Madeline Merritt, Accredited Home Staging Professional
Hi, my name is Madeline, owner of Xanadu Staging & Redesign, LLC. I guess you are wondering how I got into the staging business and what my credentials are for staging. Well I’m going to tell you. Have you got a drink? Good, this could take a while.
From my childhood I had an interest in art and interior design. As a teen my mother would tell neighbors how good she thought I was in decorating and I ended up doing jobs for several of our neighbors and friends. My first job was designing and making a headboard for the neighbors’ daughter.
When I graduated high school, I wanted to go to interior design school, but my family was too financially strapped with seven mouths to feed and my mother needed my help to care for all the young’ins, as I was the oldest. So I spent several years working before I started at Old Dominion University.
After two years, my college days were interrupted by divorce. But that wasn’t all, now I had to work two jobs. So school went to the back burner as I struggled to make ends meet with two children.
The two jobs just weren’t cutting it, so I prayed and prayed about what I should do. I finally got the idea to go to the library and research jobs that I could do that didn’t require a four year degree, and in the process make more money. I needed to spend more time with my children, so I only wanted to work one job.
It looked like Real Estate was promising. So, I quit one of my jobs so that I could go to Real Estate school. It was only a month so I thought I could survive. Well, then I had to go to training, another month. Finally, I got my license. I was off and running.
Hang in there, we’re almost done…
Real Estate worked out very well for me. I sold the first million-dollar listing in Hampton Roads in 1984. Over the years I won several awards and was an expert witness for the State of Virginia and the US Government. I attended UVA and got my Brokers License. While selling houses, I would always end up staging the properties even though the term wasn’t coined yet, I was staging. I loved being creative and helping my clients to sell their homes faster and for more money. 
I learned just what buyers liked and didn’t like from showing thousands of houses and listening to them as we toured.
I listed a home in Home-A-Rama and also decorated it. I won the Home-A-Rama Bronze Award for Interior Design and we also won the People Choice award. That was a hoot and I loved the chance to express my creative abilities.
After 28 years in the Real Estate industry, an agent from California told me about Staging. She said people in California wouldn’t think of selling a house without staging it. I decided to investigate. I came across Staged Homes on the internet, founded by Barb Schwarz. I called them and told them I wanted to be certified as a Stager, and asked what I needed to do. Long story short, I took that training and now have the credentials of Accredited Staging Professional Realtor and Accredited Staging Professional Stager (ASPS).
I started my own staging company, Xanadu Staging & Redesign, LLC. I am very excited and passionate about helping people meet their goals, either by staging to sell or staging to live , better known as redesign. I also do business staging for reception areas, offices etc.
But my favorite part is being able to work with people and hopefully make a difference in their lives. I love seeing people happy with the results.
Let me show you how I work. It will be such fun. You’ll see.
Now you have most of the details about how I got into Staging.
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
