Staging Like a Magazine Cover
SHOW OFF LIKE A BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS COVER
Melons are my secret weapon! In 2012 I bit the bullet and gave myself the gift of a new kitchen. The hubby and I addressed most of the 1980‘s Miami-Vice style decor issues immediately when we bought our home save one major project: The Kitchen. It was the least offensive room in the house so we agreed we would “live with it” until the built in refrigerator died. Bad decision. That sucker took 12 more years to kick the bucket! I used to kick it every time I walked by hoping to speed the demise. Living in a house with no kitchen for weeks on end is a challenge, but it was well worth it. Having had the privilege due to my chosen profession to view some of the most beautiful and extraordinary homes in Greater Chicago, I knew exactly what I wanted down to finest details... the cabinetry I liked from that home in Lake Forest, those counter tops in Naperville, the can lighting I viewed in a an amazing Lincoln Park property. My kitchen project became an ode to my career, a best of the best highlights reel so to speak. Our builder ended up winning a major national award for the project, which caught the attention of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine! They approached us about doing a feature article on our kitchen for their Kitchen & Bath Ideas Magazine, Spring 2015 issue. What an honor! For near two years it was a sometimes daunting while always exciting experience to work with the designers, editor and photographers from the magazine. We enjoyed the unique benefit of realizing the full power of BH&G resources because our kitchen was being considered for the cover. The Cover! An amazing experience! While in the end we did not get the actual cover of the edition of the magazine our kitchen appears in, the experience proved time and effort very well spent. I watched them intensely, scrutinizing every move and decision of the head designer. For two years I stalked that poor woman. I wrote down every word she said and decision she made learning how to stage a room like the cover of a Better Homes and Gardens magazine. So many subliminal placings go into such an endeavor. The shapes of items selected, the lines of them. I use all of this knowledge when staging and photographing a home for sale, and with amazing results! Admittedly, my pointed melons used in near every listing since were scammed directly from my BH&G photo shoot. As an example of what I am talking about, I had asked the designer “why those particular odd looking melons?” She replied that the contrasting stripes in the skin produced a near motion effect that drew the readers eye where she wanted it to go. Melons with stripes pointing in strategic directions! Every item in the photograph strategically considered to achieve optimum desired and a steered result! CHECK! I learned so much about professional staging and will remain ever grateful to Better Homes and Gardens and their amazing crew! And it is my delight to being this special touch to my home seller clients. Another key competitive edge offered exclusively from Key 2 Chicago!
