Meet Haley Barba, also known as The Interior Artisan, a passionate advocate for creativity, wellness, and community. With a love for art, DIY projects, and exploration of new cultures, Haley’s design style is a vibrant fusion of these influences.
It’s amazing what a little bit of creativity in a space can do for our existence within it!
After spending five years in a rigid professional setting in Arizona, she felt the urge for more freedom and creative expression. Inspired by her husband’s success as an architect and house flipper, she decided to transition from her career as a public servant/social worker. Taking a leap of faith, she embarked on a journey of learning, leaving her job to start her own business. Energized by the opportunity to shape her venture, she was able to leverage her existing connections and secure her first clients.
I watched my husband thrive in his career as an architect who was also flipping houses while I slowly burnt out in my career as a public servant/social worker. I decided I wanted to join his world and I took a leap of faith and left my career, took courses, and started my business.
Though still in the early stages, she remains dedicated to the growth and enhancement of her business. Haley excels in understanding the intricate relationship between people and their surroundings, ensuring each design project is tailored to meet the unique needs and desires of her clients.
Haley is an alumni of RESA® Accredited Education Provider, The Decorating & Staging Academy.
The Home Stager’s Perspective: A Conversation with Hayley Barba
Q: How does your commitment to RESA®, the exclusive nonprofit trade association for stagers, align with your professional goals and values?
Haley: RESA® has been a huge asset to my business in terms of connecting me to educational opportunities, other more seasoned professional stagers, and a great network. This has allowed my business to stay current in best practices.
Q: How has your perception of the staging industry evolved since you started?
Hayley: I have come to learn that there is a lot more admin, business management, logistics, and marketing involved than just simply the staging part.
Q: Take us back to your very first day on the job as a home stager. What were your feelings, expectations, and the most memorable moments from that day?
Haley: I was nervous about all the logistics I needed to manage on my first staging job, but very excited to finally get hands-on in a creative endeavor! My first staging job took me so long- probably twice the amount of time it takes me now- because I was so nervously intent on trying to get everything just right.
I did not plan my first job as well as I now have learned to plan my current jobs and ended up doing a lot of moving myself. It was a great learning experience that I have improved upon!
ALL PHOTOS PROVIDED BY THE INTERIOR ARTISAN
Q: Would you share some insights into your creative process? Where do you typically find inspiration for your staging designs, and how do you translate that into your work?
Haley: The internet is full of great inspiration! Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok to name a few are where I go to keep in touch with what is going on in the design world, which I use in my staging. I also try to be sustainable in my staging practice, so I am inspired by making old things new again.
Q: Staging can transform a property, but it’s not just about aesthetics. How do you balance design principles with the practical aspects of making a home more marketable?
Haley: This is hard, because I love the unique creative expression we can find within design principles, but loudly creative is not always a good route for staging.
I have a set of learned staging rules I abide by that keeps me from getting too wild with aesthetics that I still fit within design principles. I find tangible rules help me stay on track in this regard.
Q: Could you share a memorable success story where your staging made a significant impact on a property’s sale price or time on the market? What were the key elements that contributed to that success?
Haley: A client had an un-staged condo on the market for nearly 60 days, no offers. He hired me to stage it and after we did, it was under contract within a couple weeks for it’s current asking price!
Given the area and the market I was able to get a little more unique and funky with the staging which really made the condo stand out amongst others that were similar.
Q: Beyond aesthetics, what do you believe are the most important qualities or skills that a successful home stager should possess? How have these qualities shaped your own career?
Haley: Flexibility and adaptability are really important for a stager to maintain. Things are constantly changing and shifting in the staging world: trends, market conditions, timelines, client needs. I am someone naturally adaptable to quick changes which has been helpful in my business.
I can and will figure out how to “emergency” stage a whole house with just a few days notice when half my inventory is already out (this seems to happen more often than it should…).
I am currently trying to practice better organization to aid in staying on top of all the change; this is not as much my strong suit but also a necessary and luckily learnable skill!
Q: If you could stage a home for any celebrity, living or historical, who would it be, and what kind of design theme would you choose for their home?
Haley: It is my dream to do an absolutely maximalist staging. Something super colorful, fun and loud, full of pattern and texture. So, my dream staging is to do all the things you really should not do in staging… I need someone very adventurous to do this for.
Q: Imagine you could time travel to any era in history to stage a home. Which time period would you choose, and what elements from that era would you incorporate into the design?
Haley: I think I would like to be around in the 1920s/30s art deco era. I am a fan of all that pattern and gold.
Q: Home staging is a competitive field. What advice do you have for other staging professionals looking to stand out in the market and build a strong client base?
Haley: Find your niche!
Q: Balancing creativity with the demands of running a business can be challenging. What tools or systems do you use to manage your staging projects efficiently and stay organized in your daily operations?
Haley: QuickBooks, Excel, a good old fashioned paper planner, various design softwares for more intense projects (I am a big SketchUp fan).
Q: If you could collaborate with any famous interior designer or decorator, living or deceased, on a staging project, who would it be and why? What do you think you could learn from them?
Haley: I am such an internet fan of Jason Saft at Staged to Sell Home. I want to learn how to be so creative in luxury stagings like he is!
You can learn more about The Interior Artisan at https://www.theinteriorartisan.com/
Marketing Assistant at Real Estate Staging Association
Joanna creates marketing, advertising, and social media messaging for the purpose of conveying the organization's mission, vision and value, educating consumers, attracting new members, highlighting member accomplishments, providing content for real estate agents, and promoting strategic partners.
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