MEET OUR AWARD-WINNING TEAM
LEIGH NEWPORT
Owner and Principal Designer
RECOGNIZED AS TOP 50 HOME STAGING EXPERTS by FIXR.com in 2023.
VOTED TOP 10 HOME STAGER IN THE UNITED STATES in 2020, by the Home Staging and Redesign Alliance.
Leigh and her team have staged over a BILLON DOLLARS in Real Estate since beginning the company in 2007, reflecting an overall Days on Market Average of 18.
Leigh discovered Home Staging as a career in 2005 when the home her family was selling was professionally Staged, and then sold for $25,000 above asking price, in 9 days. Prior to Home Staging, Leigh spent a long career as a hospitality manager and trainer. Leigh has served on the Board of Directors for the Washington, DC Chapter of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSP®), for three years, including the Office of President. She is a sought after public speaker, committed to educating home owners and Realtors alike on the benefits of Home Staging through seminars, CE classes and other engagements throughout Loudoun County and the entire Washington, DC Metro area.
Wendy palmer
Operations Manager
Wendy provides us with many years of experience as a Retail Operations and Management Professional in the Washington DC area.
Her extensive background in retail logistics and inventory control provides a strong foundation for her role. She coordinates the logistics for all staging and de-staging projects, has a key role in client care, inventory management and ordering.
She also maintains the company’s systems and procedures. Is there anything she CAN’T do? We haven’t found it yet. Every company has a person who’s the “glue” that keeps everyone together. For us, that’s Wendy!
Curt Newport
Vice President of Operations
Curt is the behind the scenes “numbers guy”, handling most of the “non-creative” sides of the company. From Contracts and Human Resources, to IT and Accounting, Curt brings over 25 years of business experience managing hotels, and delivering training programs as a Corporate Director of Training to the business, freeing up the design teams to do what they do best.
Curt is originally from San Diego, and graduated from Northern Arizona University. He is also a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician, and is the Chief with our local Volunteer Rescue Squad, an EMS Instructor and State Evaluator, and a retired multi-sport referee. In his spare time, Curt works part time for Major League Baseball, and is licensed as an Instrument Rated Private Pilot, and enjoys flying a Cirrus SR-22.
Alison Baldwin
Lead Stager
Alison comes to us with many years of experience as a textile designer. With a degree in Fine Arts, she followed her passion for home furnishings by working for a high-end fabric house in New York. Alison also worked in the design studio for a commercial wall covering company in New Jersey, as well as various freelance color consulting roles, prior to taking time off to raise her twin daughters.
After moving from northern NJ to northern VA, Alison was eager to get back into a creative role professionally. Transitioning from textile design to home staging has been the perfect pivot, incorporating her background and experience to create beautiful spaces.
Marlo Mackey
Stager
Marlo is a Certified Home Staging Professional (CHSP) through The New York Institute of Design. She holds degrees in both Business Administration and Legal Studies. Her previous experience has been in Human Resources, and has also worked as a Legal Assistant and Paralegal.
Born and raised in the Chicago area, Marlo developed a love of design at a very young age. Instead of asking to do typical childhood activities, she would beg her mom to take her to visit model homes. She even wrote as a kindergartener she wanted to “build houses and decorate them”. Though she doesn’t build homes, she’s living out her passion through staging and making them look their absolute best.
RAVE REVIEWS
In a last minute decision, we decided to stage our home for sale. Just weeks before listing, I reached out to Leigh after seeing her work on Houzz. She squeezed us into her packed schedule and transformed our home almost overnight! She options within our budget and did not try to oversell. The process was seamless and so easy from our end. Her sense of design and styler was perfect - appreciating fully our house and the market for it. The staging was beautiful and we received comment after comment on it. I am certain it was a critical factor in our receiving a full-price offer just two days after we listed the home for sale! Thank you Staged by Design!
Our home sat on the market for 90 days. We took it off for a week to refresh (mainly painting and staging). Leigh came in during a busy week on short notice and quickly turned our house into a model home. She also provided simple, cost effective updates and upgrades we completed in the master bathroom. Leigh provided links for suggested products which made it very easy to take action. We had an offer within three days of relisting. Leigh spent an hour on the main level in our new home. She quickly rearranged furniture, identified locations to hang items on the walls and recommended rug sizes/selections (with links to purchase). What a difference! I highly recommend Leigh to get your home ready to sell or to give it an updated look for you to enjoy.
Yes I would recommend them. Very professional, had good tips to help sell the house. I didn't want to do some of the suggestions but I am glad I did. I wasn't local so had to deal through phone calls and emails but they were very accommodating. House sold first weekend. LISTEN to the experts - you are paying them for their experience - they really do know what they are doing. :)
I cannot recommend Leigh and her team highly enough. I was managing my staging from out of state and she made everything so easy. She was quicker to respond to me than any other group I reached out to, even from the first moment I contacted her for a quote. Her price was incredibly reasonable and was able to complete the staging with a very fast turn-around time. I had a few ideas of what to include in the staging, which she incorporated, but the final product was all her amazing work. She was so exceptional I recommended her to my realtor.
Leigh and her team have worked wonders in many of my listings and helped me to present my listings in the best light possible. Her professionalism coupled with her exceptional customer service skills left our mutual clients absolutely impressed. From the first consultation appointment to home staging process, Leigh doesn't leave anything to chance. Her dedication to deliver the utmost level of quality and her willingness to help others succeed sets her apart from the rest. Her warehouse is filled with the most up-to-trend design pieces and the listings she helped stage have brought the highest offers in the shortest amount of time. Her experience in design and her wealth of knowledge brings incredible value to all the listings we collaborate in. I think of our collaboration as an investment and I highly recommend Leigh and her team to anyone who is thinking of selling a home, as working with her will produce the highest return on your investment.
Wow! I worked with Leigh and her crew to stage a wonderful house that just wasn't moving because of the large great room that was like a large empty concert hall. As soon as she staged it and defined the separate areas, suddenly people could imagine themselves in the home and it sold within two weeks. It was so irresistible, we suddenly started getting more interest and several interested in putting in an offer. One lucky couple are now moving in next week!
Leigh has great style and created an impeccable, top-drawer design for my townhouse. She and her team came prepared, were highly efficient and completed the project within budget. We received an offer one day after the open house! I give her an A++ and look forward to working with her again.
Great staging. Great pricing. So convenient. They get your home sold fast! Staged by Design is very responsive and gets your project done right on time.
I highly recommend Leigh! I'm a Realtor in a very competitive market and we use her on all of our listings to ensure that our sellers are poised for a quick sale. Her recommendations are conservative in terms of cost but incredibly impactful. We've had many clients tell us that they wished she had staged their home before they decided to sell :)
When we decided to work with Staged by Design, we were a little nervous because we didn't know what to expect. When Leigh arrived at our home, she quickly put us at ease and carefully explained her process. Her recommendations initially seemed quite challenging, but after carefully working through her list, we couldn't be more pleased with the results. The staging process has not only made our home into an outstanding showcase, but also given us ideas regarding how might decorate our next house.
Leigh came in to do a staging consultation as part of our realtor's process of getting our house on the market. We've enacted 95% of her recommendations and boy are we glad we did! (The only thing we didn't do was re-stain the deck - it's December!) The house looks amazing! Her paint color recommendations, flooring suggestions, furniture removal/placement...all together it makes all the difference in the world. Her level of customer service is what every service provider strives to offer. We highly recommend Leigh and her team to anyone considering selling their house (or wanting to update it to feel like a new home!).
The staging was done on time and was beautiful, tasteful and fit the home perfectly! We had a lot of competition for units that are exactly the same,- many sitting for months, but ours got a very strong offer in just the first week!
Leigh came in to see a property that had painters and carpenters throughout the property. Drop cloths and supplies everywhere! Somehow she was able to see beyond the chaos and reassured me that she would stage this home. Leigh, and her team did an incredible and beautiful job! The homeowner cried when she saw her home staged. Said she could not imagine her home could be so stylish and gorgeous. Needless to say, the property went under contract very quickly with many complements!
My sellers were skeptical about the idea of staging. But they knew Leigh and had heard wonderful things about her and her work, and decided to give it a try. The result was that Leigh's vision transformed the home from one of the many to THE one. We got multiple offers and closed the sale for over asking in just two weeks. Thank you Leigh.
I highly recommend Staged by Design service! My house was ready for sale but it was empty inside. I decided to stage it. Came across this company. Leigh Newport was very professional from the beginning. At the day of staging her team worked very quick and quite. The result was amazing! Rooms looked so stylish and homie that turned this empty house in very inviting place. I had an offer on this house less than a week from the day on the market. Money well spent!
Leigh provided a consultation and full staging services for our recent home sale. She provided a list of recommended changes/updates and the best paint color for each room of the house. She was able to recommend great contractors for some of the repairs we needed to make. We repainted and recarpeted the whole house to prep it for sale, but the staging made it look so much more spacious and luxurious. We received 7 offers on our house and sold for 20k over list price. The investment in staging was worth every penny.
Leigh and her team at Staged by Design are true professionals! I have worked with them many times and each time I am incredibly impressed! Leigh's approach is skilled, gentle, and concise; working with both my seller clients and myself for the very best results! I know that homes staged by Leigh and Staged by Design, sell faster and for more money than without, making hiring Staged by Design an easy investment!
Yes I would recommend them. Very professional, had good tips to help sell the house. I didn't want to do some of the suggestions but I am glad I did. I wasn't local so had to deal through phone calls and emails but they were very accommodating. House sold first weekend. LISTEN to the experts - you are paying them for their experience - they really do know what they are doing. :)
Our home sat on the market for 90 days. We took it off for a week to refresh (mainly painting and staging). Leigh came in during a busy week on short notice and quickly turned our house into a model home. She also provided simple, cost effective updates and upgrades we completed in the master bathroom. Leigh provided links for suggested products which made it very easy to take action. We had an offer within three days of relisting. Leigh spent an hour on the main level in our new home. She quickly rearranged furniture, identified locations to hang items on the walls and recommended rug sizes/selections (with links to purchase). What a difference! I highly recommend Leigh to get your home ready to sell or to give it an updated look for you to enjoy
In a last minute decision, we decided to stage our home for sale. Just weeks before listing, I reached out to Leigh after seeing her work on Houzz. She squeezed us into her packed schedule and transformed our home almost overnight! She presented options within our budget and did not try to oversell. The process was seamless and so easy from our end. Her sense of design and styler was perfect - appreciating fully our house and the market for it. The staging was beautiful and we received comment after comment on it. I am certain it was a critical factor in our receiving a full-price offer just two days after we listed the home for sale! Thank you Staged by Design!
Have a project coming up?
Let us shine a spotlight on your home today.