Stage to Sell or Stage to Live: Kaitlyn Beise of Tidy Details on Keeping a Tidy Living Space
A local entrepreneur shared her advice for keeping a tidy home at her Stage to Sell or Stage to Live presentation during the 2023 Duluth Women’s Expo held at the DECC on Feb. 25.
The Tidy Details exhibit booth at the 2023 Duluth Women’s Expo. Pictured, L to R: Emma Walters, Kaitlyn Biese, Kayla Lease. Photo by. Lita Lind
Kaitlyn Beise, the founder of Tidy Details LLC, believes in the value of maintaining a clutter-free living space. In 2019, she traded nine years of social work for founding her own business of professionally staging and tidying homes in the Twin Ports region.
“Whenever I leave my house, I really want to feel energized. I don’t want to feel so dragged down and stressed at the end of the day. So I decided, well, what could I do to open up my own business? What’s a passion of mine? And it led me into home staging,” Beise said.
Beise and her “small, but mighty” team of nine homekeepers love to create change in people’s homes and reveal the “Pinterest-perfect” house hiding underneath the clutter. Positive change can come from clearing counters, rearranging, rotating decor and scheduling weekly or biweekly cleanings.
“This can be easier said than done,” Beise said. “But I try to be pretty strict about it for myself.”
In addition to scheduled cleanings, Beise recommended that those wanting to keep a tidy home put it “to sleep” at night and “wake it up” in the morning.
“It feels like a different space and it makes me appreciate it a little more,” Beise said.
During a Q&A session after her presentation, Beise offered advice for college dorm residents wanting to make the most of their on-campus space as well. For students living in a dorm, transitioning to a smaller, shared space can be overwhelming.
“I think that function is always best, so function over decor when it comes to dorm room styling,” Beise said.
Though practicality comes first, Beise also shared that a splash of color, twinkle lights and an LED strip around the perimeter of the bed can add a lot of character to even the humblest of dorm rooms.
Beth Cross, a UMD senior who attended Beise’s presentation, is no stranger to finding college housing in Duluth. During her undergrad, Cross has lived in a dorm, an on-campus apartment and two different off-campus locations.
Beise’s professional staging tips inspired Cross to make her room functional and aesthetically pleasing despite its strange layout. Committing to this change has required her to keep her desk clear of notecards, coffee mugs, and everyday clutter.
“Although it’s hard to maintain at times, it’s always worth it,” Cross said.
To support a local woman-owned business and find inspiration for staging your home to sell or to live, Tidy Details can be found on Facebook, on Instagram and at their website.