We have come a long way in the 6 years since we started Olive + Opal. As we have grown, in both size and success, we have seen our staging evolve and our design aesthetic has finally come uniquely into its own. One thing that has not changed since day one is our dedication to staging a property that feels curated and custom. We want potential buyers to walk into a property that feels warm and inviting, with a layout that showcases the best features and evokes a feeling that they have to have this home! We aim to stay current with design trends, so naturally our look has changed over time, but our staging aesthetic has evolved largely due to the following strategic moves in inventory purchasing.
higher investment in art
Like any good outfit, the final result of a staging project comes from the combination of high and low cost pieces. Over the years, we have continued to invest more in higher dollar art pieces. We find that an oversized, framed art piece can make a huge statement and elevate the level of staging in any property. Even when paired with lower cost items, like accent chairs and coffee tables, a beautiful piece of art can transform a room. We love to shop from Leftbank Art for our wholesale art purchases and we’ve found that the quality and designs of our pieces have withstood the test of time. When selecting art, we lean towards neutral colors and patterns, often in abstract prints or landscape imagery. Art has been a game changer for our business and we’ll continue to make it a top priority when purchasing inventory.
buying multiples
A few years ago at the RESA convention, we learned to purchase multiples our staple inventory pieces so we have started to buy our couches, dining tables and accent chairs in multiple quantities. A standard-sized neutral sofa with clean and modern lines can look beautiful in every property. However, we ensure that no two properties look the same by pairing our staple couch with different rugs, accent pillows and art to make each room like unique and custom. Having multiples in our inventory has helped to alleviate decision fatigue and allowed for a more efficient process, which ultimately saves us time and money. We use Stageforce to help us identify which pieces of inventory are being used the most frequent to help us determine which items to purchase in multiples.
more classic, less trendy pieces
When starting out with a smaller budget for inventory, we often panic purchased in anticipation of upcoming projects. As a result, we ended up with pieces that felt specific to the current trends and we often outgrew the inventory as the season changed. Any inventory that sits unused in the warehouse is costing us space and money, so we have learned to be more strategic about our purchases and have focused on pieces with more classic lines and neutral tones when acquiring our large staging inventory, like sofas and tables. We mix in current trends through smaller and less expensive items, like throw pillows, stems and accessories – even dining chairs – which feels like less of a risk. We may pass over some kitchen accessories that feel a little too modern farmhouse without much guilt, but it’s hard to stomach staring at a large dining table day after day because we no longer like the look of the legs.
larger scale furniture
It’s evident in our early staging projects that we were caught up in using a large quantity of small pieces to fill a room instead of larger scale furniture that appropriately fits the space. Again, a lot of these decisions were based upon budget, but as we’ve evolved we have invested in bigger pieces and thought more strategically about furniture placement when we plan each project. One great example where larger furniture has been impactful is the bedroom dresser. We have found that bigger dressers better fill most bedroom spaces and make a statement with a large mirror and beautiful accessories. A large dresser can be an investment; however, we’ve found that when we go bigger with the dresser we often can forego additional bedroom furniture, like an accent chair or bench. The coffee table is another piece of inventory that we’ve sought out larger tables and in a few instances we’ve combined two matching coffee tables to create one larger table.
We will continue to evolve as a staging company and find new ways improve our quality, our efficiency, and our bottom line. Investing in the right inventory has been a key change and helped us elevate our staging to the next level. We can’t wait to see what’s next.
