July is Luxury Month at Inman. We’ll take the temperature of the luxury market, talk to top producers in the ultra-luxury space and dive into the luxe trends of today — all culminating at Luxury Connect in San Diego, where we’ll announce this year’s Golden I Club honorees.

Summer is peak season for staging. Buyers are craving light, energy and a sense of freedom. But most sellers do not have the budget to transform their space into a beachfront dream.

I sat down with Samantha Senia, CEO, and Nicole Senia, sales manager, of Elite Home Staging, the Los Angeles-based firm to uncover seven smart and cost-effective ways to capture summer’s relaxed luxury without breaking the bank.

7 Elite staging secrets

1. Use a neutral, organic color palette

According to Nicole, “Less drama, more dopamine. That’s the move for summer staging.” Elite Home Staging consistently uses soft whites, beiges and warm greys to create a calming foundation that appeals to a wide range of buyers.

Organic textures like linen, rattan and raw wood add visual interest and tactile appeal, giving each room dimension without overcrowding it with accessories. The result is a backdrop that is both elegant and easy to connect with.

2. Introduce trees to highlight indoor-outdoor living

To emphasize the connection between the home and its surroundings, Elite frequently incorporates potted trees near windows and patio doors. Samantha explains, “We want people to literally breathe the summer in.”

Adding an olive tree or a fiddle leaf fig introduces height and movement while reinforcing the seamless flow between inside and out. It is a subtle shift that makes a powerful visual statement.

3. Embrace summer minimalism

Summer naturally invites simplicity. People are traveling, decluttering and spending more time outdoors. Nicole puts it clearly: “Summers are about less. Let that guide your staging.”

Elite leans into this seasonal instinct by removing excess furniture, rolling up heavy rugs and letting rooms breathe. This minimalist style helps buyers imagine themselves relaxing and enjoying the space, free from distractions.

4. Layer fragrance throughout the home

A home’s scent has a direct impact on how people feel inside it. Elite Home Staging incorporates light, refreshing fragrances in key areas. Diffusers with citrus notes are placed near the entry. Herbal scents like basil or rosemary are used in the kitchen, and soft linen sprays go in the bedrooms.

Samantha notes, “Buyers remember more than they realize.” A strategically chosen scent can tap into deep emotional associations, making a property far more memorable.

5. Create a ‘spritz station’ to spark imagination

One of Elite’s favorite features is a summer mocktail station set up on a bar cart. This includes glassware, bottles and fresh herbs such as mint, basil and rosemary. The setup suggests summer entertaining and encourages buyers to envision relaxed evenings at home.

Nicole says, “It sparks imagination and photographs beautifully.” It is both practical and aspirational, making it a powerful tool in the staging playbook.

6. Add faux citrus for a bright, fresh vibe

Ceramic or plastic lemons and limes are a budget-friendly way to energize a space. Samantha explains, “They pop on counters and feel fresh, but do not spoil.” These props bring in a bright visual cue that suggests summer without adding perishable elements that need constant replacement. A bowl of citrus on the kitchen island or dining table adds life to the room in an instant.

7. Incorporate fresh greens and eucalyptus

Fresh cut greenery provides texture, movement and a touch of nature that elevates even the simplest space. Nicole explains, “Greens speak to wellness and ease — exactly what summer buyers want.”

Elite often uses eucalyptus, which adds both scent and visual elegance, along with other fresh greens that can be picked up at local markets for very little cost. Placing them in clear vases creates a clean and organic look.

Bonus tip: Use outdoor rugs to define living zones

Outdoor spaces matter more in summer, and Elite uses layered rugs to define zones and create a sense of order. Even in a sparsely furnished patio, a couple of well-placed jute rugs can signal where a buyer might host friends or relax with a book. These rugs are inexpensive but create a strong visual structure and a feeling of comfort.

Why these strategies work

These methods are simple, scalable and emotionally intelligent. They appeal to the senses, not just the eyes. They allow buyers to imagine their own lives unfolding in the space. And, most importantly, they do it without requiring a massive staging budget.

According to Samantha, “We’re staging emotions, not just furniture. If you sell the feeling of summer, everything else follows.” Nicole adds, “People don’t buy a home. They buy a season in a space. Make that season summer.”

Summery playbook

Samantha and Nicole Senia have refined summer staging into a disciplined art form that leverages both psychology and design. Their work proves that high-impact staging does not require high-end spending. It requires intent, restraint and an understanding of what today’s buyers want: simplicity, possibility and a touch of summer magic.

Real estate is changing fast, and so must you. Inman Connect San Diego is where you turn uncertainty into strategy — with real talk, real tools and the connections that matter. If you’re serious about staying ahead of the game, this is where you need to be. Register now!

In real estate, your team isn’t just a group of professionals — it’s your competitive edge. But when egos clash, communication breaks down and small grievances go unchecked, that edge dulls fast. And make no mistake: Conflict that starts as a whisper can end in a full-blown implosion if you don’t intercept it early.

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This isn’t about babysitting grown adults. It’s about leading high-performance operators in a high-stakes environment. You don’t have the luxury of unresolved tension. You need alignment, clarity and operational flow. Always.

7 ways to cool team tensions

Here are seven strategic, research-backed tactics to squash internal friction before it snowballs into something that costs you deals, trust or top talent.

1. Make humor a strategic tool, not a liability

Used well, humor is a pressure valve. It lowers defenses, de-escalates tension and reinforces team cohesion. But most teams don’t understand the difference between productive, affiliative humor and toxic sarcasm disguised as wit.

Your job is to set the tone. Train your team on what effective humor looks like. Make it witty, inclusive and grounded in respect. If it’s punching down or inside-joking someone into silence, it’s not humor, it’s a cultural liability.

Host a session. Use examples. Make it part of your leadership language. Humor should build bridges, not burn them.

2. Codify shared values, and lead with them relentlessly

When personalities clash, and they will, shared values become the referee. But values can’t just be posters on a wall. They have to be operationalized. That means making them part of how you hire, how you onboard, how you open meetings and how you make decisions.

Clarity of values creates consistency in expectations. That consistency creates safety. And safety eliminates 80 percent of unnecessary drama.

If your team doesn’t know exactly what your non-negotiables are, that’s not their fault — it’s your oversight. Fix it.

3. Build in structured venting before the pressure cooker blows

Avoiding friction doesn’t prevent conflict. It incubates it. People need space to speak candidly, but in a way that doesn’t devolve into dysfunction.

Implement structured venting sessions, facilitated with tight ground rules. Everyone speaks. No interruptions. Focus on facts, not feelings. Think of it as preventive maintenance for your team’s emotional engine.

Don’t wait for the blow-up. Design the release valve.

4. Engineer collaboration through environmental nudges

Smart leaders don’t just react to behavior. They design for it. Want less infighting? Eliminate the friction that creates it.

Set up shared workspaces by default. Create pre-meeting rituals that require contribution. 

Automate reminders that cue collaboration. These aren’t micromanagement tactics; they’re behavioral architecture. Subtle, powerful and scalable.

When you make it easier to work together than to work around each other, alignment becomes the path of least resistance.

5. Gamify conflict resolution because performance people respond to metrics

Most high achievers are wired for performance. So, treat conflict resolution like a measurable skill, not a moral failing.

Build a simple incentive system: points for active listening, for stepping into difficult conversations early, for finding win-win solutions. Track it. Reward it. Publicly acknowledge it.

You’re not bribing behavior.  You’re reinforcing the kind of operational excellence your business demands. If you measure it, they’ll master it.

6. Create anonymous feedback, then prove they’re safe

If your people don’t feel safe speaking up, you’ve already lost visibility into 90 percent of what’s actually happening on your team. Anonymous feedback channels, like quarterly surveys or digital suggestion boxes, can surface unseen issues before they metastasize.

But anonymity without action is worse than no system at all. Respond. Address patterns. Show movement.

Trust isn’t built on transparency alone — it’s built on follow-through.

7. Rotate leadership roles to kill entitlement and build empathy

Power dynamics often drive hidden tensions. The antidote? Rotate leadership responsibilities.

Let junior team members lead standups. Have newer hires run project retrospectives. Push senior agents into listening roles. This doesn’t just shake up stale dynamics; it builds strategic empathy.

When people understand each other’s challenges, they stop blaming and start collaborating. And when you’ve got a bench full of people who’ve tasted leadership, you’ve got options when it’s time to scale.

Real leaders don’t wait for conflict. They design against it

Conflict is inevitable. Chaos is optional. If you’re serious about protecting your team’s performance, then stop hoping for harmony and start engineering it. These seven strategies aren’t gimmicks — they’re proactive leadership mechanisms built to keep your business aligned, your culture intact and your revenue pipeline protected.

In real estate, there’s no margin for internal dysfunction. The stakes are too high, and the cost of inaction is brutal. Act early. Lead hard. Prevent the blow-up before it starts.

Chris Pollinger is the founder and managing partner of RE Luxe Leaders.