Check out Holly and Austen Sherman’s Artwork

Today we’d like to introduce you to Holly and Austen Sherman.

Holly and Austen, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
It all started when my husband and I were living in Los Angeles, and I wanted to shift careers. I was a wedding coordinator at the time and had the desire to explore something new! Around the same time we were searching to buy our first home, and throughout the process, we noticed what a difference quality home staging makes and what it can do to motivate a buyer. EVERY home that was well staged would be a “hot home” on Redfin within moments of its listing and often sell over the asking price.

Because of the added competition that seems to come with a staged home, we began looking at more vacant homes. After viewing these, we would go home, and I’d start to design them on my own to help us envision what our life may be like in each place! I quickly fell in love with the design process and started to spend a good amount of my free time on it. That’s when it hit me! Home staging and interior design was the perfect outlet for my creativity and, even better, I had a natural passion for it.

Shortly after, I started to shadow an amazing staging company in LA and was quickly absorbing everything I could about the business. Meanwhile, with the market proving to be a bit more competitive than we anticipated in LA, we began home shopping in our original hometown, Phoenix, AZ. While we quickly found our dream home, we had noticed that Phoenix seemed to be lagging behind in terms of the number of homes we saw that were staged. We thought a move back home would be a perfect opportunity for us to enter the market and bring our own, unique sense of style.

Home staging in Phoenix is definitely on the rise, and we’ve loved being able to bring a new and hip style to the area! For us it’s not just about staging a home to sell, it’s about designing a space that enables potential buyers to see themselves in the home and makes them feel comfortable the moment they walk in the door.

We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do? Why? And what do you hope others will take away from your work?
My husband and I stage vacant homes that are going on the market. We also help style peoples’ homes and rental properties. However, we don’t just stage and style, we design! The vision and mission of Simply Staged is to create well-designed spaces that emphasize a homes’ natural beauty. We hope that our work allows potential buyers or homeowners to see their future within the space, creating an emotional connection between them and the home. We use pieces that efficiently fit the space, and use a mix of vintage and new furniture and decor. We always say if we don’t want to move in after we’re finished that we didn’t do our jobs right.

We bring in a bit more decor and accessories than your average stager to create a polished vision, and we think it’s the finishing touches that make a space feel lived-in and welcoming. We’re constantly adding new inventory to stay in-line with new trends and always hope that our work inspires the home buyer when they’re designing their own space. The biggest compliment is when buyers want to buy the pieces in the home – which we’ve had happen a few times! 🙂

Do current events, local or global, affect your work and what you are focused on?
I’m not sure that artists roles have changed, so much as they’ve been given a renewed focus. Art, as it has many forms, can have many purposes. Artists have always been meant to inspire, to challenge, to comfort, to unite, to inform, to celebrate our triumphs and to shed a light on our tribulations. We seem to be at a time in history where every event is magnified and, as a result, more and more people are looking to different forms of art for relief.

I don’t feel that individual events impact or affect our art day-to-day or even project-by-project. However, when I think about our work, I hope that we’re able to provide comfort and inspiration. We try to make every house feel like a home, providing it with personal touches and spaces that make people feel safe and warm. We hope that our work inspires others to create similar spaces and feelings in their own homes.

Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
You can see our work on our website, and our social media platforms. If you want to see our staged homes in person, you can find them through real-estate sites like Zillow, Redfin, Trulia, etc. and look for open houses! The best way to support us is to get the word out about our business, never underestimate the power of word of mouth!

Contact Info:

• Website: Simplystagedphx.com
• Phone: (480) 703-4659
• Email: Simplystagedphx@gmail.com
• Instagram: @Simplystagedphx

Image Credit:
Photographer on a few of the photos:
Amanda Be @Amanda_be
Website www.amanda-be.com/amandabebloggin

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