90 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {home & design} INTERIORS place setting words by JOHANNA HARLOW PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF ASHLEY MAXWELL PHOTOGRAPHY Ahome staged by Coco Silver is a tastefully transformed space—but the process of gussying up a house before selling it is far from glamorous. “This is a tough business,” shares the owner of Coco Home. “It’s not about pretty sofas.” With a stylish yet sensible aesthetic, Coco pairs her practical overalls with a sharp blazer and bold frames. She’s currently at her base of operations: a warehouse lined with Costco-sized racks, each one brimming with furniture, rugs, mattresses and enough art and photography prints to fill a gallery or two. As she moves among the rows, Coco explains that preparing homes for potential buyers involves a lot of “schlepping and packing and unpacking” as well as constant refurbishing and serious strategizing—and that’s before arriving on site. “Sometimes when you get there, it works flawlessly—most of the time. And then other times you’re like, ‘This is a hot mess. Nothing is working,’” observes Coco. “The house has to speak to the pieces you bring in. And if it doesn’t, it vomits them out. And you’re like, ‘Nope, it does not want to be here.’” Fortunately, with a decade and a half of experience under her belt, this is a rare occurrence for the Mountain View resident. She also has lead designer Bre Heagney and a strong team backing her. “I can do it in my sleep now,” she affirms. The main ingredient to making the staging process look effortless? It’s all in the prep work. “When we walk through a house, we’re like, ‘Okay, where’s the baby going? Is this going to be multi-generational and the grandparents are going to be here? Where’s Thanksgiving happening?’” She adds, “We even name the rooms.” Coco and her team take stock of what they have currently
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