Why Staging Is Not Decorating

Many home sellers look around their house and are confident that their house is beautifully decorated, so it doesn’t need staging. Sadly, this isn’t usually the case. That's because there is a distinct difference between decorating a home and staging one.

Decorating vs. Staging

Decorating focuses on personal preference, specific tastes and expressing your own personality. Whereas, staging focuses on depersonalization, symmetry and balance. When you stage a house properly, it should be a clean slate for anyone viewing the house to be able to easily imagine imprinting their own personality on the space. Decorating is all about YOU. Staging is all about POSSIBILITIES.

Tone Down the Colors

Although your seller may love bold, bright wall colors or trendy pastels, these have limited appeal. Fresh paint in neutral colors that blend well and provide a classic background are a better choice. These shades become a canvas for potential buyers’ imaginations.

Keeping It Impersonal

Personal photos and bric-a-brac should be removed from the home when you’re trying to sell it. You don’t want others to see the house as someone else's, but theirs. Minimizing clutter, removing personal images (including all those photos on the refrigerator!) and creating an uncluttered, neutral space will help others see themselves living in your sellers house.

Pro Tip:

Do your sellers have children?  Then they probably also have a house full of toys!  Have the children pick two containers of toys that they can keep, and then each week rotate them out so they have new stuff to play with while minimizing the number of the children's belongings scattered about the house.  

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