What’s the difference between Home Staging versus Decorating?
This is a question I get over and over especially when a home already has lovely decor. Would this be a home that should still be staged for selling? Why do you even need to stage a home for sale, don’t buyers appreciate that “lived in homey-look?” Well to put it simply, when decorating, the homeowners individual style, comfort level, color choices, hobbies and interests would all be taken in to consideration when formatting a space. When staging for sale, we look at things much differently, we want to appeal to the masses, the space is neutralized and selling features within that space are accented. Less is more as to not over power those features.
Recently our team closed a sale of an absolutely stunning home that had been previously professionally decorated. To answer the above question, yes we still staged the home for sale. Lets take a look at the before and after photos and I can point out the difference between staging and decorating.
The first picture is the before photo of the family room, as you can see the home is beautifully decorated. Tasteful and cozy, the family collection of Geodes are beautifully displayed on the niche shelves. Now take a look at picture #2, the staged for sale photo. As you can see we neutralized the wall color on the accent wall, brighting up the entire room. We also removed the bench seating and coffee table & floor lamp to open up the space and maximize the space, as well as re-staged neutral colors on the niche shelves. Again, decorating takes into consideration the living comforts, staging we want to maximize the space.
Before
After
Now lets take a look at the Formal living room. Stunning custom artwork adorns the glass block fireplace, they purchased from an artist in Sedona. Keeping with the homeowners love of Sedona’s Red Rock tones in the area rug flow throughout giving the space a serenity of beautiful Sedona. Now take a look at next photo, the staged version of this same room. You will see we removed the area rug allowing the gorgeous wood floors to be displayed. Replacing the serenity Angel with simple low-lying greenery which allows the eye to travel the entire space and into the backyard with a gorgeous view of the pool. We also neutralized the wall color surround the fireplace which really popped the glass block surround.
Before
After
The Kitchen, the heart of the home, right? This home featured a very large kitchen with lots of fresh bright white cabinets and large eat-in area. Looks nice and clean. Here we made some simple addition to add to this gourmet kitchen, that really added a nice cherry on top to the already nice kitchen… cabinet knobs. The addition of simple cabinet knobs and drawer pulls add such a nice upgraded custom look to any kitchen. The space also featured a picture window above the kitchen sink, removing the decor and replacing with a simple white orchid allowed natural light to flow and accent the beautiful arched window. Just off the kitchen is a spacious breakfast nook, very nicely appointed for family dinners and game night. In the next photo we neutralized the space of religious art and the game night book shelf opening up the size to its fullest and appealing to the masses.
Before
After
Do we stage the exterior? Does the exterior matter to potential buyers? Absolutely! We leave no stoned un turned, so lets take a look at the pool area. As you can see this home had an amazing pool and lush landscaping surround. However what this home also featured was an oversized lot which is hard to come by in the greater Phoenix area and therefore a great selling feature. So as you will see, we had the gardner cut back the bushes so we could maximize the space and expose the expansive lawn and play area surrounding the pool.
Before
After
Do staged homes sell for more? Why do we go through so much trouble when listing our properties? Staged homes seller quicker than the average home on the market and for more money. This home was listed with another agent and the clients received an offer that was less than their list price and later decided to hire our team to take over, we got our clients $30,000 more than the offer they had previously received. That’s why we take the effort to stage our listings.
We’d love to help you prepare your home and market it to help you get more money by appealing to more buyers. Give is a call if you’d like more information.
Tags: Decorating, Home Improvements, Market Condition, Packing, Staging, Traditional Sale
