This year was a roller coaster of a year. We had a goal to stage 4 houses per month and we hit that goal some months. We ended up slowing down at the end of the year because of my pregnancy sickness but we were still busy with stages and I am beyond grateful for the year that we have had and the clients that we have been able to work with.
In January, we staged 1 home but laid the groundwork for February. I remember this was a really hard month for me mentally with my business because we had a busy couple of months before and then it slowed way down. I thought I was doing something wrong. I was so in my head and confused because we had built up some momentum and it seemed to come to a halt so suddenly. I quickly realized that it was just the market in Utah at the time.
February became one of our busiest months with us staging 3 homes and I took on a design client who wanted to remodel their bedroom. One of our stages that month went under contract just 4 days after it was listed so we had a quick turnaround time with our inventory taking it down at the end of the month. I also loved working on the remodel project and really honed in on my process and created a smooth system for future projects. February has always been a hard month for me because of some grief from my past so I was so grateful to have it be a busy month considering it was a 10 year anniversary since my aunt passed away.
In March I did a lot of staging consultations where I gave advice for occupied homes about improvements to make their home more appealing to buyers. We also got more into furniture flipping and sold quite a few pieces. This was also a month where we really started to work towards growing our business in preparation for hiring more people to help out. I started really focusing on my health and we did some fun family things.
April was spent with a lot of family time. We go to the cabin every year in April and it’s one of my favorite times of year because you can feel that spring is coming/here. I love when the seasons change. I took on an organization project helping someone organize their kitchen. This got me organizing almost everything in our house which felt great!
May was another busy month with us staging 4 homes. This month was a bit of a blur because they all seemed to happen so fast with us doing all 4 homes within two weeks. One of the homes was a townhome that we were able to get done in 24 hours! Staging the townhome would go on to be one of the best investments the builder could have made because they went on to sell 8 units in the month that it was staged! When I moved the staging to another development, the agent told me that sales slowed down and they wanted me to restage the townhome again. It was amazing to see how powerful staging is and how helpful it can be to investors.
In June we staged 2 homes and had a busy month of family activities. We went to Lagoon and summer fest. I love supporting local artists and finding unique things to put in the homes that I stage. We also got started with preparing for the Parade of Homes and got to see one of the homes we would be staging. It is so nice to have plenty of notice so that we can design our stage specifically for the home and make sure that we have the inventory we want to use saved for the home.
In July I think we were only home for two weeks of the month and we crammed in as much staging as we could. We staged 1 home and had a lot of destages and consultations. We then spent a week in Texas for Brady’s work and toured around Waco seeing all of the Magnolia tourist attractions. I got a lot of inspiration for homes for the Parade from that trip. We also looked around at houses there and imagined what it would be like to live in Texas. I think it would be fun for a year but I don’t think I could stay there long term. I enjoy being close to family. We then spent another week in bear lake with Brady’s family where I booked two more homes for the Parade of homes.
My birthday month was another busy month! We spent the first of the month preparing for the parade of homes as much as we could while still continuing with staging as usual. We started staging two of the homes while one of the homes got delayed.
September was one of the happiest months of the entire year but quickly became one of the hardest. While working on the Parade of Homes, I found out I am pregnant. We have been planning and preparing for this pregnancy which is why we worked so hard to hire people to help us. With pregnancy came morning sickness. We were still staging with momentum of a freight train but with low inventory after having 6 homes staged and hardly any time, I had to turn down my first client and refer her to someone else. It was so heartbreaking because I felt like I was letting her down but she was able to get her home staged.
In October my morning sickness got much more intense. I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gavardeum which I had with Oakley and was praying I wouldn’t have again. I couldn’t keep anything down and had to really step back and have my husband and the movers take over my destages. I only booked 2 stages, mostly because I felt so bad for Brady. He would go to work full time then come home and destage a house or help me stage a house. He did most of the housework in our home and he took care of Oakley basically the entire month while I was glued to the bed or bathroom floor. One of the homes we staged though was under contract and closing within two weeks of it being staged! It broke my record of staged to sold in 14 days! I thought that was an amazing highlight.
November came and went so fast! I finally started to get on top of my HG. I was able to get on some medication that helped me keep food down which helped my morning sickness not be so intense. We took a trip with my side of the family to Colorado for a hunt. We also found out that we are having another baby girl which we are so excited about. Oakley would tell us she wanted a sister every time we asked and she will do amazing with this new baby. She’s already getting excited and actually being so gentle with mom’s belly.
December has been a month of reflection and looking back over the year we have been so blessed! We’ve been able to work with some amazing people selling houses or building houses. We’ve been able to grow our business despite the challenges we thought we were prepared for. We had an amazing year creating memories as a family and got to watch Oakley continue to grow up and become the sweet, firey, soul she is. 2025 is going to be even better and we can’t wait to see what it brings.
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