Silver Spoon Staging puts posh finishing touches on luxury properties

The designer carried a bottle of Jo Malone’s Lime Basil and Mandarin Cologne and spritzed the citrus scent throughout a newly constructed home’s family room.

“This is what this house should smell like when you walk in,” Angela Tesselaar said as she stood in the property located in the Port Street homes area of Newport Beach.

At this point, the heavy lifting would be done, and the spritz would be just the icing on a very nice cake.

Tesselaar and friend Jessica Frandson co-founded Silver Spoon Staging, a residential staging company specializing in luxury homes in Southern California.

The two, who have been friends for over 13 years, collaborated professionally this year when they sought to create a new level of service for real estate agents and clients hoping for that optimal purchase price.

They say that while there are home stagers aplenty in the area, few specialize as they do in high-end properties.

The designers will mix antiques with contemporary furnishings, often pulling pieces from their own curated collections, which include Ralph Lauren, Hermes and Christian Liaigre lines.

And Tesselaar and Frandson’s business relationships with artists like Wolfgang Bloch and Matt Rogers also haven’t hurt. They have allowed the women to bring even more top design sources, like art and rugs, into high-end listings.

The two aren’t new to design. Tesselaar, a Laguna Beach resident, founded and still operates Laguna Beach-based interior design firm A. Tesselaar. Frandson, a Corona del Mar resident, designed residential retreats and corporate offices for Simple Green cleaning products across the country.

Frandson also launched Twistband Inc., which specializes in ponybands and headbands made of elastic trim. She sold the company before getting into the latest venture.

Silver Spoon Staging, the two said, helps fill a void in the upscale real estate market by pairing million-dollar listings with furnishings and art of the same caliber.

“We had an incredible inventory from projects we had done,” Frandson said, noting the $20,000 rug sprawled under sofas in the family room of the Port Ashley Place home in Newport. “That’s what’s special about us. We have hundreds of pieces that can mix and match in any space, simply because we invest in quality.”

Silver Spoon Staging deals not only in new home constructions.

For a currently occupied home, during a consultation the duo will give the homeowners the standard spiel: Get rid of the clutter by packing all the items up and storing them or selling pieces no longer used.

That large chair in the living room should be replaced with a neutral armchair. Sweaters, shoes and boxes filled with accessories should be stacked in floor-to-ceiling shelves in closets. Long and tall mirrors should be hung in hallways to reflect light and space, and short and wide or round mirrors will make rooms appear larger.

For each client, Tesselaar and Frandson provide a guide that serves as checklist.

Before each showing, they suggest that toilets are flushed, the garbage disposal is run and the dryer is turned on with a sheet of Bounce in it to throw off a nice scent.

When the team approached the Port Ashley Place home, which was constructed by Grissinger Fine Homes, Frandson immediately asked that a giant chandelier hanging above the kitchen table be removed.

“Scale is everything,” she said, explaining that the item overpowered the room. When done correctly, a home or room can be warm and inviting.

The designers said they tend to focus on key rooms, like the dining and living areas, master bedroom and entryway. They set a dining room table with glassware, fine bone china and silver serving dishes.

To make the five-bedroom, 4.5-bathroom home appealing to families with children — the $3.95 million property is steps from Andersen Elementary School and a park — Frandson displayed her daughter’s artwork on an easel in a space that could serve as a children’s game room.

The home’s real estate agent, Justin Grissinger of Reef View Realty, said home staging helped transform the property into a place that potential buyers could envision as theirs.

“When dealing with high-end real estate, it is of the utmost importance to appeal to those with discerning taste,” Grissinger said. “Silver Spoon Staging not only delivers the highest of quality but an impressive, uniquely artistic and personal touch to the properties they design for.”

Staging a house can pay off for sellers, according to a 2015 study conducted by National Assn. of Realtors.

Among Realtors who typically represent the buyer, 49% reported that most buyers are affected by home staging and 81% of buyers found it easier to visualize the property as a future home.

Home staging can add up to 20% value to the home’s value, and 28% of visitors will overlook a property’s challenges and flaws, the association said.

“You want the listing to make an emotional connection with a future buyer,” Frandson said. “It’s no longer a house; it’s a home.”