I believe that great home staging is invisible. That sounds like a paradox.
What I mean is that when you’ve really mastered the art of home staging, few people will realize the house is staged.
Potential buyers just know that they love the house. And that’s our goal. While people shop for real estate with a logical list of criteria, the home they buy is chosen largely for emotional reasons.
When you romance buyers and they aren’t feeling manipulated, that’s the most effective home staging.
It’s what we should all strive for. That’s why I stay away from silly home staging tricks.
This dining room photo from Staging Diva Graduate Imogen Brown of Home Staging Brisbane is such a wonderful example of what I’m talking about.
Everything looks fresh, warm and inviting. It feels calm and organized. It seems large enough, even though these rooms are probably not that spacious.
The home says “well maintained” at a glance. Meaning buyers aren’t walking through worrying about the condition of the roof or the foundation.
By the way, Imogen reports that this Brisbane, Australia home sold within 90 minutes to the first couple who saw it! How’s that for proof home staging works?
Bad staging is when everyone walks in and says, “This house is staged. Look at that.”
Why are they saying that? It’s usually because everything is so over the top or contrived.
You know, the tray on the bed with a tea pot, the champaign bucket and flutes by the jacuzzi, etc. There are so many examples, but I’m not sharing any photos here because I don’t want to embarrass anyone.
Overly contrived set ups equal bad staging.
I watched a YouTube video of a woman who teaches home staging courses (!) suggesting setting up a picnic on a blanket in a master bedroom, complete with champagne flutes, an empty ring box, and a little note about getting engaged.
Granted, she was suggesting this when there’s no budget for furniture.
But this silly idea would do nothing to enhance the look of a master bedroom and would only serve as a terrible distraction during showings. It would get totally messed up by the first kid (or perhaps parent) who walked into the room, but that’s another story.
When staging is too contrived, or overdone, you’ve destroyed “the magic.”
The main point of home staging is to sell the house faster and for more money. To put that another way, our goal is getting buyers to pay as much as possible. Why would you want to tell them that as soon as they walk in the front door?
It would be like Houdini telling you how he got out of those handcuffs when he was trapped under water. You’d never need to see him do it again.
Or your date getting all dressed up for your special evening and then warning you that they never look like this in everyday life. It kind of ruins the romance.
People will obviously know a house is staged when it’s a vacant home that’s fully furnished but there’s no food or clothing. That’s a different matter.
If it’s a house where people are actually living there, it shouldn’t be screamingly obvious that a home stager went through carefully arranging every room and closet.
It should just look like it’s a beautiful and well maintained home that’s easy to live in because there’s plenty of space for everything you want to do. Just like the great example by home stager Imogen Brown at the start of this article.
Home stagers and real estate agents, what do you think? Please share in the comments below.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
A home stager since 2002, Debra Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program in 2005 to help others make a living from their creativity. Debra is the author of 5 guides including the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans.
Thanks for sharing my photo Debra. I couldn’t agree more about the staging being invisible. As I wrote in a recent blog post:
The trick really is for no one to think that a stager has been there. “This house has obviously been staged” is the worst thing you could say to me!
I completed a partial stage today. I sent my client off to the movies with her husband and they came back at the end. She told me how nervous she’s been all day and how pleased she was that I’d made her house feel comfortable and for a family not too ‘staged’ and matchy matchy. As the market increases for home staging in Australia there will be 100’s of stagers who can do the ‘staged look’ and less who really understand that buyers don’t buy perfect homes, they buy happy and comfortable ones.
I’m always happy to share examples of home staging done well. Thank you for allowing me to share your great work with our readers.
bottom line. it should feel like home.
Absolutely Sue!
Couldn’t agree more! I tell my clients that if it looks staged, we did it wrong. Occupied homes are my favorite because we work with the home owners. The home still has to be functional as well as pretty. And I think that is why they tend not to look staged. Who can keep their dining room table set all the time? What a nightmare to dust and keep clean. Also, clients are always happy when you redesign with their favorite things. It’s very “real” and no two homes ever look the same. I just love the challenge of staging an occupied home and using just what they already have.
THanks for commenting Susan, totally agree with you. Occupied homes are my fave too, for all the reasons you mentioned!
I agree with you Debra! The home I did last week was quite a challenge as the Home Owner had to pack away hundreds of florals and other odds and ends I recommended after the initial consult. When I got busy and staged it using all the accessories I asked them not to pack and most of their current furniture but placed in a much more inviting arrangement, they said they “loved” their new home. Well the Realtor was totally impressed with what I did, and all the showings were very positive, so much that after only one week on the market an offer is expected this weekend! I only do occupied homes and really enjoy the challenge. This home looked so much larger, yet homey….not staged at all!
Love this story Leigh Anne, thanks so much for sharing! I’d love to write an article about it and your business. Send more info and a photo or two through this link:
https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/staging-success-stories/
I totally agree:) I laughed the other day when my mom read me an article from a Florida paper on home staging tips for sellers….one was to set out champagne glasses and a bottle on a tray in the master bedroom and to make sure there was a sexy nightgown hanging over the back of the door!
That’s the perfect example of what I’m talking about! Thanks so much for sharing Mary Ann!!
I completely agree, Debra! I’ve seen many staging mistakes up here where it’s obvious the stager (or person trying to stage) is trying too hard…or having too much fun with a theme. Subsequently, it makes buyers feel uncomfortable and some times even laugh at the absurdity. I’m a Realtor and stage my own properties (and I get paid to do so through my staging company, separate from Real Estate)…so, I stage with a buyer’s response in mind always. Effective staging needs to tell a story of how real people can live in the main areas of a home. If you don’t have the budget to do quality staging, then sometimes it’s best to do nothing at all. I would prefer for my buyers to see a vacant/empty home vs one that is poorly staged. If it’s a distraction instead of an attraction, then it shouldn’t be there.
Completely agree Lora! I saw one so called staging expert,(who even teaches a course!), on YouTube talking about setting up a picnic blanket in a master bedroom on the floor and putting out a picnic basket and champagne glasses and a little ring box with a note. This was recommended as an alternative when there’s no money to stage the bedroom properly with real furniture. Picture the whole thing I was in hysterics and wondering how anyone who knew anything about real estate would think that would effectively sell a house, rather than just being one huge distraction.
When we sold our last home, I had homemade bread just going into the oven when the Realtor arrived with his clients. It really truly perfumed the whole house! The time they told me to return was perfect for taking out the bread–and giving each of them a hot loaf. They bought the house!
So, this isn’t about the visuals of staging…but just suggesting there are other dimensions, too, to consider.
By contrast, when we were looking at *buying* a house, one place that intrigued us had the faint odor of cat pee in the far room in the basement. We could probably fix that…so a couple of weeks later we came back to see the house again. This time, the smell was worse and permeated the *whole* basement. Shoot!
But the house was otherwise so perfect, we came back one more time–several weeks later–to check on it. *Surely* by that time *some*body would have gotten rid of the cat pee! But no–it nearly knocked us down at the front door. No sale.
So, yeah…all the senses. Address all the senses possible.
Thanks for sharing that story Ginnie! I’m house hunting right now and I’m amazed at how many homes hit me with the smell of mold as soon as I walk in the front door. I’m out of there within 60 seconds, really don’t care what it looks like.
Interesting article Debra, I agree subtlety is key to portraying that effortless look. For me it also raises the ‘styling vs staging’ debate. I often wonder why the ‘staging’ label has stuck for so long despite its artificial, contrived connotation. Arguably ‘Styling’ is a more honest, authentic label and in the context of presenting a “lifestyle” its also a more accurate description of what we are trying to achieve. I’m very interested to hear your view especially as I embark on naming my biz!
That’s an interesting perspective Sophie! In Australia it IS called Property Styling more commonly than Home Staging. You raise excellent points… perhaps you’ve inspired another blog post for me to write! By the way, years ago it was known as an even worse term, House Fluffing…. if you don’t know the origin of that term, don’t google it. Ask any man in your life and he’ll know immediately 🙂
I tend to agree with the lady who said she thought it should be called home styling rather than staging. My daughter is very involved in theatre, so I tend to think along the lines of set decorating with the term staging. Often times things are very makeshift and cheap looking because it’s only for temporary use and needs to be inexpensive. However, with that being said, I know many people would be searching on the internet for the term staging, since that’s the most common term. I have come up with a business name I like that includes the word home, so was thinking of using the tag line “staging and redesign”, because I know I would also enjoy helping people update rooms in their current homes (they aren’t selling) using mostly what they already have plus maybe a few new items.
Thanks for commenting Vicki! You can definitely call it whatever you want, you just have to figure out what the most commonly used terminology for your area is. For example, when I started my home staging business in Toronto in late 2002, the term most people used was “house fluffing.” Not a term I liked at all, especially when I learned what else it might refer to (that’s another story that I won’t go into here). But since it was in common use and because I was trying to get found online by people in Toronto, I used it a lot on my original website.
Your tag line as a descriptor is fine. You might also want to read these Marketing Tag Line Tips.