110 degrees magazine - Index

110 degrees magazine - magazine_08 - Index

ABODE I BY JANE CARLISLE I PHOTOS BY RUSSELL BYRNE
STAGING YOUR
HOME
I grew up in America but spoke Spanish as my mother tongue since my
mom didn’t speak English. My childhood home was in a small town
called Harlingen not far from Brownsville deep in the heart of the barren
wilderness of south Texas.
We didn’t have TV when I was young so I would entertain myself by reading
her big, imposing Spanish novels. When I would get stuck on a word I
asked her to help me with the meaning.
My mother was a single woman who supported her family by holding down
three jobs including running a housecleaning business. She extended her
professional standards into her own life and kept her home pincushion neat.
Never any mess, clutter, dirt, or dust.
She instilled in her daughter the virtue of neatness and order. “Values are
caught not taught,” they say and I caught that bug, for sure.
I had a corporate career for nearly two decades as an Executive Adminis -
trator in Silicon Valley working for some large technology firms and developed
some business and organizational skills.
I attended Catholic School at Harlingen’s Immaculate Heart of Mary. My
education reinforced the qualities of my home life because a bunch of strict
nuns taught us to keep our lives clear of spiritual and moral clutter, just as
mom taught us to take care of physical clutter.
I’m a devout Catholic and throughout my life have felt guided by the intercessions
of the blessed Mother.
We moved to Brentwood four years ago because my husband fell in love
with the area and saw it as a great place to raise our daughter, Jacqueline. One
of the first sights I saw as we drove into town was a large church that was
still under construction.
54 www.110mag.com January/February 2008
JANE APPROACHES HOME IMPROVEMENT FROM A STAG-
ING POINT OF VIEW — GIVING US TIPS FOR MAKING OUR
HOMES LOOK AS NICE WHILE WE STILL LIVE IN THEM AS
THEY WOULD IF SHE PREPARED THEM FOR SALE.
The sight of that place provided a great affirmation for me, because when I
saw the words Immaculate Heart of Mary beside that construction site, I
knew that I had come home. My husband had wanted to make this move and
seeing that sign got me onboard from my heart with his decision.
I’m a people person and developing relationships with the marvelous men
and women in Brentwood was the other big thing that cemented my positive
feelings about my new home. I saw an ad for The Delta Women’s
Connection and almost immediately began developing a network of associates,
businesspeople and, especially, good friends.
Friends led to friends; groups led to groups. And experiences unexpectedly
led to a profession in the home improvement industry. I had always viewed
properties and living spaces with a judicial eye, imagining how I would fix up
a waiting room, for example, thinking of how the furniture could be arranged
to focus upon the entrance rather than blocking the entrance.
One day I actually did this. I was sitting in a waiting room. The receptionist
was my friend so I asked if I could rearrange the furniture in
order to help the place look better and so that people could move about
more freely.
She was amused at the thought of my doing this, as were the doctors
when they saw the result. But they left the arrangement since it was so obviously
an improvement.
I’m constantly changing my own home — moving things around, adding
an item here or moving a picture there. I have a passion to get things right.
Now I’ve turned my passions into a profession. This began when I sold my
own home and a Realtor hired a woman, whom she called a stager, to bring
the property up to a bright cosmetic standard.