Stage To Sell

“Staging” for a low-income housing development – Part Deux

Posted on 02 October 2008

Earlier this year when I got the call to “Stage” a low-income housing development for an inspection (see original post), I thought it would be a one-time job. As it turned out, however, the developers are quickly becoming one of my best repeat clients! Their “lesson learned” on the last job was that they should bring in a designer at the beginning stages of the project, rather than wait until they have a bunch of furniture and no cohesive design. So that’s how it happened that I got another call a couple of months ago to preview their latest property – Carondelet Court.

Once again we were asked to design the community area for the development – a space that will be utilized by all the residents for socializing, watching TV, and taking courses (the city & state who fund these types of developments mandate that the builders have to provide different types of classes for the residents). The difference between this job and the last was that the entire community space was contained within one room, rather than in two separate spaces. We had to design a living area for hanging out & watching TV, a kitchen/dining space, a conference/classroom area and a kid’s play space. Fun, fun, fun! My job always allows for a good deal of creativity, choosing rental furnishings to help enhance the look of a home to appeal to a broad range of buyers. But this job was pure interior design, and the pieces I selected were actually going to be used and enjoyed by the residents!

We had a great time with this one and here are some photos of the results. The great news is that there’s another development being built as I type (apparently, LA Mayor Villaraigosa has made it a priority to create lots more affordable housing in the city), and we are looking forward to designing that one as well.