An Asian wall installation appeals to people who like eclectic design
A sleek breakfast nook that shows its contemporary side
A rustic day bed offers spare sleeping quarters while offering comfortable seating
Nice updated fixtures can bring a current appeal in otherwise traditional design themes
Finding your audience – how to design for a client you don’t even know yet. Great staging has a lot to do with anticipating the wishes and dreams of a client you have not met yet. In a sense you have to imagine who you are catering to. So who is the person or who are the people who should respond positive to your design. When staging a house for sale, I always think of the potential buyers for the space. Will my audience will be a family with children or will we sell to a retired couple? Will a single person feel drawn to the house or do we think a younger newlywed couple will start a future here in Orlando. The neighborhood statistics play a role here and if I have access to the statistics, I look at those to find out who will be most likely attracted to the neighborhood. Will it be a young professional that is draw to the Downtown Orlando area, will it be a couple looking for a College Park home in walking distance to restaurants. Will the house in a desirable school district in Lake Mary, Winter Springs or Longwood attract a family with children? Once I have a rough idea about the audience we will be catering to, I can start making plans on how to design for them. It will be easier to determine if I need to decorate for a home office or kids room. I can make design and material choices that will be more appealing to my core target group. Off course it is important to keep it universal enough that you don’t alienate other potential buyers. So in any case the house has to be attractive to all potential groups of buyers. However, we can focus a bit for a group that will be most prevalent in the mix. We anticipate that we have a buyer that has seen design shows on TV, and perhaps browsed occasionally through a design magazine. That way we can showcase current trends and a great appeal for maximum effect. We want the buyer to pay todays prices. We have to show them a fresh design vision. For buyers less inclined with decorative trends the house appears as a refreshing novelty, for the ones this represents what they are looking for in an ideal world. It is creating a sort of competitiveness. Not all living quarters are created equal. Lets tip the scale in our favor with a bit of icing on the cake. If you are planning to do some cosmetic renovations, consider a consultation with your design professional ahead of your work. That is a sure way to put your money where it counts. You can focus on the key factors that will help to bring your property into the new millennium and to create a current design that will include paint colors, fixtures and flooring choices. It can be quite devastating to find out that your expensive renovation set your property back into the 90’s. While nostalgic flash back parties are a lot of fun, your house should not hang on to the past too much. Your clients typically want to live in the moment and not relive someone’s past.
