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September 12, 2007
Buy This Art! Um, We Mean House!
In the ever-competitive real estate market, home sellers find that homebuyers are more likely to purchase a home that’s flawlessly, but not overly, decorated.
That’s the idea behind staging: creating an environment with new furniture and art that appeal to homebuyers — an environment they might like to replicate with their own pieces.
Paducah artist and interior decorator Bill Ford has decorated and staged homes for 45 years now. Recently, he took staging a significant step forward with two Olivet Village model homes, now open for visitors. He staged the homes exclusively with real art from real Paducah-area artists.
Located near the mall, Olivet Village is a project of Falconite-Hipp, developers and longtime Ford clients.
“When we were talking about staging the models, I said let’s not put just any art on the walls, let’s ask to borrow art from LowerTown artists and PAPA artists,” Ford recalls. “The artists can always use more exposure, and real art is always better than the mass-produced art that you can get at a hobby shop.”
A few phone calls and gallery visits later, Ford was in business. Artists from LowerTown and PAPA were thrilled to participate. The art and furnishings are on loan in the “LowerTown” house until the end of September and in the “PAPA” house until September 15. If you’d like to have a firsthand tour, please contact Betty Higdon, 442.2100, to schedule a time.
Meanwhile, here’s a peek inside both homes:
LowerTown Artists HouseThrough the end of September
The LowerTown Artists House features art exclusively from LowerTown artists and galleries and furnishings on loan from Higdon Furniture.
In the living room, Ford uses From the Studio by William Renzulli of Gallery 5 over the fireplace, with Stealth, a carved ostrich egg, from Carol Gabany of The Egg and I. To the left, a gorgeous quilt, Alyanna, from Aynex Mercado, available from Pinecone Gallery. 
Right off the kitchen, Ford shows off Key West Rambler by Keyth Kahrs of Leaping Trout Gallery. Ford found the ceramic roosters at Higdon Furniture.
In the formal dining room, Ford uses another Keyth Kahrs piece, the circle-shaped Sunol Oaks. To the left of the kitchen, he places Paulette Mentor’s Strings Attached, from Mentor House Gallery. To the right, Autumnal Equinox, a ceramic piece from Beth Summers, available from Pinecone Gallery.
For a more traditional look in the cozy upstairs reading room, Ford uses three pieces from William MacKay of Stornoway Gallery. 
PAPA Artists HouseThrough September 15
The PAPA Artists House features art exclusively from PAPA artists and furnishings on loan from Fleming’s Furniture.
Landscape 4180 from Clyde Lawter smoothes the transition from the living room to the sunroom.
Ford hangs Peonies & Pearls by Jenny Fuller over the living room fireplace, with Harrietta Harper’s Lake Cottage to the left.
A Stranger Among Us by Mel Garbark separates the living room from the dining room, where Landscape 1291 by Clyde Lawter hangs on the far right wall. 
The sunroom is the perfect spot for Full Sail by Jack Sergeant at the end, and Landscape 4418 by Clyde Lawter to the right.
