Meet Linda Graveline | Owner, Eleven Interiors Home Staging

We had the good fortune of connecting with Linda Graveline and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Linda, what role has risk played in your life or career?
Being an entrepreneur takes a lot of courage, especially when you don’t come from money or have access to additional funds to fall back on as it grows. I already had a successful Reiki practice, so I slowly but surely tipped the scales from that to staging over several years. Having Reiki income in place gave me the ability to grow the staging business at a comfortable pace. At the beginning I sought the advice of a wonderful SCORE mentor who basically said “you’ve got this” and confirmed I already had everything I needed to get my company off the ground. I also have a bachelor’s degree in business, so the understanding I had of “the basics” made the endeavor less risky. Risk is still uncomfortable for me, so I lean on good advice from loving people and of course I look inward for answers. Things have always worked out and I trust they always will.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Each designer and stager has their own sort of… encyclopedia of design in their head. Having grown up flipping through my mother’s interior decorating magazines, I developed an appreciation for a range of interior decorating styles, from traditional and conservative to bold, colorful and edgy. That foundation of images inherently filters into every staging I do.

Everything I use in a project is carefully considered to bring an appropriate personality and story to that specific home. Accessories and art have the power to provoke feelings of comfort and relatedness but also reflect a certain level of intellect. The more sophisticated or special an item is design-wise, the more impressive it is to potential buyers – and that translates to a higher perceived value of the property.

Because I’m able to do a wide variety of styles well, I don’t have one particular look or brand, but some stagers do “know it’s Eleven” and sometimes think of me as the one who best nails a more edgy and modern “black and white mixed with vintage” look, probably because it’s my personal favorite decor style.

My staging style has evolved and grown up over the 10 years I’ve been doing this. I’ve sold most of my kitschy vintage and mid century modern furniture and art and replaced it with more contemporary and timeless things. That said, we’re in what feels like a strong design evolution phase these days, with the best elements of the 80s and postmodernism making a huge comeback in a new and refreshing way. The challenge now, aside from moving companies and other overhead skyrocketing, is finding affordable, hot, new, trendy items and filtering them into my projects.

Thanks to the extra time people had to redecorate during COVID, we’ve also seen a sharp increase in DIY design partnered with accessibility from companies from Target and Wayfair to Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware, to name a few. The general public has a more refined “design eye” than ever before, so I sometimes wonder how the interior design industry is doing as a result.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would definitely take them to the Hollywood Bowl for a concert and if they like 80s music they should visit in May and come with us to Cruel World Festival. The best bands and musicians always come through L.A. so we’d also head out for music at one of hundreds of locations from the iconic, tiny Mint to the legendary Forum.

My favorite breakfast spots are Sweet Butter in Sherman Oaks and Great Maple in Pasadena. Philippe has delicious French dip sandwiches, cole slaw and cheesecake. We recently discovered the shawarma sandwiches at Kobee Factory in Van Nuys and the birria tacos and quesadillas at Birrieria San Marcos are outstanding. L.A. has a lot of fresh, delicious sushi so I recommend Sugarfish and the original Katsuya in Studio City (mmmm…baked crab rolls). The York’s burger, Wolfie’s vegan chicken sandwiches and Highland Cafe’s tuna melt are still favorites from when I lived on York Blvd. in Highland Park. Granville’s menu is craveable and consistently good.

It’s always fun to drive up PCH and grab drinks and dinner somewhere and watch the sunset or pick a neighborhood and drive through to see some fabulous homes.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My SCORE mentor, Moti Marzbani was the perfect mentor for me because she not only has a 6th sense for business, but is very heart-centered and appreciates spirituality, integrity and the importance of putting good energy out into the world with our work. She proposed some good ideas and was very supportive of my dream.

Website: https://www.eleven-interiors.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elevenstaging/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/losangeleshomestaging

Other: https://www.houzz.com/professionals/home-stagers/eleven-interiors-pfvwus-pf~2080457353?

Image Credits
Charmaine David, photographer