Have you ever wondered what a typical day for a stylist looks like? No!? Well too bad because we’re going to tell you anyway…Styling a home doesn’t just consist of throwing quilts on beds, chopping pillows and placing décor items on flat surfaces. Strap in for the ride because we are taking you on a step by step tour through a day as an interior stylist.
Phase 1: You’ve got Mail
Stylists work with a large number of agents, developers & vendors, communication is key in this industry and this means emails, and a lot of them! When we arrive to our warehouse we try to knock out as much admin as possible to allow us to stay on top of everything and keep everyone’s day running smoothly. We often bring a computer with us to styling jobs so we can respond to our agents & vendors as promptly as possible. We generally have about 30 minutes to complete this admin before having to leave the warehouse to be on site.
Phase 2: On the road
Time to hit the road, depending on how large the property is or the scale of the styling furniture we will either just have the truck heading to site or sometimes bring a car to transport all the décor, plants & lighting. This is another great time to complete any additional admin & debrief the team on the plan of how the property is going to be styled. Our styling company services the greater Adelaide region meaning we can either be in the truck for 5 minutes or 1 hour depending on location & traffic.
Phase 3: Time to offload
Once we arrive at the property we will scout the place out to find the best access points, open doors, turn on lights & begin to unpack the truck. Stage & Style Co doesn’t hire removalists externally meaning we do all the hard work; we all unpack the furniture, carry it into the property and position it accordingly. The sequence usually looks like;
– Plants, lamps & décor tubs
– Artwork & bedsides
– Bedpacks, rugs & Cushion bags
– Dining Chairs & Occasionals
– Outdoor Table & Dining Table
– Bed bases, Mattresses & Bedhead
– Lounges
Phase 4: Sort & Set Up
The furniture is in, let the fun begin! Generally speaking two people will take on the bedrooms while the others set up living & dining spaces. Bedroom set up consists of centering and making beds, plugging in lamps and positioning cushions and throws. Living & dining room set up can involve assembling dining tables, putting lounge cushions on, positioning rugs & coffee tables, plugging in lamps and making sure everything is well spaced and centered.
Phase 5: The final touches matter
When styling furniture isn’t in a property it is stored in a warehouse and overtime it accumulates dust, so cleaning the styling furniture before we leave a property is a MUST. We bust out the gumption, spray and wipe & a microfiber cloth and wipe down all the furniture & surfaces. This not only makes the property look more presentable but it reduces the chance of damages/ marks to furniture in the long run. Time to bring it all together; whilst part of the team unpack & set up décor, the others will hang all the artwork. This ties all the rooms together & matches in with all the colour selections in the property making one cohesive design.
Phase 6: Get the shot
Once the home is completed & the team are packing up, someone will head to each room and capture images to post on our social media. This is a great way to advertise the new products that we have & show potential buyers what the interior of the property looks like before it hits the market.
Phase 7: Lunch time!
Our favourite part of the day, here at Stage & Style Co! Our existence revolves around food. We will all sit in the office together or outside depending on the weather and debrief about our night, what our weekend plans are and have a good laugh. This is a great way to wind down & clear our heads before unpacking/ repacking for a job.
Phase 8: Pack it Down & Put it away
First house completed, now its time to pack a sold property down. We generally try to collect properties that are on our return to the warehouse to save time, once we arrive at the property we generally do everything listed in Phase 3 in reverse. We pack all the items back into the truck largest to smallest to avoid damages or injury to the team when opening the doors. Once emptied its time to return to the warehouse to stocktake all the furniture, all the furniture is then placed into its dedicated location at the warehouse.
Phase 9: Prepare for the following day
All hands on deck, its time to repack the truck for the next install. The lead stylists will delegate tasks to each team member, some will be selecting cushions and artwork whilst the removalists are packing the furniture into the truck. Once the majority of this is completed its time to pack décor & check over the run sheet to ensure that nothing has been missed. (There is nothing worse than being onsite to realise you’re missing a cushion for your lounge or the glass for your coffee table) Provided that everything is accounted for, we wrap all the décor and load the final items into the truck ready for the next day.
Phase 10: But wait… there’s more
Our lead stylists will then sit down and attend to any outstanding emails, invoices or quotes/ enquires that have been submitted. We will make sure all our calendars are up to date and that there are no outstanding invoices from previous days, following this we will turn off all lights, the radio & lock up the warehouse.
This is a fairly standard day for a stylist, sometimes an additional installation can be thrown into the mix meaning we would do all of this twice over, this as well as consultations can result in quite a busy day for the team.
