Decorating Staging and Merchandising: The Difference

If you are starting up your own home staging business, the difference between decorating, staging, and merchandising is essential to understand. If you are choosing a home stager to prep your home for sale, choosing the right home stager is a critical decision.

When a homeowner or agent hires a home stager a clear vision of what is needed to enhance the ability to sell the property is required. That vision should be a shared vision between the client and the home stager.

When a Home Stager prepares a vacant home and merely furnishes and accessorizes, they are decorating. Decorating will make the home more appealing and enhance the sell-ability. Often, this style of staging is indicative of a home stager that has not yet learned the value of becoming a true asset to the agent or homeowner.

A Home Stager trained in the skills of marketing analysis and merchandising incorporates those techniques into the initial staging plan and assures consensus with the client. Doing so adds value to the home as well as the client relationship.

As an example of a highly skilled stager using market analysis, consider the following scenario. When a Home Stager receives the request for bid the first action might be to view the MLS. Immediately thereafter a skilled stager will research comparable homes for sale in the area and analyze the Internet photos. This gives a starting point for the bid home's analysis.

In addition to the photos a skilled stager will review the listing details, understand the location of the property and proximity to amenities. These two factors will help determine the anticipated demographic of the purchaser and will guide the staging plan. While it is true most homes should be staged to appeal to a wide variety of potential buyers, it is also true that a modern high rise, 2 bedroom condo, in the middle of a bustling downtown area is going to draw a specific demographic and that consideration is crucial. So, to properly merchandise the property as an asset to the selling agent, certain furnishing may well be preferred or certain focal points may take precedence.

As an example of a skilled home stager using a merchandising perspective, consider the home that is vacant. After discussion with the agent it is discovered the open house feedback is potential buyers "can't see how their things will work" in the house and therefore cannot see it as their home. Home-buyers want square footage and need function. A skilled home stager will create a room plan that meets the function requirement and is aesthetically compelling. A skilled stager utilizes function as well as aesthetics. The function aspect is merchandising. If a home stager ignores function and puts furniture in the room, they are decorating.

These are two of many examples of what a skilled home stager can accomplish if properly trained in both the core competency of staging and merchandising skills.

As Co-Owner and Co-Founder of The Real Estate Home Staging School, we assure our students are trained and knowledgeable in staging skills and guidelines, merchandising procedures and marketing needs in the real estate field. If you need training to become a home stager contact us. If you desire a stager that can professionally provide all of these preparations for your property....Look for The Real Estate Home Staging School Graduate.