by Derrick Williams
Thisweek Newspapers

Careers can be stressful.

Listening to Lakeville residents Shar Sitter and Beth Patnode, it's tough to say whose job was more demanding.

Both had careers in drastically different fields until 2005, when they became partners in their home staging and redesign business, Stylish Transformations.

Patnode skipped around the globe protecting the president of the United States as a special agent in the Secret Service. At a moment's notice, she was expected to place herself between the president and a bullet.

Sitter worked in business taxation -- drudging through long hours during tax season for big businesses and company CEOs. For 10 years she owned her own firm.

Secretly though, both women had a passion for interior design.

"We've definitely gone from the left brain all the way to the right brain," Sitter joked. Both women have master's degrees -- Patnode in criminal justice and Sitter in business taxation.

Chance brought them together -- Patnode and her husband decided it was time to settle down. It was tough, she said, to focus on family when working for the Secret Service. They moved to Lakeville and ended up next door to Sitter.

It didn't take long for them to discover that they were both interested in interior design.

"Our friends have always loved what we've done with our own homes and have asked us to help with theirs," Sitter said. "Now we're doing [interior design] professionally."

Stylish Transformations is a staging and redesign company. While it specializes in staging vacant and model homes for sale on the real estate market, it also provides consultation for clients in need of some new and fresh interior designs.

Patnode said that they're different from other stagers because they have an entire warehouse filled with all kinds of furniture and accents to fit many different styles.

"Most of our business is in staging," Patnode said. "By having an inventory to work with we don't need to refer clients to furniture rental stores like other stagers do."

The Stylish Transformations warehouse includes many pieces including furniture, dishes, lamps, pillows, art work and other accents in many different styles.

The pair launched the Stylish Transformations Web site in November 2005, and it wasn't long until they got their first client.

They finished the job within 24 hours of getting the Realtor's call and used furniture and accessories from their own homes to fill the space.

The pair used the money from that project to start buying furniture for their warehouse.

Always on the lookout for bargains, they stockpile furniture and accessories even when on vacation.

"We've got just about everything," Sitter said. "We handpick all the pieces."

Patnode said that staging a home for the real estate market is huge right now.

"People are always looking to make their home look better than the others," Patnode said. "That is what staging does."

Rather than decrease the sale price of a home that is on the market, Patnode and Sitter can offer a consultation to see if staging or redesigning the home's interior can help.

"Staging a home that is on the market can have huge gains in terms of the sale price," Sitter said. "The first impression is most important to the buyer and a couple hundred dollars spent in giving a home a new look can save thousands in price reduction to a home that isn't selling."

The pair just finished staging models for the spring Parade of Homes show and still have other projects on the burner.

Sitter and Patnode say they're energized every time they stage or redesign a home.

"When we get done with a project, it's great to see what we've done," Sitter said.

"Am I hopping on a plane to go to Ireland with President Clinton? No," Patnode said. "But now I get paid to go shopping."

For more information, visit www.StylishTransformations.com.

Derrick Williams is at lakeville.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.