What to Do Until Closing

DIY home staging means you may have to
beg or borrow loaner furniture and props.

Waiting for a home to sell can be excruciating. 

But waiting to close on a home you’re buying can be fun, like those last few weeks of a pregnancy, when everything is ready and all you have to do is waddle around and enjoy the wait. 

We have another week until closing.  Every chance I get I hit the second hand stores, hunting for bargains that will help create that casual, comfortable look I’m after. 

Since staging is more hobby than occupation for me, I don’t have a storage facility stuffed with furniture and props, so I’ll do what I’ve always done -- cannibalize my own home.  I don’t want to buy upholstered pieces, drapes, beds, or anything else that could crank up my expenses.

I won’t terribly miss a few end tables and chairs.  I just won’t be able to have anyone over until the property sells and I can reclaim my furniture! 

The way I see it I will be loaning the condo:

• The green love seat from our bedroom to go in the living room
• A bamboo chair from our bedroom to go in the living room, with new cushions
• The teak chair with the animal print seat from Mr. Lucky’s office to go in the TV room
• A wicker table from our living room to go in the master bedroom
• A bamboo table from our bedroom to go in the living room
• A table from our hall bathroom to go in the TV room
• The walnut credenza with chrome legs from Mr. Lucky’s office to go in the TV room
• My foyer’s large mirror, which I will miss!
• A side table from my sewing room, “Studio B,” to go in the TV room

All this switching and loaning reminds me of the advantage to having a unified color scheme throughout a house.  It makes it so much easier to switch items from room to room, and now, from house to house.  Through necessity, I’m using the color palette at my house to be the basis for the condo’s because it makes economic sense.
  
At a garage sale last weekend I scored a wrought iron floor lamp for $2, a chrome floor lamp for $3, and a fabulous silk orchid for an unbelievable $2.50.  At these prices, I didn’t even bargain with the seller!

I’m also gathering whatever faux greenery I have in my house that I’m not presently using.  A weekly circular comes out that features at 50% discount coupon for the local décor store, good for one day only, on one item only, so I have to plan my purchases.  I came home with a bunch of white peonies today, for just $2.95.

I am keeping a careful record of all my staging purchases.  I want Mr. Lucky to know just how lucky he is to have such a frugal partner.  Also, personally, not keeping a tally of costs would diminish the fun of DIY staging, like playing tennis without a net.  It might be fun to hit the ball back and forth, but what’s the score?

My one dilemma is a couch for the TV room.  It’s a must, and will be the first thing buyers see when they enter the unit, so it has to set the tone.  I have my eye on a click-it style leather couch that I could use at home afterward.  It makes into a double bed, but looks handsome as a couch.  I found one new at a furniture store for around $200.  It would be the highest ticket staging item I’d buy.  But, we’d own it and use it for years and years.     

Studio B, is beginning to look a little warehousey.  I’m setting the stage for staging.