DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH SAYDE MARK DESIGNS unless you are a seller who doesn't care about the product you pass off to the next person. They damage property and don't give a damn about repairing it. I just bought a house where Sayde Mark Designs provided staging. After they removed their items from walls, they left holes in the wall, tore off plaster, and scuffed the walls. But they got paid by the seller, so why would they care about the buyer or the condition of the house after they left? Also, they had the garage door opener and when returning it after the sale, they just left it out in the open on the front step. Couldn't even bother to put it in a secure location, like the mail box. read more

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We worked with Steve from Sayde Mark to stage my house that went up for sale this Spring. I can't say enough good things about the team. Steve was very responsive and listened to our needs well. The moving team was friendly and careful to not damage any thing. The staging looked great in pictures and for the open house. We got multiple offers even during the Covid 19 pandemic. Even when we needed the staging longer than the initial contract, they gave us an extra two months without additional charges. Great work and kind people! read more

Sayde Mark Designs - Staging at my residence by Sayde Mark - Home Staging Near Me - San Francisco, California

I'm def biased as family, but I'm here to say that Heather and Steve are def a power couple in person and in business - and their team is a true reflection of their incredible sense of style, knowledge of the market, commitment to doing a great job, pleasure to be with, to work with, and integrity. I'm so proud of their hard work through the years to get to where they are. Not everyone has family who would say such things right? Wouldn't have to... read more

I interviewed three staging companies and I picked Sayde Mark Designs because I liked what they posted on the website and a few listing staging they attached as their portfolio. Also they are the highest quote among all three and I decided to go with them because of the portfolio. I mostly worked with Steve. I specifically told him that I want modern and also gave him a few references pictures I liked. Unfortunately the initial staging they delivered was a total farm house design and with little thoughts put into using some of the spaces. For example, the previous owner staging company smartly put a small desk and chair to inspire a small space in my downstairs room but Sayde Mark designer simple put a bean bag shaped cushion which serves 0 purpose. It felt like that the designer completely took it to himself deciding that farm house style is what I need without communicating with Steve or there was no communication from Steve to the designer. I ended up requesting changing the style into a modern look and also add more furniture in the small space downstairs. Fortunately Steve agreed to make the changes but the initial farm house staging remained as the staging for most of my selling brochures and I also missed the high peak of open house visitors for the first week. Steve agreed to reduce the quote by $1000. Overall it's not a great experience since I was willing to pay premium to get an inspiring staging but the staging brought the house down. But Steve was professional enough to handle my complain and did what I requested only a little too late. The issue is lack of communication between him and the designer w read more

Sayde Mark Designs - The zebra cushion didn't have any design thoughts. Versus the previous seller staging designer designed an office in that space. - Home Staging Near Me - San Francisco, California

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I have worked with Sayde Mark Design to stage two homes, one in Los Altos and one in San Francisco. They were extremely helpful and have many great vendor contacts to help us do any repairs/upgrades needed before we went live. They have a great design team who suggested some paint colors and replacing a few light fixtures which made a huge difference. Their wood floor refinishing team did an excellent job as well. They were truly a 'one-stop shop' type of staging company which made the process painless. They also staged both homes almost entirely in one day. I found the prices to be on point for the services and quality of the furniture. Highly recommend! I would use them again! read more

We were introduced to Sayde Mark Designs by our realtor, Andrew Roth of Domain Marin, as part of our preparation to sell our family home in Marin. They were one of several bids that we considered and we are so pleased to have selected them to stage the home. The process was seamless and came in on budget! Our home took on a much more modern look and feel as a result of the artistic eye of the team at Sayde Mark Designs. We have no doubt that the sale of the home -- which happened nearly instantly and for just over our full asking price -- was in part a result of the positive impression that the staging made on the buyers! read more

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I was referred to Heather Forbes at Sayde Mark Designs via my real estate agent at Compass, and have just one other experience to compare it to, for a much different home back in 2007. Heather has a terrific eye for what will "pop" in the listing photos, and what will translate well during an open house and private tours. She was able to incorporate some of my furniture and and home goods, which made living in a staged 2BR/2BA condo a bit more comfortable. Heather also made a recommendation for paint color, to complement the existing accent walls, and I loved her recommendation. Her pricing was VERY competitive - her contract came more than 50% under a competitor, who staged the exact same space on a different floor in my building. The contract is straight forward, with 50% up front and 50% upon staging completion. The staging appointment itself went well - she brings a crew with her both to stage, and to move her furnishings into your home. De-staging was even faster, and went smoothly. Thank you Heather at Sayde Mark Designs! read more

Spoke with Steve and received great advice on what he thinks what we should do as far as staging is concerned. Ultimately we didn't decide to work together, but he spent his valuable time and we very much appreciate it. Thanks you! read more

Although it's been a nightmare to not sell my loft for 6 months (market conditions), it has been an absolute pleasure to enjoy the quotidian feng-shui of Sayde-Mark. I have felt civilized and my house is a piece of art. They knew I was working with a budget and made my place look amazing. Flexibility coupled with sheer artistry and access what seems like a warehouse full of furniture and nick-nacks to transform your house into a Dwell Magazine expose. They have been back to make some adjustments - separators when potential buyers complained about the open space, new decor to sync with the Christmas season - I am going to bring them back for sure after I do a full-on remodel and market conditions improve. read more

One of the best stagers in SF. They are extremely client-centric and go above and beyond to make sure you are happy with the design. They also provide fantastic advice on how to get your best bang for the buck regarding remodeling for sale, paint colors, light fixtures, etc. I can't say enough great things about them. read more

Overall I was pleased by the quality of work. I think Heather has great taste, did a tremendous job picking out colors that would make our home pop, and did everything in a very timely fashion. Heather is also a pleasure to talk to and has a point of view on your place immediately. Definitely appreciated all of those things. Overall i felt the process was easy, fast, and affordable. I was disappointed by how things were handled with our furniture that they stored for us. During our consultation, I was not convinced we needed to move out our heavy furniture... it seemed to look ok to me. Heather convinced me that it would be very easy and they would be happy to do it. In the contract, I was surprised that it stated "Moving and storage of Client's own furniture is available for a removal fee of $100 and a monthly storage fee of $100/month." I thought to myself that this is unexpected but I guess I can live with that. When the final invoice came, they charged us a total of $350 for "storage of bulky items". I spoke to my agent and he was disappointed as well, because he was there when Heather visited us initially and he had no idea she would charge us this much... since she was the one who suggested to us that we should! I certainly would never have chosen to do so if I knew it would cost $350. - Originally 5-stars for the quality of service - Decreased to 3 stars because of the extra unexpected cost. - Bumped it up to 4-stars because when I spoke to Steve (her husband who manages billing), he did not charge me a Credit Card fee because of the issue we had. And Heather was great about arranging the return delivery of my furniture. If it weren't for the charge I would recommend them without reservation. read more

Sayde Mark Designs - Picture of my living room which Heather helped stage. - Home Staging Near Me - San Francisco, California

Heather and Steve have been terrific to work with. My experience with them so far has been a great relief instead of a stressful one. As another reviewer wrote, working with them has been a pleasure. I was very reluctant to hire another stager based on my horrible experience with the previous one I hired for another property (please feel free to ask me for details). Boy am I glad I hired Steve and Heather. What a difference... My place looks beautiful. Heather did a fantastic job. I will update this review if anything changes, but so far it's been great! read more

I interviewed and met with several top stagers in SF. Mark and Heather were clearly a tier above all. Their recommendations on pre-staging work were spot on and incredibly helpful. Installation was a synch and their team is truly talented and fun to work with. Wirth every penny. I'd recommend them in a heartbeat! Photos worth more than words... wil post pictures read more

I got refereed to Sayde Mark Designs by my colleague. I recently used their services on one of my listings, my seller and I both were very pleased with the results. Property looked so chic! Steve heard all of our requests and concerns, he was patient and agreed to work with our demanding schedule. I will definitely work again with Heather and Steve in the nearest future read more

How does a staging company with a photographer land in the "interior design" category. The owner/stager of this company has literally NO clue about design, any elements or scale, or taste for that matter. I was SO disappointed with the work she performed, with the chipped west elm furniture, the broken light fixtures (wouldn't even light up for showings!), and the dowdy sofas. Seriously- if you're going to have a white sofa in your staging inventory- shouldn't it be clean??? But all this is nothing compared to the lack of timeliness, the lack of professionalism and the totally overpriced job. Eek- me thinks not...you can say that again. Look elsewhere! read more

I'm a San Francisco Realtor who has hired Heather to stage numerous properties. She just staged a property for a client last week and is removing staging for a property that is closing escrow today. She always does a great job, is timely, has outstanding vision, and has never been late with the installation. It's also so nice to work with somebody who has a can-do approach to her work and is almost always positive. The point of Heather's role in a sale is to transform a property from being just another property, to being something that potential buyers have emotional pull towards. She makes the difference between buyers liking properties and buyers writing offers on properties. If you hire Heather and you property sells in three days, it's BECAUSE of Heather's work, not despite it. read more

I am a Marin County Realtor. I hired Heather to stage a condo for me in Sausalito. This particular residence was being sold by an elderly couple who had lived in the condo for 29 years. Everything was still in it's original condition, including, the original carpet in the bathrooms! I came in and updated with new tile, carpet, fixtures and lighting. After my portion of the job was completed, I called Heather with Sayde Mark Designs. The home had incredible views of the bay and Sausalito, but it was still dated. Heather walked in, meditated a few minutes, and then we simultaneously said the same thing: "this needs to be sexy'! I had faith in Heather and gave her carte blanch while I stayed out of her way while she staged. The moment I walked in, I was taken aback by the transformation from dated to modern and yes, sexy. In a word, Heather is an artist. Besides being an artist, Heather is an astute business woman, and completely charming and engaging. One thing I will say, is Heather can book up early, even though she has quite a bit of furniture, during the crazy selling months of spring and summer, I highly recommend you book Sayde Mark Designs well in advance of your project. By the way, we garnered over 135K over a fair market list price! read more

We were referred to Heather Forbes from Sayde Mark Designs by a friend and got a bid from her for the staging of our condo in San Francisco. Heather's bid was about 60% of the price of the competition, which made us a bit nervous at first. Heather then sent us links to a number of the properties which she had staged and we immediately signed on. Heather worked together with our agent and different trades people to get our staging done at just the right time and created a look that everyone who saw the place loved. If you've looked at places in San Francisco you usually get a strange sense of deja vu each time you enter a staged place, most likely because you saw the same exact setup a few weeks ago a block away. Heather created a fun, memorable and lively look for our place that made us a bit sorry that we were moving out. That is until we sold the place after the first weekend. ;) We were a bit hesitant about the expense that staging entails, but after using Heather, I'd highly recommend that people stage their place, and specifically, that they use Heather to do so. Thanks so much Heather for taking a project that threatened to be stress-filled and making it a breeze (at least from our point of view) and a roaring success. read more

From Start to finish, Heather and Steve were a pleasure to work with. Their price was reasonable especially considering the level of service and creativity and distinctive design they bring to staging. I want Heather to decorate our next house - her designs created such a creative, comfortable, and cosmopolitan living space! Our house sold quickly and well above what I thought was possible. I know the staging was a big part of showing our place in the best light. Thank you! read more

We worked with Heather, she was fantastic! I love her style, the furniture was top quality, and her choice of colors and design in my house were brilliant! She was professional, prompt, courteous and her staff as well. I never knew staging would provide such value, my house sold for 20% over asking price and Heather deserves most of the credit!!! I highly recommend Sayde Mark Designs! read more

Stagers left door to our place unlocked after they staged and neighbor tracked dog poop throughout our new carpet, not happy with their work. Also we felt they did a poor job staging, furniture was mismatched, and didn't fit the rooms, looked barren in places, strange decor in dining room. The owners response is also wrong, as the neighbors don't have keys to our unit. read more

Update, Steve contacted me this week to ask me to take down the negative review. I reviewed my emails on this and told him that it was pretty accurate, but had suggested it was his employee that was rude rather than him. He reacted by suggesting I was trying to defame him, so I adjusted the review above to reflect more accurately, but his approach really takes him down another star in my book. I'd suggest dealing with Heather if you end up with this firm due to your agent's suggestion. read more

Be careful of getting into the trap of listening to your realtor. My realtor forcefully suggested that I have my one bedroom condo staged before putting it on the market.I didn't agree with him, knowing that the location of my condo would be highly valued and would sell fast, but I was willing to take a look at the possibilities. My realtor forwarded an email from one of the designers stating what her plan was in furnishing my unit. It sounded really nice. But the Price was outrageous. $3000 for for 90 days of furniture rental. Before I even got a contract to look over and sign, they had already placed the furniture in my home. The furniture went in on friday and my unit was sold on Monday. So the reality is, I paid $3000 for one week of rental. I asked my realtor to get my money back, I'm still waiting...... So the bottom line is, The furniture was absolutely pathetic, poorly thought out and dirty. My high end condo turned into a showroom for cheap IKEA furniture. I am not a past employee or competitor. I would be willing to retract my posting if the company were to refund a significant portion of their extortionate fee. read more

We loved the staging and the attention to details , fabulous team and creative ideas to help sell our property in less than three days and above asking !! Steve and Heather were easy to work with and would use them again if we ever sell again . read more