Daily News

From Home Furnishing Business

Meridian Furniture Extends Reach to Real Estate Staging

January 7, 2025  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Designer Weekly, Industry   

“The staging industry is a natural extension of our business, particularly our work with designers. Stagers immediately see the value of a full range of product that can add color, texture and innovative design to spaces that make them appealing to potential buyers,” said Michael Rosilio, president of Meridian Furniture. “Home buyers not only fall in love with the real estate today, but if the home is professionally staged, they often purchase the complete environment. When they see the synchronization between real estate and furnishings, they want the whole package.”

One of the oldest stager relationships for the brand is with Brooklyn-based Stage One, www.stageonenyc.com, which specializes in luxury buildings and homes in the tri-state area.

According to Joel Paplanos, president of Stage One, Meridian Furniture has long been a  “secret weapon” in the company’s home furnishings arsenal.

“We specialize in multimillion dollar, high-end projects, and Meridian’s products are very strategic in our projects because of their up-to-date styles, taste level and high quality. People love their designs,” Paplanos said.

So much so, he said, that Meridian has proven to lead to faster property sales and requests by the purchasers to then buy all of the furnishings inside the well-designed spaces, right down to the smallest accessories.

“The way homes are built today is very different than they were 50 or 100 years ago, and when people are moving into these new, modern spaces, they don’t want to furnish them with traditional furniture they purchased years ago or antiques passed down from their grandparents,” Paplanos said. “Stylistically, it just doesn’t work. They want modern, and they want to start fresh. We help them make the transition hassle-free and avoid the huge headaches of running from store to store to create a beautiful space and Meridian’s expansive portfolio makes it easy.”

Indeed, he and his design team turn to Meridian not only for modern and contemporary upholstered silhouettes, eclectic case pieces and occasional furniture, but also when designing new developments’ common areas and amenities such as co-working spaces, lounges, playrooms and roof decks. 

“When a new development is going up, people come to us with their spec books from their designers and we source all of the furniture and give them suggestions that we feel may save them money. We handle the entire package down to the last detail,” he said.

Paplanos, who grew up in his father’s high-end furniture manufacturing business, said Meridian’s expansive, trend-forward product portfolio appeals to his higher-end clients, but he also relies on the company for its consistent in-stock position, and ability to deliver goods quickly, key advantages in the highly competitive and fast-paced New York real estate market.

“Like our team, Joel grew up living and breathing the furniture business,” said Rosilio. “With similar visions about how consumers want to live today, we’ve been proud to partner for nearly a decade and to help play a role in Stage One’s growth into the premier interior staging company in the tristate area.”

Meridian Furniture supplies a growing roster of leading retailers and designers with upholstered furniture designs and case goods for nearly every room in the home. With a constant flow of new product in multiple categories, in stock and ready for delivery, the company is leading the way in trend-right goods that appeal to how consumers want to live and shop today. Visit Meridian Furniture’s website, www.meridianfurniture.com for more.