You’re unpacking your gorgeous new inventory of opulent bedding, throws and accent pillows after the million dollar listing you staged just sold, having spent only a week on the market. It was the first house you had the opportunity to use your entire new collection of home staging accessories for and you’re excited to pack it all up and use it for your next big project.
As you sit on your living room carpet sorting through everything, running your hands over the different textures, you’re thinking about how happy your future clients will be to hear that you come with your own accessories and that they won’t have to buy it all new.
After you shake out one of the throws you notice your cat is very interested in something on the floor nearby. You move in for a closer look and you can’t believe what you see. It’s a little family of bugs and all those headlines about bedbugs suddenly hit home and you realize it’s not just something for travelers to worry about.
You jump back and start to panic. How many other bedbugs have hitched a ride back to your house? Where are they all now? Did the homeowners know they had bedbugs and failed to mention that tidbit of information to you? Do you have to throw out your wonderful new inventory before you’ve had a chance to make back your investment by renting it out to others? Now that you’ve brought bedbugs into your own home, do you need to hire a bedbug exterminator?
In that very moment…what do you do?
I’ll weigh in later but first I’d like to hear your thoughts on this dilemma which should make a pretty good argument for one of the reasons why I don’t endorse having your own home staging inventory!
Please tell us what you would do by leaving a comment below.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Debra Gould knows how to make money as a home stager and she developed the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program to teach others how to earn a living doing something they love. She is frequently profiled in the media for her home staging expertise and is the author of 5 guides for home stagers.
Debra, I wish I had read this series on having your own inventory BEFORE I invested in some basic items that I lease out. So I have two answers generally speaking. Renting accessories and small furnishings has been successful, but your article about BEDBUGS and furnishings startled me and I changed my mind on this issue – the East Cost, particularly around NYC and metro NJ right now is seeing daily headlines about movie theaters, major chain retail stored, senior housing complexes, day care centers and schools being victim to infestations of bedbugs. That takes NO account of residences.
I have been on a regular schedule with a pest control company since 2002 when I moved into my home. We had a nouse “situation” for a bit and then carpenter ants showed up in a neglected staircase outside that the prior owner never used. When they come for quarterly check ups, we talk about my house, our neighborhood, community and just life since I now know the guys who come by. Bedbug treatments have become a booming business for them and it’s an expensive and sometimes ongoing process to kill them off. They tell me this has caused intense emotional stress ending even in divorce and financial ruin for some people, too!
I stopped buying more inventory and I keep what I have now behind closed doors in an unheated space away from where people live. Thankfully most of my furnishings are not upholstered pieces. I no longer lease decorative pillows!
Because of this issue, after the last project I ran in a vacant house where I did use bedding I put the bedding into a dryer on HIGH heat for 50 minutes THEN washed it and dried it again. I saw no signs of bedbugs on the comforter set before I took these steps, but I was still worried about that. So I will no longer supply these items.
We live near HomeGoods, Bed, Bath & Beyond, JC Penney, Macy’s, etc. etc. etc. They hold frequent sales…
Homeowners can invest in bedding that will give them a luxury look at reasonable cost and then take it with them when they leave. In many cases, adding something fresh to their bedrooms will give their personal lives a little spark as well!! :}
I now rip the bedding up when I travel to hotels just to look at the corners of the boxspring and mattresses and I haven’t gone to a movie theater in a long time.
I went online and now I use specific essential oils in my home on a cotton ball tucked into the sofa cushions on a regular basis after I have people over!
I’m hoping that some really savvy scientist will discover a natural, inexpensive way to erradicate bedbugs in the near future. They will deserve a prize and a ton of cash for that! Until then, extreme caution and a change of business protocol are my answer.
All my best, Pat MacKay pat@interiortherapynj.com
Debra, living and staging in New York City is a very real problem. I only stage vacant properties with my own inventory, so perhaps the bed bugs would be less likely to inhabiting such a place, but I do use rental furniture that is brought in. The company swears they take the proper procedures re bed bugs because they don’t want any issues. I do cover the mattress with bed bud proof mattress covers before putting my bedding on it, however, I do put my throw pillows on the rented couch. I have not heard of any stagers having an issue with bedbugs, but I’m sure the first time I do, I will stop renting my inventory and instead have the owner buy everything.
Interesting issue, Debra! I know from the course that you strongly recommend not renting out your own inventory, to avoid having to store it, insure it, transport it, etc. I fully agree with the principle, and your bed bugs post is another great example of things that can go wrong. In New York city, or other cities where there is a choice of good quality rental furniture as well as shops like Bed, Bath & Beyond, I would follow your advice 100%. However, for those of us who live in areas where there are no rental options there often is no other choice than to own and rent out furniture (accessories can be bought wherever you live – there always is the Internet). I’m currently preparing an empty house for sale. It has been unoccupied and neglected for two years and is in a rural location, so half the local wildlife has moved in. The roof had several leaks and the beautiful walled garden was a jungle. The roofer now has done his thing and the gardeners have returned the grounds to its former glory. The inside is being painted the bugs (no bed bugs yet in France . . .) killed and the whole place cleaned. I’ve scrambled some farm house-appropriate furniture together for sitting room,/dining room, that I’m going to have to rent to the owners (who don’t live in France) and am placing a single bed with lovely bedding (my own) in the smallest bedroom together with a chair and bedside table & lamp to show that it actually can be a bedroom. However, in the master bedroom I’m not going to place a bed and my own bedding, because the roof appears to still leak a bit now and then (expensive issue that will be disclosed to prospective buyers!) and I know things would get damaged. I’m going to instead place an upholstered Louis XV headboard to show the size and two bedside tables with lamps. I know, weird – but better than an empty room. It’s a very challenging project, and one of my first; but the house was 100% unsaleable before and my work will make a huge difference. It has started me wondering what to do when the next owner of an empty farmhouse would like to hire me. . . . The furniture hassle is not worth it; you can never ask enough rent for it to make it worth your while and it causes quite a bit of stress and logistical problems. I might have to only take clients with furnished houses; and then have them pack up excess things, declutter; buy new accessories. Your post has confirmed my thoughts on this, thanks very much.
“To own or not to own” my own furniture has been an issue with the one agent who has hired me, and because he has another stager with her own inventory of furniture for 5 homes, he has only used me for one estate sale with its own (actually mostly nice) furniture. His other stager charges anywhere from $1,000 – $1,500 for a six-month contract, no extra rental fees, and there is NO WAY I could beat that price with rentals or certainly through buying and providing my own furniture. I also don’t want the hassle of buying furniture, transporting it, warehousing it, and then it goes out of style in a few years anyway. I know there is a stager in Toronto who has spent $250,000 on 15 condos-worth of contemporary furniture, and she apparently has a booming business, but I can’t imagine sinking that much $$ into this business, then paying all the warehouse and transportation costs!
I’m not aware that the bedbug issue is a problem here in NJ, but as soon as I hear that it is, I will re-think my rental accessories of throws, pillows, and luxury blankets, etc. Good point!
Wow. Talk about eating up all your profit!!! Having to “de-bedbug” your own home and your rental accessories would certainly be expensive and frustrating. Thanks Debra for stressing in your training program not only that inventory is not needed to be successful but posts like this show it could be detrimental. I have been talking to a rental company about an alliance but they want to deal only with me and rent the furniture to me and not the homeowner. I have explained that is not how I want to deal with rentals because I cannot be responsible for their furniture in a home I do not have control over. The homeowners have insurance to cover theft or fire. Any suggestions in how to convince them my way is the best? I would really like to use this company because of the quality of furniture they could provide.
Hi Amy, I am not a proessional stager yet, but I will be finishing school and starting in the spring months, but to answer your inquiry, yes bed-bugs are making moves in NJ. I live in Monmouth County and the Monmouth Mall and Loews Theater had to close down for a couple of days because of a bed-bug invasion…This was in the summer, so maybe the impact has subsided. Just thought Id mention it…and not for nothing but sticking with your fees and services and not skimping because your competition wants to sell themselves short will bode well for you in the end. Thanks for all the great inspiration>>>
Wynette
Wynette — you are right, I had googled this subject after I wrote my post the other day, and there are definitely bed-bugs in parts of NJ — not quite my neck of the woods, but it is cause to be alert. Thanks for your vote of encouragement as well, and good luck with your new staging business in the spring!
Amy, it was truly a pleasure reading your experience and I also want to say that I have read a Chinese Proverb that states ” Something that is wanted I’d worth the time put in to achieve it….time is on your side!!! Thank u for appreciating my encouraging words!!!!
Wynette
Here in Alaska, bedbugs have infested one of the elementary schools and this means they are also in homes. I think these outbreaks are helpful in remembering that our business revenue is not always under the control of our staging work and great customer services. I guess each one of us has to determine how much risk we want to put into purchasing/renting accessories and if it’s going to be worth it in the long run. It wouldn’t hurt to talk to an exterminator company to get a realistic idea of the costs and time investment in ridding your home, or a customer’s home of bedbugs. A bedbug outbreak, associated with my home staging business could be devastating if clients or real estate agents suspect my services caused it.
I make too much of my income off renting my own accessories (after renting the BIG stuff). So, to me it’s worth the effort to keep it cleaned and check for bugs!
For me, the creative part of being a home stager is in the accessories and you just can’t get that by renting it and most sellers won’t buy enough for their own home to make a difference.
Thanks Debbie for that point of view!
Many established stagers lease their own inventory. Shouldn’t the client know each item was chosen for them because it’s best for their home & not because it’s best for the stager’s income?
. I’m not asking judgmentally: I’ve debated the question myself & imagine others have, as well. What makes it worth your while, financially? How do you determine a monthly rate? Do leasing stagers worry about contageous diseases or bed-bugs or having to defend your business against the rumor of them?
. Leased Bedding: As a beginning stager, no matter what precautions I’ve taken, how would one prove my bedding was/is bug-free? It’s a risk a new business & business reputation might not “word-of-mouth” survive: it does worry me.
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. Decorative art pieces (I think) are the exception: they would not compromise the stager: wall art; pictures & frames; glass pieces; vases; baskets; clocks; containers; pretties; words, etc. Flower arrangements are questionable. From one home to another, each piece could easily be cleaned & sanitized.
. As a stager, I remind my client that even with limited funds, they have options: (1) Sales are hard to beat plus new stuff moves with them. (2) Sellers could borrow from family & friends so their purchasing power is spent where it’s most needed. (3) Check what the seller has hidden away: A stager can make something work the seller never considered, saving $$$$. (4) Fill in stuff? Goodwill or 2nd Hand/Thrift Shops can’t be beat.
. As a stager, our imagination, training, & experience are our greatest resources.