The Difference Between Home Staging and Interior Decorating.

Home Staging is still not well understood in the real estate market. Some sellers say they do not know what it is; others may have heard about it, but have never experienced it or worse, have the wrong idea about what it is or what it will cost.   So, when I say that I do Home Staging I often hear: “Oh, so you are an interior decorator!” and the immediate perception is that interior decorating has nothing to do with selling a home and is too expensive.  ”I need to sell my house”, they think.  End of conversation, right?  Wrong.

Yes, I am an Interior Decorator which done the way I do it,  is affordable for anyone, no matter what their budget.  But, I am also a trained and certified professional home stager; and they are two completely separate functions, with separate goals, separate results and distinctly different audiences.   

So, what is the real difference between Home Staging and Interior Decorating?

Interior Decorating (not to be confused with Interior Design) is the art of decorating a home according to the personal taste of the client. An interior decorator will take into account the desired mood, function of the space and style preferences of the person using the space and will create an individual setting focused on the client’s vision.   The goal of the Interior Decorator is to create a custom environment that will contribute to the happiness, peace and contentment, needs, functionality and productivity of a specific person or family. 

Home Staging is the art and science of preparing and showcasing a home and all of its features for sale in the real estate market.  Staging techniques focus on improving a property’s value and attraction by transforming it into a welcoming, desirable  product that appeals to a general target market of potential buyers.  The goal of Home Staging is to make a home appealing to the greatest number of potential buyers possible, generating more buyer traffic which results in a faster sale, sometimes as much as 78% faster, and for more money.   

The 5 main differences between Interior Decorating and Home Staging are:

Decorating: to decorate according to your personal taste.  Home Staging : to neutralize to appeal to as many as possible.

Decorating: to make the home a comfortable place you want to return to after a hard day. Home Staging : to make the home a buyer must see, to differentiate it from other listings and increase buyer traffic

Decorating: to create personal comfort and functionality and add personal touches. Home Staging : to accentuate the features of the property not the furnishings of the home.

Decorating: to freshen or remake the space by re-styline, buying new furniture and accessories.  Home Staging : to use primarily what you already own to showcase the space adding only what is necessary to showcase the home.

Decorating: to make your house your home.  Home Staging : to help the buyer envision your house as their home

While Home Staging,  I am not creating the house of your dreams, I am creating the house of your buyers dreams.   It takes special knowledge and experience and an understanding of the buyer and the market, the skills you get when you use a certified professional home stager.   So, am I an Interior Decorator?  Yes, I am.  I will creatively and artistically decorate the house that you live in.   But, I will professionally stage the house that you have for sale.