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Differences Between Home Staging and Design

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Many people confuse home staging and design or mistake them for the same thing. Both are excellent options for updating your home. Although they have some similarities, each of them serves their own distinct purposes. Which one you choose depends on whether you are planning to sell your home in the near future or you just want to update your home for you to enjoy. We’ll go over the differences between home staging and design so you can determine which service is best for you. 

Home Staging

Two armchairs in front of a large picture window with a vase of white flowers on a table in between them.

Home Staging Is a Marketing Tool

Home staging is decorating a home for the distinct purpose of selling it and getting it ready for the market. The goal of home staging is to sell the home quickly and for the most money possible. That’s why home staging aims to appeal to the widest audience possible.

Dining room staged with a simple wooden table and neutral toned seating.

Staging Decor is Neutral by Design

With home staging, the style is more controlled and all decor is neutral. If the decor is too personalized, it can turn off potential buyers. They’ll have a harder time envisioning the home as their own space. It might give them the impression that they will have to make a big investment in order to tailor the home to their tastes. Neutral decor allows potential buyers to imagine the home in their own decorating style, which will get them excited about the home.

Staging Inspires Confidence in a Buyer’s Mind

Home staging is used to inspire confidence in a buyer’s mind. Oftentimes, buying a home is the biggest purchase a person will ever have to make. That’s why home staging usually encompasses some home improvement as well. The right home staging will remove the guesswork in their mind. It will rid them of any hangups they have about the decorating, bad furniture placement, or repairs. An expert home staging professional will recommend key improvements to make prior to listing your home for sale.

Living room staged with gray couch and two matching armchairs that make the room feel large and open.

Home Staging Highlights Features and Optimizes Spaces

Home staging highlights the strengths of a home so that potential buyers can focus their attention on the home’s best features. It also makes the most efficient use of available space. For example, furniture that makes a room look smaller will not be used. Home staging will showcase how every room can serve a function, which is especially important for bonus rooms and flex spaces.

Design

Condo living room design by Cory Leger of MHM Professional Staging

Design Is for the Homeowner

Unlike home staging, design is specifically for the people living in the home. It’s very personalized, reflecting the homeowner’s personality. With 90% of our time spent indoors as Americans, design is an important part of making your house feel like a home.

Living room designed with gray, white, and blue color palette.

Design Is a Mixture of Aesthetics and Functionality

Design doesn’t only account for the overall look and feel of your house. It also considers functionality tailored to your lifestyle. A young adult couple will probably decorate their house differently than a large family with many children. For example, a family would probably invest in more durable furniture and things that don’t stain easily. Whereas a young couple could get away with white rugs and more fragile decor.

Design Reflects Your Tastes and Preferences

Design can reflect what’s important to the individual and what they love the most. It’s very much about freedom of expression. It’s filled with the individual’s preferences from colors to textures and art. You can design and redesign your home as often as you like to reflect your changing needs and personal style preferences. 

Teenage boy's room with shoe display racks and a giant image of the Brooklyn bridge behind the headboard.

Design Turns a House into Your Home

Design is all about decorating your home for your own enjoyment and happiness. If your style is eclectic, go ahead and use that funky wallpaper. Going for a coastal, beachy vibe? Go for that relaxing color palette and jute rugs. Do you love mid-century modern furniture or do you prefer contemporary? There are so many options to customize your home, making design a fun and creative process. 

Although home staging and design are two different things, parts of both processes can be the same. Both can include changing paint colors, home improvements, or beautifying your home’s curb appeal.

Whether you need to update your home to get it ready for the market or just to suit your personal preferences, our team at MHM Professional Staging is happy to help with either one. We have over two decades of experience working with homeowners to improve their homes. Request a home staging or design consultation today »

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