Today we’d like to introduce you to Jeanne-Marie Gisellu.
Jeanne-Marie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started my career in retail as a buyer and always loved interiors, I think fashion and interiors go hand in hand. I have updated all of my homes mostly with sweat equity and two of the homes I’ve lived in have been featured on home tours. A few years ago a close friend was selling his home and asked me to stage it- it sold on the first showing and set a record for highest price per square foot in the neighborhood- and it was not renovated, just well staged! So that is where it began. I asked my best friend, Sandy Jenish to join me on this venture as it’s always more fun to do anything with a friend. We absolutely love staging homes! We stage vacant homes, occupied homes, and also update homes for clients who want to remain in their house but just need a fresh set of eyes for maximum impact. We are have earned our internationally recognized staging certification and are members of staging associations to stay current.
Has it been a smooth road?
Um, no, never. It is difficult to start any business and it’s usually feast or famine! We had to really pound the pavement to get work and it is still a struggle to get the attention of local realtors to buy into the benefits of staging a property. There were times we’ve had to stage a property before sun up or sun down because we are both mothers, had other jobs along the way and have very busy volunteer lives! Staying connected to community greatly helps with marketing.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with whiteSTAGED – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our tag line for whiteSTAGED is “stage to sell, stage to live” because we do both. We can stage a vacant house with our beautiful inventory of updated fabulous furniture, art & accessories or go into an occupied home and in 2 hours, move around and eliminate items the homeowner has so it is photo ready to get on the market and the house’s features are shown off in the best possible light. Houses we’ve staged continually sell within the first week on the market. We also can update someone’s home when they want to continue to live in it so the furniture flows better, they get more use out of their space and it reflects their personal style. We are most proud and honored when we’ve staged an occupied home to sell, it sells immediately, and the homeowner asks us to help them decorate their new home. We love to stage occupied homes because the homeowner usually exclaims “I wish I had you do this when I moved it!”.
Everyone loves a well-edited home thanks to HGTV and Marie Kondo- lots of addicting home shows out there! One project in particular that we are most proud of we started by staging the client’s occupied home, then she wanted us to update it a bit with accessories, then she wanted to keep all the accessories for the next home. Well, her house sold immediately so she asked us to help with the decisions of the home they were building! We chose everything from colors to light fixtures to exteriors and on and on. It was so much fun to work together. We then were able to fully furnish the house with the homeowner and we are still working on a few projects there. We are also humbled to work with realtors who do not put a house on the market without us. Our look for staging properties is minimal, transitional modern and fresh!
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
There is lots of opportunity in Dallas and people here love to connect! This has helped us immensely with growing our business. We are two moms who have busy lives, are runners, and really enjoy meeting people so the connections are endless! We also love that Dallas has a lot of pride in Texas; we are not native Texans but are raising native Texans. Not much we don’t like, although it is difficult to run when it’s 110 degrees out!
Pricing:
- 2 hour occupied staging $250 plus $150 for each additional hour
- approximately $4000 to stage a vacant home (dining, kitchen, master, living)
Contact Info:
- Website: www.whitestaged.com
- Phone: 972-322-3964, 214-616-1688
- Email: jm@whitestaged.com, sandy@whitestaged.com
- Instagram: whitestaged
- Facebook: White Staged
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
