My business has morphed into two categories:
Staging and Interior Decorating.
At first glance, you could mistake one for the other.
But at their core, they are very different.
When I stage, I go into a home, eliminate personal things like family pictures and go about the business of making the house look more appealing to buyers through furniture placement, decor and neutralizing.
There is a mixture of my things with theirs, all in an attempt to make it look more attractive so that a buyer will come along who can’t resist purchasing the home.
During the time on the market, the homeowner’s don’t live like they normally would. They don’t invite others in since things need to stay as they are for the sake of the “show”.
It is no longer really the owner’s home.
It is all temporary.
When the home has sold, everything is removed. I gather my inventory and take it back to storage for the next house.
And the home becomes an empty shell.
On the other hand, when I do interior decorating with a client, we start with a shell, a blank canvas, and go up from there.
We remove anything that isn’t necessary but keep the sentimental. We hang on to the things that have meaning and importance and are “life-giving” to the client and her family.
We work with the things that represent who they are and reflect their personalities. This is, after all, their home.
Anything that I bring in, everything that I purchase with them will be permanentbecause they are not planning on leaving the residence. This is their sanctuary. They love their home.
Every client wants a result that makes their home feel cozy, warm, inviting. A relaxing retreat when they walk in the door.
Staging is artificial and temporary no matter how great it looks. It was never meant to last forever.
Interior decorating is the real deal. It is permanent. It is personal. And if it’s done right, it takes a house and makes it a home.
In the matter of our souls, we have two choices:
We can stage our souls with temporary “fixtures” (fixes) that will just to the job of making it look “full and pretty”, or we can invest in permanent interior design that will last.
What does staging the soul look like?
It looks like we’ve filled our lives with things. Think busyness, power, influence, material things, anything that we think will make us look better to the casual observer.
A mix and match assortment of things that don’t reflect a sense of safety or permanence.
No one feels welcome there, they know it is just a pretty show. A walk through.
Conversations will only go as deep as the “front porch” of show will allow.
If our soul is only staged, it won’t feel like it’s really ours because deep down we know that none of it will last. And we’re afraid others will find us out.
None of it has the ability to sustain our soul’s desire forever.
We can actually “gain the whole world, but lose our souls”. Matthew 14:26.
What could be a home would only be a house.
But what if we did some interior design in our souls? What would that look like?
It would be simply, but beautifully decorated. “Less is more” applies here. It would be void of clutter and mess. Only the best would make the cut. Everything in it would be permanent and life-giving – love being at the very top of that list.
It would be a home where rest and peace would live and where the presence of God would permeate every wall.
That home would be inviting to others. Its doors would be open to let others in. They would smell the fragrances of grace and beauty. They would taste things like acceptance and forgiveness and healing.
Everyone would feel at home in that type of soul.
When I go in to stage a house, anything I put in there will only serve atemporary purpose.
But when I go into a permanent residence I help the owner fill it with“permanent” things to make it a home.
Your soul and mine are a permanent residence. Eternal even.
Will we choose to fill it up with “stuff” that is only temporary, or will we do it the justice it deserves of supplying it with permanent things that will sustain and reflect its life and the life of its Creator?
Ephesians 3:16-19 – I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
