HOME STORY brings new life to occupied homes, blending owner belongings with staged pieces for a space buyers will feel excited to tour — and live in!
Not many staging companies take on projects where the owners’ belongings are in situ. But we do!
Staging vacant homes is exciting. But working with owner furnishings is the ultimate creative challenge — how to blend what's in place with just the right staging elements to create a home that looks curated, polished, and market-ready?
Some homes are already well-organized and decorated beautifully. Others need a bit more TLC. In both cases, staging transforms what’s in place to create a home buyers will feel comfortable touring — and living in.
Even the most intrepid visitor can feel like a trespasser in an occupied home. The key to assuaging that feeling is to neutralize the space — then add beauty and personality back in, strategically.
From pre-war duplexes on the Upper East Side to Tribeca lofts, we approach projects anthropologically.
We help our clients excavate. We sort and organize belongings, curate art and books, edit furniture. Then we supplement with just the right staging pieces to reanimate the home — now with a more open aspect that welcomes and inspires buyers.
LIVING ROOMS
CENTRAL PARK SOUTH
THE STORY ...
This lovely home had been on the market for three years; we inherited some prior staging pieces. The sofa and coffee table were a monolith, so we adjusted components, lightened the rug, and updated accessories. To balance the piano, we created new art over the sofa for ballast — see slides! Sold in two months.
UPPER WEST SIDE
THE STORY ...
The centerpiece of this room — the emerald hearth — was hiding in plain site. We opened up the seating area with ivory sofas and rug, then tuned the palette from blue + burgundy to blue + green. The hearth came alive! We found happy homes for the owner's sofas and rug; but the tables were keepers!
CARNEGIE HILL
THE STORY ...
The owner of this sweet sunshine-y apartment was a visual artist whose walls were a gallery for the work of her peers. Beautiful IRL, overwhelming for photos and showings. We curated the collection, tweaked the floor plan, added a dining set, plus a rug for definition. Result: still refined...but less became more.
UPPER EAST SIDE
THE STORY ...
See the sofa in the Before shot, hiding? It's about to regain main character energy. After some contractor TLC, we re-positioned scant owner antiques, then steam cleaned the sofa and let its color become a through line. Add a supporting cast of staging pieces, and she was ready for her close-up.
PARK SLOPE
THE STORY ...
A 90 degree floor plan spin — plus the right staging pieces — gave this room cohesion, direction, and balance. The sofa under the window packed the zone and left the longest wall in the room unmoored. Chairs felt random. Scattered art compounded the loose-y goose-y feeling. But staging got the ducks in a row.
LENOX HILL
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THE STORY ...
A rug was key, but a floor plan shift unlocked this room. The seating arrangement felt closed-off, with its back to the dining room (frame right). Spinning it created flow, expanded the space, and made the fireplace even more central. Add the right accessories, and an "almost there" room feels complete!
UPPER EAST SIDE
THE STORY ...
This happy home with three children was busy and well-loved — but it read heavy: heavy rug, heavy curtains, heavy art, too many accessories. We curated everything, swapped art from other rooms, brought in a lighter sofa, rug, and curtains, some new lamps. The result: same room, now fresh and bright.
PARK SLOPE
THE STORY ...
This dining table said: I'm in the kitchen. A new round cafe set created a third zone (kitchen, living, and dining), expanding the space. Bonus: the fireplace came out of hiding. The sofa — supported by tables, lamps, art, rug — became a destination. And look how hanging the mirror uplifted the room!
LENOX HILL
THE STORY ...
This lovely estate apartment had become a crash pad for its owner's young relative. After tidying, we added rugs for definition, then scoured her basement storage unit for finds:
up came a coffee table! We added staging pieces, then curated books and mementos, keeping special ones in play.
CHELSEA
THE STORY ...
If you think tidying and styling was all we did, you'd almost be right. See the bookcase — how close it is to the TV? Moving it leftward expanded the room and anchored the dining area, creating two defined zones. A floor plant sealed the deal. Tidying was critical, but the bookcase move: game changer.
BEDROOMS
UPPER WEST SIDE
THE STORY ...
This room felt lonely: the single print with a dark horse looking into the middle distance, one lamp on a nightstand. Let's get some company up in here! Two prints, two lamps, a layered rug and light curtains to brighten things up. A little pink, a little green — and a collection of books with titles all about love.
CENTRAL PARK SOUTH
THE STORY ...
We inherited great core furnishings, but the sisal mat was not doing the floor, or the room, any favors. A more focal ivory rug helped pop the floor's unique pattern, enlarged the space, created definition between two zones, and acted as a centering runway toward the shoji screens for the room shot!
LENOX HILL
THE STORY ...
A good edit brought this room to life. Tallboy: out. Books: stored. Bed table: put on risers. Most important: Art! Over the bed, above the chair. Matching dresser lamps. Rug scootched under the bed to ground the floor plan (and photography). Color pops from the room's existing palette. What a sweetie pie!
TRIBECA
THE STORY ...
There's nothing a pop of red can't cure — and the bookcase gave us permission. Artwork created by the owner (found in a closet) lifted the roomscape and added a little narrative: the bed became a cozy island in a sea of green. We do love an
ivory rug — and here is why.
UPPER WEST SIDE
THE STORY ...
Droopy bedspread, blah headboard, and no other furniture to talk to — this bed needed company! A rug and dresser revealed the room's capacity. Nightstands and prints said: two can play at this game. The turquoise window seat fabric started a color conversation; we answered with...yellow!
LENOX HILL
THE STORY ...
The mirror and beds in this room were at odds: one said lodge, one said grandma's attic. Lodge won. We brought in a stronger mirror to maintain center, with companion prints to establish a colorway. A large framed print activated the long wall, adding dimension...and a little horse-y energy.
UPPER EAST SIDE
THE STORY ...
The treadmill was first to admit: I'm not being used. Put me in storage. The kilim bowed out graciously. A larger rug met the scale of the room; the cane chair stepped up to show off its lovely curved arms. A landscape over the bed introduced color notes we tracked in textiles and plants. She's a beaut!
KITCHENS
UPPER EAST SIDE
THE STORY ...
Someone out there will love a red kitchen — but it's not your average buyer! With no renovation budget, we whitewashed cabinets to make black countertops pop, then added some clean, light accessories. The bottle of wine? It's legacy red.
UPPER WEST SIDE
THE STORY ...
We love a banquette! But this one had seen better days: the leather was splitting, and the kitty cats had done some damage. A dining table for six enlarged the area (along with a fresh coat of paint). The room needed light; a floor lamp did the trick.
We chose one with a bird on it: for the kitties.
