Unveiling the Art of Home Staging: A Chat with Bethani Green of HadleyMak Designs
There are hundreds of moving parts to a home sale, and in many cases, the ability of a realtor lies in having the right person to call for each of those moving parts. One crucial area where the Go With Ro team excels is in staging homes, and we entrust this responsibility to the best and brightest in the field. When a home needs an extra touch to make its photos look even more fantastic or a layout refresh to facilitate a quick and efficient sale, we rely on HadleyMak Designs' Bethani Green. Bethani is the founder of HadleyMak Designs and was born and raised here in Clark County. She is an absolute genius when it comes to home design and layout. She sat down with us to answer a couple of questions about her work, how she got into the business, and her best design tips on a budget.
Home staging is such a unique career path–what sparked your interest in this kind of work?
BETHANI GREEN
“My grandmother’s home was always decorated perfectly. I remember going over as a little girl and moving one small thing, like a flower, just to see if she would notice (she always did). My mom was the same way. She used to throw me tea parties and decorate with me. So, I’ve always felt like decorating is in my genes, and I’ve learned from my past generations. I can pull up a listing and get an immediate sense of what inventory I have in my warehouse that will complement the home.
Plus, when I was a little girl, I used to love playing with Barbies, and my Barbies were always flight attendants-slash-interior designers. So, my Barbie would be designing a home and all of a sudden have to run off because she had to go fly for a weekend! Well, I have been a flight attendant for 18 years and am now working as a home stager all the PNW, so I am living the dream that I always wanted as a little girl.”
Recent Go With Ro x HadleyMac home collaboration - View Listing
Tell us about the origin of HadleyMak Design. What got you started?
“A few years back, a realtor friend of mine asked for a hand prepping a home for sale, and I jumped at the opportunity. I went in, completely gutted and transformed the home, and in about two hours, it looked like someone else's house. She asked me back the next time she had a listing, and then it just came one after another after another. Vancouver is big, but it’s a small community, so once I got started and word spread, I was off to the races.
The name HadleyMak comes from my two twin girls. I’m a single mom, and they are the most important thing in my life. Their names are Hadley and Makenna, so I blended those together and got 'HadleyMak.'”
What does a home staging process look like from end to end?
“We start with picking a staging package, which can be as simple as “micro staging,” which doesn’t involve any furniture, all the way up to a full-service package. Then, we really mold what we’re doing to what the home needs. Some sellers choose to target only specific parts of the home, and sometimes we’re looking at a total overhaul of the whole house, furniture and all.
Once we’ve got our plan set, I do a walkthrough and determine what items to keep in the home and what to clear out. Some homes are considered an 'occupied stage,' meaning they have furniture and decor in place that we are altering and/or updating, and some are considered 'unoccupied,' which is completely vacant. So, the number of pieces I bring in is completely dependent on the home and what the seller and realtor are looking for."
Are there specific rooms in a house that you believe are particularly crucial to stage for selling success?
Recent Go With Ro x HadleyMac home collaboration - View Listing
The primary bedroom and the main living room, I would say. However, here in the Pacific Northwest, we don't have the best weather year-round. So, when we are in spring and summer, if the listing has a nice outdoor entertaining area, I strongly recommend highlighting that area with a staged outdoor dining or living area. You want to create a space they can visualize entertaining family there and spending time outside.
How does home staging differ from traditional interior design?
"It's similar. My main job as a stager is to highlight that home and make it feel spacious and streamlined in a way that will appeal to many different tastes. With interior design, I want to get to know the people who live there and understand what they like and don’t like. I’m looking to instill details that represent them and are something they can love for a long time.
And that’s really the main difference: interior design involves planning for the long term, whereas staging a home is about designing for the shortest term possible. We want that home sold! And they do sell quickly when done well. My quickest turnaround ever was 12 hours live on the market before it went pending."
Have you encountered any homes that were particularly challenging to stage?
“I recently did a new home build in Snohomish, which was a challenge because it was three hours away. That project involved managing box truck rentals, employee pricing, new furniture pieces, and lodging, and all those details definitely added up. It was also exciting, though, because the home was an absolutely gorgeous blank slate to work with. It had been on the market for nine months when I took on the project, and after we were done, it went pending in nine days, which is certainly a testament to the power of staging.
Recent Go With Ro x HadleyMac home collaboration - View Listing
I’ll also say that home sales can be really emotional, so it’s sometimes a delicate challenge to stage a home when you need to remove those personal sentimental things. I work with an agent who sells a lot of homes for senior citizens, and she's often moving them out of their forever homes into nursing homes. I worked with an older gentleman that I spent the day getting to know, and I thought he was the absolute sweetest person. After we spent the day clearing out most of his belongings, I found out that it was all going up for sale at an estate sale. So, we went and bought a whole bunch of the items at that estate sale because I knew that was a way I could give back to the man selling the house. So, it’s bittersweet, but it made me feel good to be able to bless him in that way.”
Can you share some budget-friendly design tips?
“Yes! Personally, when I want to make a big color change in my home, I start by looking in the “oopsie” paint section at Home Depot. The paints are perfectly good, they just might not have worked out for someone’s home. And they tend to be trendy, new colors, so when I’m looking for a dramatic change, I’ll head to the oopsie paint section.
Another tip is to really utilize Facebook marketplace! I am always on Facebook marketplace because it’s a nice way to buy high-quality second-hand pieces and give back to the community at the same time. I’m very picky with brands, so I’m constantly searching for Crate and Barrel, CB2, Pottery Barn, West Elm, etc. and you can find lots of fantastic furniture and decor being sold online. I also will shop at Target and Home Goods for knick-knacks and accent decor.
And then here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a place called City Home. They have three locations and an outlet and their customer service is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. I wouldn’t necessarily label them as a “budget” location but their pieces are fantastic and priced fairly for the quality you receive.”
Last but not least, the essential Go With Ro question: Do you have any pets?
“I do! My dog is absolutely the man of my life. His name is Tollie, which was my great-grandfather’s name, and he’s a Great Pyrenees/Border Collie. I adopted him from a pilot I worked with a drove all the way to Idaho and back in one day to get him. He just celebrated his fourth birthday. Then we also have two cats. The first is Quill, who is named after the Guardians of the Galaxy character, and then our other cat is named Ziggy Katz. We absolutely love our animals!”
To see more of Bethani’s work and learn about HadleyMak designs, you can find them on Instagram @HadleyMak.
If you’ve been thinking about selling your home, give us a call! We’d be happy to talk through current market conditions, our services, and of course provide advice on if your home needs the stellar staging services of Bethani Green.