About Staging

Selling through Interior design

Staging has become very popular among real estate practitioners and home sellers alike. There is a common notion that a staged home will sell for more money in a shorter time. In fact, when correctly executed, a designed space will find more acceptance and with that more potential buyers than its empty counterpart. Examples for this phenomenon are the professionally designed model homes that all the major homebuilders showcase. If you ask the salesperson about their best seller the answer is almost every time the same: The floor plan that is showcased as a model ranks always among the top selling types in that community. When the builder changes the models, also the purchase preference follows to whatever floor plan is made available to tour.

How can a home seller benefit from these dynamics? First we have to analyze what it is that makes interior design special. How can a potential homeowner benefit from the design solution presented and how would the choices or color, texture, scale and proportion impact the functionality of a space?

Know your buyer

The first step is to analyze the space and the surrounding area to establish a goal and to identify challenges. How can we make the best use of the room? How can we create meaningful applications to the space presented? What are the needs of our clients? What will be their lifestyle, their activities and how would they most likely congregate in the home? It is important to identify to which clientele we cater. A downtown condo might be most convenient for the urban professional who is looking for a maintenance free living close to their circle of activities. The large five-bedroom homes in the outer suburbs are probably more geared towards a family with children that prefer the quaint location in a family neighborhood. We don’t advocate discrimination of any potential buyer in any of those cases. However, it makes sense to analyze the market before offering a product for sale. Real estate should not be an exception to that sound business principle. Only when we have a clear understanding what our target audience is, are we able to create a design concept that will fill the needs and wants of our buyers.

We have to find a way to make the best use out of the space. Large rooms have to be filled with structure and defined spaces so that we are able to relate to the environment and not feel overwhelmed by the size. Small rooms need small-scale furniture and a good space plan to keep them organized and functional. Often time we want to create multi-functional areas that allow for maximal usage of the environment. Clever designed spaces can add usable square footage while awkward setups can take away important functions. Needless to say, the improper room usage and highly individualized design can make a home a hard sell.

It is important that we have enough vision to anticipate the requirements of our buyers. We have to foresee what is expected and we have to have a keen understanding of how to trigger emotions in our audience.

Limitation of staging

One might hope that by adding some silk flowers and moving a few chairs around a sure sale becomes immanent. Although good staging is always a good investment and an important part of the marketing toolbox, few cosmetic touches alone do not generate a sale. Staging as we understand it is more than just a few quick fixes, but a way of generating an emotional charged buying experience that seeks its rival. When interviewing staging professionals, do not consider only credentials and group affiliations, but also take a close look at samples of the work, either in person or on pictures. Take a close look at before and after examples of staged spaces. Ask yourself if that space really has a more refined look. Does it look practical and plausible? Do you feel attracted to the room? Can you imagine yourself in it on a daily base? Do you feel that the new design enriches the property and most important, would you buy it if you were on the market for a new home? If the answers are yes to those questions you have found a designer that will be able to create extra value on your behalf. If you are not sure and the before and after pictures look somehow not that different after all, it might be the best to look somewhere else. Interior design is not a science but an art form. It takes a photographer’s eye for visuals, a craftsman’s knowledge of material, and the keen sense of space an architect will have, to become a good designer. Look if your designer has mastered those all. Placing candles on the edge of your bathtub and the champagne cooler on your bed does not make your house any more attractive. It is a mere warning sign to a buyer that someone is trying to deceive us with some cheesy effects.

The emotions of the buying process

Realtors hear often the comment from their buyers that a certain home just feels not right. That is reason enough to dismiss a property that otherwise might be as well perfectly suited for the buyers. There is little that real estate salespeople can say to overcome that objection. It is more than an objection, but a clear indicator that the house missed an important point with the buyer. It did not appeal to the emotional side of the buying process. Realtors and seller might argue that buyers have rational reasons to purchase. But the truth is that most likely the decision will be made on a very emotional basis and later in the buying process will be rationalized. Buyers are rarely looking for brick and mortar, pipes and electric cables. They purchase a home, a place where they spend time with family and friends. They look for a certain lifestyle. They imagine the next Thanksgiving dinner; they imagine their newborn baby in the nursery they will set up. Buyers think about how they will play fetch with the dog in the large backyard, or how they will enjoy movie nights with their friends. Everything about the house is connected to how they imagine using the space. Everything is weighted in anticipation of their future life and the different ways the amenities, the status of the address, and the location of the property will affect them in the future. Emotions affect all aspects of the sale, regardless if a buyer wants to admit to it or not. The purchasing decision is often made seconds into the viewing. Sometimes all it takes is for the buyer to walk into the living room and feeling “at home”. For us that is reason enough.

What is stylish?

Taste is subject to age, cultural background, and gender, to the way we have been raised and last but not least what the media portraits as current trends. We all change taste. Trends fall in and out of favor. Who can keep track of what is in or out? Is shag carpet out or has Austin Powers brought it back to live. Should we go contemporary, modern or stick with the classics? What will help us to cater to the largest pool of buyers and how can we create integrity in the architectural style of the home? These are important questions that we can answer only in the context of the situation. Whatever we do, has to be appropriate to the clientele, the price range of the property and it has to fit in with the architectural style of the property. That way we are able to create a harmonious design that will fit well and that will appear natural and effortless.

Furniture stores tried to make it easy for consumers by offering whole room ensembles that are perfectly coordinated and easy to place. This creates furnishings that are uniform and sterile. What they often lack is individuality and character. Designers employ certain techniques to create a unique but universally stylish result. They coordinate shapes, patterns, colors, materials, and textures just enough to make them work together, without repeating the same all the time. This creates somewhat of an eclectic look that has more personality without repeating the common showroom setups we see in stores around the country. Creating a broad variety while coordinating the overall design theme is a very daunting task for the laymen. But also professionals have to struggle with this once in a while. It takes experience and a well-trained eye to get it right. It is most important to keep the integrity of the space intact while planning the design.

Our designs are geared towards a broad audience. We do not emphasis a highly individualized design that only works for one person, but we try to cater to the heart of our target group. We always try to make the design irresistible to our defined market segment. After all, we need to have an understanding of who will be the typical buyer for that particular property. All we need to do then is to envision a lifestyle that would fit our buyer perfectly. When we are able to accomplish that, we have set the stage for a successful sale. Marketing starts with knowing the market. Once we have mastered it we are a big step closer to our goal – creating a design that sells.

Where do we work?

We offer our services in the Metro Orlando area. We serve most of central Florida from Orange, Seminole to Volusia County. For other locations please inquire. We offer services in home staging, redesign and model home design. Lately we have increased requests from homeowners that want to update their homes without thinking about a sale. Our high style makeovers are made on reasonable budgets with the existing furniture and some additions and replacements. Please call us or email us for your next home makeover. Get a quote from your Orlando Staging specialist.