Meet the Team

Meet the Team

Staged for Upsell is Halifax’s leading home staging company and decorating company.

We’re the home stagers that gets results, helping you sell quickly and for top dollar! We have Halifax’s largest home staging furniture inventory to ensure your home has wow factor to hook the buyer.

Our interior redesign work includes new builds, extensions, renovations, furniture and decor selection and complete set up. Whether it’s one room or your entire home you need help with, we’re here to create a space you’ll love to call home.

Joanna Lane, Owner and Creative Director

Joanna Lane is the founder of Staged For Upsell which she started in 2013. She has won awards such as Top Home Stager Canada by the by the Real Estate Staging Association and worked on several homes that have won awards with the NS Homebuilders Association and Canadian Home Builders Association. Joanna was the production designer on HGTV’s Trading Up with Mandy Rennehan. She and her team have completed the interior design and decorating of over seven QEII Lottery Homes.

In 2021 Joanna opened a retail furniture and décor store in Dartmouth called Lane & Co which now ships Canada wide.

Under her direction, the team has years of experience in minor to major design work. Sourcing and selecting each element with great thought and attention to detail, they always keep the final vision in mind.

Member of the Real Estate Staging Association.

Mackenzie Waterman – Decorator

Since a young age, Mackenzie has always had an eye for Interior Design, pursuing it through post secondary, graduating with an Interior Design Degree. After 3 years of working in Hospitality & Commercial Design she found herself pursuing a slight career change, working on a set of an HGTV show, where she ultimately met us. Mackenzie specializes in space planning, drafting and detailed construction drawings. She loves to work on projects where she can maximize a client’s space to fit all their wants and needs in addition to making the space functional and aesthetically pleasing. She is also currently working towards obtaining her NCIDQ to become a Registered Interior Designer. 

Steph Pounds – Decorator

For as long as Steph can remember, she has always loved interior design and decorating. Despite having this passion, she never thought she would actually make a career out of it. After pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Psychology, she was still feeling unsatisfied in her career path. She decided to take a chance and continue her education by achieving her Interior Decorating Diploma. It ended up being the best decision she could make. Steph has been with the Staged for Upsell team for over 3 years, primarily focused in residential design. Steph loves working with clients to create spaces that are both functional and beautiful for their lifestyle! She believes there’s a big difference between simply making a house look good, and making it feel like a home.

Dana Slevin – Lead Stager

Dana started her career in the communications industry as a Sign Language Interpreter in Toronto, Ontario. After stepping away from work to raise her family and making a move to the east coast she felt it was time to make a career change. After numerous requests from friends to help decorate, she started renovating and flipping houses with her contractor husband. She hired Stage for Upsell to stage one of their flips, and the rest is history. 

Favourite part of the job: taking a blank canvas and an empty room and actually transforming the space in a matter of hours. 

Design trends I’m loving: vintage artwork, statement wallpaper, reclaimed bleached wood furniture pieces.