"You have to live AROUND the staging."

I had never seen a house staged in real life before. Only on HGTV! But part of our real estate contract included staging services, so I was psyched to see what they could do with our house. I mean, our house is cute (I like to think I have good taste in decor, haha), but it's not TV-worthy or anything.

So after a quick consultation with the "design team" — I don't know what else to call them, but it really was like, five people tromping through our house, taking snapshots and making suggestions! — I came home from work one day to find my house full of plants and lamps and pillows that weren't mine.

I'm not sure how, but the stagers managed to take our house from this …

… to this ...

And our kitchen table nook …

… into a bonafide breakfast nook:

And our guest room-slash-office ...

… into a better, brighter version of a potential guest room-slash-office.

And a fairly ordinary full bathroom …  

… into a gigantic, bathing haven.

Seriously! Everything looks so much bigger! They must have magic cameras or something. 

And from that day on, the house needed to be in pristine condition all day erryday. I asked how one was supposed to live in a house in which all your stuff is hiding in closets and in boxes, and Matt said we'd just have to live around the staging.

So now, we do. The pieces that were brought in never get moved or touched, ever.  The decorative towels in the bathroom never see a drop of water, and I hide the towels we actually use inside the shower where they aren't as obvious. The bed gets made every day, and all shoes that were kicked off the night before find their perfect spot in the closet. Forget cooking; that would cause dirty dishes, which don't exist in this perfect kitchen!

And whaddaya know, the staging and magic photos must have worked, because we had a showing on day one and an offer on the table on day two…