Maids Go Away

I completed my first Simple Staging project and what did I learn? Maids cannot be there while I'm working! It's fantastic to have them show up the day before, but not the day of. Of course, if I had been told this in advance, I would have been able to plan accordingly. Note to self: from now on, be sure to ask the client if they have maids (or a maid) and what days they come. Here's the problem. They have rugs pulled up, they're vacuuming, cleaning supplies are scattered everywhere, I have no access to the stairs... they're in MY way and I'm in THEIR way. It slowed the process way down. I cleaned off counters, tables and fireplaces in preparation for putting down the accessories I had purchased.. I got everything arranged perfectly, then the maids would pick it all up to do their job (which I had already done). Then, they put everything back down with no rhyme or reason to it. I then had to go back and arrange it all over again. Same thing with the kitchen, dining room, you name it. Plus, they kept moving my stuff, so they could clean, so I kept having to re-find my scissors, bags and tools. Not their fault of course - they're doing their job and I'm doing mine. It just makes it much more efficient to do our jobs on different days. It's a learning process. Actually glad it happened. Now, on to the next job.