Today our house went on the market and we had our first showing this morning. Getting ready for this day has been a whirlwind of painting, cleaning, packing and more painting--most of it done by C, honestly. Even Chloe has been packed up and put into foster care for a couple of weeks. (You may remember that we lost Jasmine when a realtor let her out during a showing.)
The most interesting part of the process took place Monday and Tuesday when the stager came over with a pick-up load of decorative items and transformed our house into . . . someone else's house! When I came home Tuesday night, I discovered that we are the kind of family that keeps our fancy vinegars in a basket full of fake greenery on our kitchen cabinet. We have not one but two open cookbooks in our kitchen (because you know, we are so culinary). I learned that we are the kind of people who read really impressive looking books and leave them lying open on random surfaces, next to candles and fluffy pillows. Apparently, we are people who tie our bath towels with ribbons and somehow live without bath mats or trash cans or most of our furniture. Oh, and we leave the table set all the time with plates, bowls and little balls made of twigs.
The house has been transformed from a home that houses a loving family into a house that drips Pottery Barn and inauthenticity. I'm willing to live like this for a little while if it will sell our house but I made a decision a long time ago that I won't live like this as a way of life--not literally and not spiritually. Some of you know about my commitment to have no secrets--ever, about anything. There is a corresponding commitment about trying to be as authentic as possible while not having everything on display. Maybe sometime I'll write more about that, as it is an ongoing challenge. But living in this house post-staging has just reinforced my commitment to the value of authenticity. No one should live this way long-term and unfortunately, so many people feel like they have to.
Anyway, I'll do it for awhile because of this:
Wish us luck!!
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