When you’re trying to sell your home, you’ll hear the word “staging” a lot. But how is staging different from decorating your home? Read on to find out from a residential interior designer who has experience with both types of design.
Staging is setting your home up to appeal to potential buyers, both for listing photos and open houses. Basic staging principles include:
- Making your home as appealing as possible to as many people as possible- Remember, not everyone has the same taste. What you consider a bold color scheme may look like a whole lot of priming and painting to a potential buyer. The same goes for any daring interior design choices. You want buyers to focus on the house, not your personal style. Anything that draws an inordinate amount of attention to itself and takes the focus off the house should be put in storage while your home is on the market.
- Selling the good, disguising the bad- Too much decor, too much clutter, and too much furniture can make a room feel much smaller than it really is. When selling your home, the goal is to make it seem as spacious as possible, so remove furniture, clear surfaces, and keep decorative items and art to a minimum to allow the actual bones of the room to shine through. If your home has aspects that aren’t so charming, they can be diminished with staging as well. An experienced interior designer can help you adjust furniture arrangements, decor, and wall color to camouflage the negatives and emphasize the positives.
- Appealing to the buyer’s emotions- A completely unfurnished home isn’t ideal for selling, as it provides no frame of reference for the buyer to envision her own belongings in the space. A furnished home is better, but too many personal touches may make it hard for the buyer to feel connected to the house. For that reason, removing family photos is usually a good idea. Let the prospective buyers imagine the house as their own, rather than feeling like they are trespassing in your home.
Decorating your home for everyday life is a whole different ballgame than staging it to sell to strangers. Feel free to go bold, make personalized choices, and display plenty of family photos. However, don’t be too quick to get rid of the staging measues. Often, after removing furniture, cutting down on decorative items, and generally streamlining the space, clients will decide they actually prefer the new, simpler space.
Whether you need help with staging or decorating, contact MJN & Associates Interiors today!
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