One of the most common questions that we at Blairhaus get about home staging is, “What’s the difference between home staging and decorating?” This is a question we love to answer because it gives us a chance to help clients understand the value of our services as well as provide an explanation of the differences in services that we can offer them. As much as we love this question, we do answer it a lot, so we decided to make a blog featuring the information so many of you would like to know!
The Client
Perhaps the first and most distinct difference between home staging and decorating is who the end result is for. Home staging is designed to attract others to your home. Interior decorating is decorating your home to suit you.
With home staging, you are focused on removing and replacing everything that makes your home represent you. From the wall paint colors to the home furnishings to the photos and artwork around your home, the home staging style is controlled and neutralized.
Staging Before.
Staging After: To make this seller’s master bath look like a relaxing retreat, we removed all personal items. White accessories, orchids, and pretty bottles of bath salts give off spa oasis vibes.
Interior decorating is quite the opposite. Instead, decorating your home is all about you and your wants and needs. Nothing is off-limits because it’s all about you!
Decor Before: The monotone palette of the wall color and carpet made this room feel stuffy and dated.
Decor After: Installing a medium tone wood floor and painting the walls a cool gray helped highlight the unique aspects of this bedroom. Features such as an Eames chair, a loveseat upholstered in a modern pattern, and some of his favorite records made both this teenager and his parents fall in love with his “cool” room!
The Purpose
The next key difference is the purpose of home staging versus the purpose of decorating. The purpose of home staging is to attract someone else to your home. The goal is for the attraction to be so strong that they make an offer for the home right on the spot. To fulfill that purpose, the home-style must be completely impersonal but inviting and allow the home buyer to visualize themselves and their own personality in that home.
Staging Before.
Staging After: Streamlining the furnishings and choosing a coordinated color palette showcase the spaciousness of this master bedroom.
Click to shop the pillows, nightstands, and sideboard featured in the after photo!
The purpose of interior decorating is to create a space that is visually and emotionally pleasing to you, the homeowner. Interior decorating is a service we provide for homeowners who aren’t planning on selling their home anytime soon, instead, they want to love the look and feel of their home. We achieve this by decorating in colors and styles that are attractive to you and working with you to set each room’s function to fit your needs instead of those of someone else. The sky’s the limit when it comes to paint and home furnishing choices because it’s all up to you and what you want.
Decor Before: This sunroom felt dated with its checkered flooring and columned walls.
Decor After: Carrying the same flooring throughout the house and sunroom creates a cohesive space. New window treatments, white furniture featuring performance fabrics, and cool modern ceiling fans all came together to create an airy space.
Click HERE to shop the diamond and metal wall hangers in the after photo.
The Psychology
Psychology may not be the first term that comes to mind when you think of home staging and interior decorating, but it’s at the forefront of every design professional’s mind.
The psychology of home staging focuses on inspiring homebuyers to make one of the biggest purchase decisions of their lives and follows the same principles of product design. A successful home staging makes your home stand out from the competition, excites the buyers about the possibility of living in the home, and inspires the buyer’s confidence to purchase the home. Staged homes take the guesswork out of the home buyers and highlight the strengths of the home. Home buyers don’t have to look past bad furniture or paint jobs, uncleanliness, and clutter to see themselves and their own home furnishings in that space.
Staging Before.
Staging After: Reducing countertop clutter was the key to making this kitchen look spacious and airy.
The psychology of interior decorating is to speak to the individual’s personal taste and translate it into the decor. Its goal is to bring peace, comfort, and happiness to the individual’s home environment
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Decor Before: Nothing was “wrong” with this kitchen’s original design but the client wanted to make it more to their style.
Decor After: Updates such as painting the island and adding a live edge eating counter, installing a sleek subway tile backsplash, and hanging modern, stainless pendant lights gave this client the modern/transitional style kitchen of their dreams.
Click here to shop the tray and wooden bowl in the after photo!
Both interior decorating and home staging offer many benefits. Interior decorating helps the homeowner feel more peaceful and comfortable inside their home while home staging helps homeowners sell their homes faster and home buyers to see the potential in a new home.
Blairhaus Interiors is one of Tupelo and the surrounding areas’ most distinguished interior design and home staging firms. Our number one goal is to help your home reach its fullest potential whether through staging, decorating, or redesign. To learn more about our interior decorating or home staging services, schedule a consultation with one of our specialists by clicking here.