3 Distinct Differences Between Home Staging and Decorating
At first glance, home staging can seem like another glorified word for decorating. While some decorating is involved, there are many crucial differences between the two services.
Home staging can have a huge impact on how quickly your home sells, not to mention how much money it sells for. Even the most beautifully decorated homes can often benefit from home staging, because home staging is not just about pretty décor – it’s about speaking to a buyer’s psychology.
Here are the 3 important distinctions between home staging and decorating:
How Home Staging and Decorating Are Different
Who It Is For
The biggest distinction between home staging and decorating is who it is for. Decorating is for the person living in the home. It is very personalized, meant to reflect the spirit of the homeowner(s) and what they love most. Nothing is off limits in decorating because it’s all about freedom of expression.
In home staging, it’s quite the opposite. Home staging is meant to appeal to the widest number of home buyers possible, so the style is more controlled and neutralized. That’s why even some of the most beautifully decorated homes are in need of home staging, because decorating that is too specific to an individual’s taste can turn off potential home buyers.
The Purpose of It
The purpose of decorating is to make the individual who lives there feel like their home completely expresses who they are. It is full of their favorite colors, patterns, textures, and items that make them more comfortable in the home.
The purpose of home staging is to make anyone feel comfortable in the home. While it’s nice to think that buyers can see past cosmetic details like décor, most simply cannot. Not only does a home not decorated to their tastes typically turn them off, it can also give them the impression that they will have to invest a lot of money into painting the walls, taking down wallpaper, changing the floors, etc.
Most buyers prefer a move-in ready home that is a blank canvas.
The Psychology Behind It
The psychology of decorating is all about speaking to an individual’s tastes and translating them into the design. With home staging, it’s about inspiring confidence in buyers that are about to make one of the biggest (if not the biggest) purchases of their life.
Home staging follows the same principles as product design. You want your home to stand out from the competition, get buyers excited about the possibilities of owning it, and give them the confidence to make the purchase.
A staged home takes all of the guesswork away from buyers and highlights the biggest strengths of the home. Instead of buyers getting hung up on the decorating, bad furniture placement, awkward corners, and repairs they will have to make, they can focus on all the positives and see the home for its many possibilities. The neutral décor allows them to imagine their own decorating, which gets them excited about moving in.
Home staging also ensures that the wrong furniture isn’t making rooms appear smaller than they are, that every space in the home has a clear function, and that it is in the best shape possible so buyers aren’t worried about the money they will have to pour into beyond the mortgage payment.
Home staging has a lot of benefits, which is why it is becoming one of the fastest growing real estate marketing techniques in the world. It’s a small investment that comes back to you in a faster home sale and higher bids.
Click here to learn more about home staging and how it can help you sell your home.