How we decided to add staging to our repertoire.
As an interior design studio founded 6 years ago, we’ve mostly focused on home renovations, landscape design and a few multi-unit residential buildings around San Diego. However, recently, we’ve been looking at our city through a slightly different lens—and it has sparked an exciting new creative direction for Snyder Atelier.
It all started in the last few months, during our usual networking rounds with local real estate contacts. With Saskia’s 20 years of experience in the real estate world, through research and conversations with realtor agents in several neighborhoods, there is a slight dip in the San Diego market.
This means some beautiful homes were sitting empty or feeling a little stale on the listing pages. We started offering walkthroughs and fresh advice, helping agents and owners figure out how to make their properties look as attractive and fresh as possible. Sometimes this meant suggesting some minor repairs or updates. Or it meant adding a color pop with a new coat of paint or wallpaper–in addition to simple but striking accessories, plants (real or faux), inviting scents, or some extra lighting.
That little pivot suddenly means we have a few new projects to approach. We were also approached by furniture companies and manufacturers to look at their retail showrooms with Snyder Atelier’s own decorative know-how. The owner of the store was open to feedback and created a script for some social media content. We came up with a new way to make his furniture appear a bit more luxurious and offer a client the vision of a “lifestyle update.”
The goal here isn’t to design for one person’s daily routine; it’s to drive retail sales. We love hunting for unique pieces at different hidden gems across San Diego (and this does not always mean expensive stores…we can find treasures in small furniture consignment shops or discounted retailers). After our sourcing trips, Saskia and I meld minds with our short term rental or real estate agency partners to suit each specific setting. It is entirely collaborative, completely high-energy, and we are finding it rewarding.
Unlike showrooms, these spaces will be lived in and deeply enjoyed by both vacationers and the owners themselves. But when it comes to booking a trip to San Diego, photographs tell the entire story. Travelers want to look at a listing and immediately imagine themselves sipping coffee on the patio or relaxing in a gorgeous living room. By bringing our signature touch to these luxury rentals, we are helping owners stop the scroll, boost their incoming bookings, and command a higher nightly price.
We’d love to be introduced to real estate contacts and short term rental agencies looking for a refresh. It is a new chapter of Snyder Atelier. It’s collaborative, it’s business-savvy, and it lets us play with design with a dynamic approach. We will be excited for our clients and prospects to watch this space for more as we develop this concept and share our latest transformations!