Upstaged Home Staging bringing festive cheer with $5000 makeover

The Upstaged team is (from left) Melany Davy, Charlotte Severinsen, Tess Dwyer, Kath Barrett and Sonia Park. Photo / Bevan Conley

One lucky punter will have their home refurnished and re-dressed to the value of $5000 this Christmas, courtesy of Upstaged Home Staging.

Company founder Tess Dwyer said the idea came about after her friend in Melbourne was helped out after she left a bad relationship.

"There is an amazing charitable organisation over there who came in and dressed her whole home for her and her son.

"As a team, we were talking about how we'd love to be able to do that for one family in Whanganui and really make a difference."

Upstaged specialises in dressing (staging) homes before they go on the market, adding furniture, appliances and accessories to the dwelling.

It can also involve cleaning, rearranging, painting and redecorating, and helping the homeowner with the presentation of existing belongings, such as styling bookcases or adding linen accessories to beds.

She received a lot of nominations in the first 24 hours after they opened on Monday, Dwyer said.

"It can be a family, a couple, one person, it doesn't matter.

"There are some sad stories but also some lovely ones coming through as well.

"We've had an amazing year this year and we've worked so hard and grown so much, so we also want to celebrate this by giving back and doing something really good for someone in our beautiful city.

"We'll deck the house out just like we do with our clients, but they get to keep everything."

Nominations close on Tuesday, November 30, and can be made by messaging Upstaged's Facebook page at www.facebook.com/UpstagedWhanganui