SEEWEE ROOTS

A local Realtor marries

Real Estate With Home D Cor

by CHRISTIANA LILLY / photography by HOLGER OBENAUS

Lisa G rant is known as a finder of thin G s : a personalized birthday gift, items to create the perfect tablescape for a home staging or a unique piece of décor that elicits conversation. A real estate agent, she took her eye for treasures and opened See Wee Homes, a two-in-one boutique that draws people in with her collection of home décor and helps them learn about her real estate services.

“I’ve always loved to shop,” Grant explains. “I realized I was staging a lot of houses for my clients and instead of just me trying to find items, I started to collect items. I thought, you know what? I might as well have a home décor store.”

Grant named the store after Seewee Road, her childhood home in Awendaw, South Carolina, a rural community outside of Charleston. She remembers walking barefoot along her neighborhood’s dirt roads, snacking on pickled eggs and making runs to the candy store with three quarters in her pocket. She could have put her own name on the storefront, but she wanted to pay tribute to her humble roots instead.

It was her upbringing that also dictates her desire to focus on locally made and fair-trade items at See Wee Homes. That means the candles, pottery, towels, bookends and other treasures are either made locally or sourced from international makers who are provided fair wages and working conditions. She purchases items at shows in Atlanta and also connects with Charleston artists who create limited runs of items like wooden maps of the Holy City.

“My grandmother made a lot of our clothing. All of our toys were also homemade toys that she made, so I understand the value of making something,” Grant explains. “I just want to make sure I’m giving back to the people that actually put in the hard work to make the product.”

Grant first entered the world of real estate in 2016 through a large franchise company, then ventured out on her own. She moved to Washington, D.C., then returned during the pandemic and expanded her business to include the boutique. Today, the home décor arm of her business brings in about one-third of the revenue—having an online store with even more products and the ability to reach customers around the country certainly helps, too.

The best way to shop Grant’s home décor is in person, but you can browse featured products online. The store carries everything you need to make a home cozy: books for growth and self-reflection, elegant linens, unique lighting, planters, art, and unique bar and kitchen wares. Right now, some of the most popular items are her customizable linen zip code throw pillows.

“It’s definitely helped the real estate business,” she says. “Having a storefront building, people just walk by, they walk into other stores nearby or they’re driving by and see it.”

On the real estate side of the business, Grant is an active member of the National Association of Realtors and intentional in her values, such as social responsibility, integrity and world-class customer service. In the Charleston area, having a bornand-raised agent can be a big help in terms of strong, long-term relationships with other agents and tradespeople, knowing how an area has changed and is likely to change, and how to find hidden gems that others may overlook.

You can browse Charleston-area homes for sale on Grant’s site or take advantage of her seller knowledge base. Sellers can expect a customized marketing plan with a reach of 10,000-plus homebuyers in the first week, professional photography and videography, and a comparative market analysis that will help you decide on a selling price

One of Grant’s attributes is her openness and transparency. Sometimes the circumstances of selling a home are difficult, such as divorce or after the death of a loved one, and Grant knows that some real estate situations are bittersweet. “We’re here to make the bitter a little less so,” she says.

But looking to the future, she wants to emulate multi-hyphenate Joanna Gaines and create her own home design and real estate empire Grant envisions the addition of a cooking area in her office, expanding the home décor shelves and being able to handle more large furniture requests for customers. For now, she’s focused on filming a pilot episode of a show that will chronicle her adventures in flipping foreclosed homes with her business partner.

“It’s ‘Flip or Flop’ meets ‘Housewives,’” she says, laughing. “We’re definitely trying to expand; we’re trying to build that empire of all things home and real estate.” *

Christiana Lilly is a freelance journalist in Pompano Beach, Florida. See more of her work spanning the arts, community news and social justice at christianalilly.com.