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Fall
2007
Redesign or
Staging?
About this time last year I was helping out
a colleague with a client that we thought
wanted her home Staged for sale. During the
interview process it became clear that the
client wasn’t sure if she wanted to stay or
to go. We discussed some Redesign
opportunities with the client but quickly
suggested that she decide exactly what she
intended to do before we did any work with
the home.
On
the flip side, you hear of people who “loved
their Staging so much that they decided to
stay in their house”. In a situation like
this, I think that, possibly, the stager has
left behind too much of that clients
“personality” rather than that of buyers as
a whole creating confusion.
Staging and Redesign operate at opposite
ends of the spectrum and I thought this
would be a good season (the fall is
notorious for putting more focus on the
house - kids back to school, looking forward
to the holidays, etc) to explore this
phenomenon. Below is a simple little chart
that calls out some very big differences!
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Redesign |
Staging |
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It’s all about you! Redesign strives to achieve décor that looks, feels and functions the best for the homeowner. |
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It’s not about you. Staging strives to achieve the best look, feel and function for the most potential buyers. |
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The design is
totally
personalized to
the needs of the
homeowner.
Family
heirlooms,
pictures,
collections and
artwork become
the centerpieces
of the design. |
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The design is
depersonalized*
so as to not
distract buyers
from the beauty
of the
architectural
highlights of
the house.
Generally,
family
heirlooms,
pictures,
collections and
artwork need to
be packed. |
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Dated features
are worked
around. The
goal is to pull
together the
existing
features,
furniture,
artwork and
accessories into
one cohesive
design. |
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Dated features
must go.
Potential buyers
generally don’t
want to deal
with having to
change out
fixtures or even
cabinet pulls. |
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Colors or lack thereof, are welcome. Whether the homeowner wants Tuscan hues or bright white walls, the design centers around their preference. |
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The colors must
be just right!
Not too much,
not too little,
a difficult
balance of
neutrality and
charm.
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The homeowner should love their surroundings. |
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The buyer should
love the
surroundings. |
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Now
that you have an understanding of the
differences, there are a few things that are
universal to any design whether it is
Redesign or Staging:
1) Clutter
is a “no-no”. Even if the client has
collections, in a Redesign, we will work
hard to identify the most loved pieces for
display and try to gently store the rest so
as not to overwhelm the overall design with
one particular thing.
2) Window
treatments must have beauty and function.
Sometimes in a Staging the function of a
window treatment is to camouflage the view
of the neighbor’s brick wall, but
nonetheless, the treatment must make sense
and display beautifully.
3)
Furniture
arrangement should result in a warm,
conversational placement. If only I had a
nickel for every time someone told me “the
furniture only fits this way” and then I
changed the placement and really made it
work!
So
the moral of the story is, if you decide to
go, then Stage, and if you decide to stay,
or when you move into your new home, then
Redesign. And certainly, if you need
professional help with either of these
areas, simply contact Smart Surroundings.
*
A recent
article in a local newspaper suggested that
staging takes de-personalization too far.
I do firmly recommend that my clients remove
distractions - period. The article made a
good point, however, that you may want to
preserve some feeling of “home” given the
lengthier time that it takes to sell in this
market. I try to point out items that are a
“must” pack away because they are blocking
an architectural feature, versus those that
are “wants” and are not too distracting. I
think that in any market, you need to be
realistic with the level of staging to still
have a house that is livable.
See previous Andrea's Antidotes:
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