Home staging is quickly becoming a term known by both real estate professionals and the general public. Though many of us have heard this term, can we really define what it means and why it is beneficial?
One thing a home staging professional will tell you right away is that home staging is not decorating. In fact it's more like the opposite of decorating. A decorator meets with homeowners to find out what their style is, how they plan to use the spaces of the home that are to be decorated. What their personal likes and dislikes are, what colors they are fond of, and what colors they cannot stand. The home is then decorated to their specific tastes and needs. A home stager does something quite different, and for quite different reasons. A home stager is hired around the same time a home is put on the market for sale. A stager's goal is to de-personalize the home, remove evidence of the home owner's specific tastes and organize furniture in a way that best highlights the attributes of the room. Personal pictures, art, pieces of furniture will be moved, packed, re-arranged and used in ways you may have never imagined. Some painting may be necessary, and some materials or décor may need to be purchased, however most of what the stager needs is already in the home.

This process is not without its inconveniences for the homeowners if they are still living in the home. It's important to do some serious de-cluttering and pre-packing. No corner should be left unturned. Staging is as deep as every closet, cabinet and drawer. Even the garage and exterior need to be staged. The idea is to present the home in a very broadly appealing way, so potential buyers have nothing to be distracted by and will notice every feature of the home. The inconveniences of the home owners are not in vain however. The benefits of staging are undeniable. First things first, staged homes statistically sell for more money and spend less time on the market than non-staged homes. Also, all that organizing and packing makes the process of moving much easier when the time comes.
Simply put, a stager takes a home and turns it into a product. That's what your home becomes once it's placed on the market, a product. It's not your home anymore, it's a house that potential buyers will be scrutinizing every inch of. It's true what they say, "you never get a second chance to make a first impression"