Jill Vegas
212-627-9402
jill@jillvegas.com

 

©2009 Jill Vegas LLC