Home Staging vs. Home Decorating
Clients frequently ask me about Home Staging: what is it, and is it necessary when homeowners have already put a considerable amount of effort into home decorating?
The difference between home decorating and home staging depends on whether your house reflects your personal tastes, orminimizes them. Let me explain:
Home decorating is very personal, with designs are created to please the tastes of one person or a family. Decorating can encompass everything from custom paint jobs to unusual choices of wallpaper, flooring or tile. Rooms are arranged to suit how a family lives, and do not necessarily take into consideration the focal point or intended function of a room.
If a potential buyer views your home but does not share your decorating tastes, they immediately begin deducting value for whatever elements they feel need to be changed to make the home suitable for them. Through a buyer’s eyes, vibrant walls, colourful carpets and outdated window treatments may all detract from the perceived value of your home because their first thoughts focus on how much it will cost to replace them.
Home staging, on the other hand, removes the “personal” touch from a decorating scheme and does not cater to a homeowner’s individual tastes or needs. It incorporates the same basic tenants of interior decorating & design, but maximizes the appeal and function of every part of your home so that it appeals to all possible buyers. Home staging neutralizes paint tones, de-clutters and de-personalizes, changes room layouts, and often removes furniture to make rooms appear larger and more dramatic. After staging, a home will be both tastefully decorated and have mass appeal. A home that appeals to a multitude of buyers will have a higher perceived value and often, a shorter selling time. Buyers are willing to pay the listing price or very close to it.
In my experience, staged homes sell faster and command higher prices than similar properties that have not been staged. Staged homes listed last year sold in an average of 30 days, for 99.9 percent of their asking price – that’s a 2.5% increase in sale price in almost half the time, compared to the board average — a pretty impressive difference!
In a low-inventory market, staged homes do exceptionally well because they quickly capture the attention of many of buyers, generating multiple offers (and higher selling prices) as a result. I’ve seen many examples where these offers have even exceeded the buyer’s asking price.
I welcome any questions you have about home staging, and would be pleased to recommend a proven, professional home staging service for you.