TestimonialsHome Staging - Homeowners:
— G. Greenbaum, Douglas Elliman
— F. Gershon “Barbara Brock and A PROPER PLACE is truly a talented wizard of a service! My new exclusive listing looked like a furniture show room — very cramped and unappealing even though it had good space with a view. It was transformed by rearranging into a stunning, sophisticated home. Thank you.” — S. Sperber, Sr. VP, Insignia Douglas Elliman
“We are happy customers. Very definitely.” — Dr. & Mrs. H. D. Sostman, M.D., F.A.C.R. “Hiring you was the best decision we ever made.” — Iris De La Chapelle “When my mother died, I was at a complete loss as to how best to present her lovely but cluttered Central Park West apartment for sale. When "A PROPER PLACE" had worked its wonders, the property sold for more than I could possibly have imagined.” — J. Roberts Home Staging - Brokers:“Many thanks to my namesake, Barbara Brock, and her team at A Proper Place for all their help on the [Today Show] segment. It would not have been possible without the professionalism and generosity of this firm. If you are looking for home staging in the New York area, you need look no further than A Proper Place.” — Barbara Corcoran “I highly recommend ‘A PROPER PLACE’, a Home Staging service. I had an estate sale that appeared in terrible condition, but had great ‘bones’. A PROPER PLACE not only arranged the disbursement of estate belonging to the clients, but arranged pulling up the carpeting, sanding & poly, painting, and finally using some of the estate furniture plus selecting inexpensive, but highly attractive items for the staging. It was absolutely gorgeous AND they did it in record time. The first day of showings I obtained 5 over-bids. Needless to say, the seller was overjoyed. Barbara Brock and A PROPER PLACE are THE BEST — with a superior background as an interior designer, home staging, professional organizing and more. Plus, they are very pleasant and coordinate their efforts with the broker.” — Palermo, VP, Corcoran Group “Hi! I just wanted to tell you what a fantastic experience it was to have you stage the apartment I listed on West End Avenue. I took the listing, a six room pre-war coop, in March, but didn't want to put it on the market until it was presentable. That was going to take some doing! The apartment was truly in a shambles: nothing had been done in five years, since the owners moved in with newborn twin boys. You can only imagine the damage those two kids have done: holes in the walls, scuff marks on the floors, rugs torn, furniture damaged etc. Even though the real estate market is strong here, condition is everything and I feared the reaction of the buyers. I have seen wonderful properties linger and sell for less because of the perception of the buyers that they need too much work. Every seller thinks the buyers can see through all the clutter to the "beauty" below. You were so right when you told us that "the buyers only know what they see, not how it's going to be". Even after my seller worked with an organizer for a week, all they did was move things around- yes, the closets were neater but the house looked old, tired and depressing. I was going to be asking $1,350,000 for the apartment and feared offers at the $1,000,000 mark. Once I explained "staging" to my sellers and got their OK, we called you in. I was ashamed to have you see how the place looked — when you walked in I heard "Oh, my God" — and feared even you wouldn't be able to do anything. I don't know how you did it or how you found the inspiration to place all the furniture — edit down, move things and re-use them from room to room, create window treatments from sheets (my seller only has one set of sheets left to sleep on but has the most beautiful windows in the building!!) — but you transformed the house from plain shabby to "shabby chic"! The seller's wife cried when she saw it, the husband said to me that 'this is the way we should have been living all along", even the terrible twins loved what you did with their room! They loved the house so much that they arranged to go to a hotel for a week, just to give me a chance to keep the house as you left it! When I had the photographers in to shoot the pictures for our website, the first thing the photographer said when she came in was "How beautiful!" (the day before, when you first came it was "Oh, my God"!!) Anyway, it only took a week but after the first open house I had multiple offers and we have a signed contract at OVER THE ASKING PRICE! I know that this would not have been possible without you and all the work you did to make the house shine. My sellers thank you, I thank you, and I am a firm believer in staging!! I can't wait for the next listing when I can call you again.” — Susan Nierenberg,
Associate Broker, “After staging a $6,000,000 10-room Park Avenue apartment, the Staging made the difference.” — L. Stillwell, Sr. VP, Corcoran
Group “Barbara Brock is a superior stager who knows how to visually translate a space so that buyers can "read" it for the value they are seeking. She will imbue your property with the "wow factor" that will bring you top dollar in the market." — P. Parrish, Corcoran Group “Barbara Brock and A PROPER PLACE is truly a talented wizard of a service! My new exclusive listing looked like a furniture show room – very cramped and unappealing even though it had good space with a view. It was transformed by rearranging into a stunning, sophisticated home. Thank you.” — S. Sperber, Senior Vice-President, “I just wanted to let you know that all of your suggestions were right on, even the ones that I was a little skeptical of. It really made a difference.” — E. Mutisya, MD, Senior Director/Clinical
Leader, CNS/Analgesia Professional Organizing“The decision to work with Barbara and A PROPER PLACE was a very positive and successful endeavor. I entered this project as an alternative to moving into a larger apartment and ended up with my place completely re-organized. We were able to make better use of space in my little studio by re-arrange furniture, cleaning out closets, cabinets and shelves and re-organizing them in a more efficient manner. Before this project, being tidy and keeping clutter to a minimum was a weekly chore. It's now hassle free and I feel more on top of my personal affairs. Two of the things that I liked best about working w/ Barbara is it is a collaborative process and secondly she is very creative at maximizing what you currently have and recycling items for new purposes which helps keeps costs to essential items.” — Laura Brannan, Integrated Credit Trading Closet Design“If I didn't tell you before, then I will tell you now, Barbara was fabulous. She is an absolute pleasure to work with and paid great attention to every little detail. I felt very taken care of and all of my concerns for space were fully addressed. The hat and shoe closets are particularly wonderful and I enjoy going into them every day! I may end up needing more closets ... I am a shopping junkie! ... if so, I will be sure to get in touch.” — Michelle Dell |
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“The entire Gershon family is appreciative of the professionalism,
imagination, creativity, inventiveness as well as the expeditious “staging” of
my Mother’s Sutton Place apartment. You transformed 20
years of apartment living in only 8 business days into an open, light,
marketable, saleable, inviting, embracing, and (most of all) a quick
sale! Our ability to secure more than the asking price for
the apartment is in no small way a testament to your contribution.
Thank you.”