Q&A with Michelle DeLucia, Designer and Owner of Sub Urban Staging

Home stagers create alluring interiors to attract potential homebuyers - not an easy task in this HGTV-saturated era. How do you appeal to the masses without becoming predictable, bland, generic?

Enter Michelle DeLucia, a Silver Spring-based home stager whose unique and playful style make her one of the most sought-after designers in the DC metro area.

How did you get into interior design and home staging?

I grew up in Hollin Hills, which is a mid-century modern neighborhood just south of Old Town Alexandria. My parents were really invested in the neighborhood and would always impress upon us mid-century design, and who the architects were so I grew up knowing that I was living in a really special place…and then slowly but surely, everything I did, all the money I made working in high school was spent on one of two things: decor for my room or my dog. But I remember constantly rearranging my room or painting it a different color or buying a queen bedspread for a twin sized bed just because I loved the fabric, so it was constantly there.

Did you study design in college?

I changed my major 4 or 5 times. I wish somebody had said to me, “since you were 10 years old, all you’ve ever wanted to do is design stuff!” I wasn’t focused so I ended up with a degree in communications with a minor in sociology. I worked in advertising for years on the account side. I was offered an opportunity to go into film and video production…but by then my husband and I had bought a house. I had a mortgage, and I couldn’t take that financial step back. But I think working on the account side has helped tremendously in terms of managing clients so there’s my silver lining.

Who are your clients?

Compass came to town just as I was opening up shop and I was fortunate enough to be put on their preferred provider list. And things just snowballed from there! And of course the homeowner…whoever is paying the bill is technically the client. I end up with most of my design clients through my staging clients

What trends are you loving right now and which do you wish would just go away?

There’s one designer that I absolutely adore - Leanne Ford - and her philosophy, because I embrace the “waste not, want not” mentality. Don’t get rid of it if you don’t have to…leave what you can leave and work with it. Make it your own. So then that kind of leads to repurposing things or seeing them through a different lens versus going into a big box store - don’t do the matchy match which has absolutely no personality.

People are afraid that things aren’t going to look good so they don’t trust their own gut, they don’t follow their heart. They’re trying to live up to this magazine look, versus if you love it, find a way to integrate it, whatever it might be. We shouldn’t be so afraid of letting our personalities come through when we decorate our homes. Put it out there and see what works. If it doesn’t feel right then you’ll know it.

A lot of people don’t know, when they walk into a space, what makes it good or what makes it bad. I’ll always start with that question with a design client about the negative…what patterns do you absolutely hate? When you start with the negative, it’s always easier to hone in on what they really like.

Favorite lesser known places to buy decor?

I don’t want to be run-of-the-mill so I turn to Etsy a lot for artwork and textiles…because I can get things from Morocco and Turkey. And, surprisingly, Instagram - that is where I find a lot of the one-of-a-kind either art pieces or ceramics.

Describe your process.

When I’m preparing for a stage, if I see the house with the owner’s stuff inside, I’m totally influenced by it. So I always prefer to see a blank slate. I don’t want to meet the client and see their furnishings because it does kind of infiltrate my brain and constrict the creative process. I also consider who the potential buyer might be and design a space (to some extent) based on that understanding.

When I walk into the warehouse on prep day, I don’t want to know what I have to work with because that’s part of the fun…putting together a look that’s different from the last stage. That’s one of the things I love about staging-- I’m very fickle and having to do the same thing over and over again would bore me to death. But this practice is also probably more anxiety producing because I never know for sure how it’s going to turn out.

What is a typical day like for you?

It starts early with a couple hours of office work. Then I’ll head to the warehouse and prep for a job if I have a stage going out that day. On another day, I’ll do the office work and then hit the road to go look at properties, and then maybe run by the warehouse for a little bit to prep for the next day’s job(s). Every day is different and I wouldn’t have it any other way!

Favorite design destinations?

So let’s start with Pakistan where I lived for 2 years when I was 5 and 6. I think that experience, combined with growing up in Hollin Hills, really just expanded my mind sooner rather than later. I was exposed to so much from early on and the collection of things my parents purchased on their travels clearly had an impression on me. The whole setting of DC, being more international, absolutely influences the inventory that I buy and the design decisions I make on a daily basis.

In 2017 Grace (my daughter) was in school in Argentina and I suggested we meet in Peru. I had seen a picture on Instagram of Rainbow Mountain and figured why not! I had never been to South or Central America. I got down there, and it blew my mind -- I cannot wait to go back. Next stop is Bolivia, because I’ve fallen in love with their textiles. And eventually I’ll make my way to Morocco and Turkey. The warehouse pillow wall will need a new home!

Apart from design, what are your passions?

That’s easy - rescuing pit bulls. I rescued Lucy (one of my 3 pitties) ten years ago. I didn’t know she was a pit bull - I didn’t even think about it. I just knew she was for me and I was for her. And since then, the plight of pit bulls has been one of my major callings. If I weren’t doing this, I’d 100% have a pit bull rescue organization.

What’s a fun fact that most people wouldn’t know about home staging?

People really have this perception that it’s all just fun, and it just comes together so easily, and it’s effortless. But you have restrictions, and you have what you have in front of you to work with. You have to make it all come together right then and there.

It really took six years to develop my inventory, where everything has synergy with the next thing. At the beginning, where I was constantly buying to plug in holes, and to get jobs, there was no cohesiveness. I hadn’t really developed a look, or a brand. That came with time, and a lot of money, and really honing in on what it was that I wanted to be (separate of others). I put my blinders on when I started this because I had seen staging, and I was so displeased with what I saw. I just knew I was never going to be that. It was going to have to be what I wanted it to be, or I wasn’t going to do it.

Any idiosyncratic requests from clients?

I have this one particular large scale piece of art that a client and I named “Bathing Beauty”. I’ve had her for about 5 years and she’s only ever been in that client’s properties except for one time. It’s like her calling card. This same client doesn’t like rugs with tassels and is very specific about where the (faux) TV will be placed. On the other hand, I have a client who forbids faux TVs in his property. I’m happy to oblige – just part of the job!