If you’re in the process of selling your property in Spain, you’ve probably already heard the term home staging. Or maybe you’ve been advised to have your property professionally staged. You wouldn’t be the first to wonder, what is home staging? Don’t worry, here’s all the information you’ll need about this revolutionary technique that’s taking the property market by storm.
Why is it called home staging?
Home staging was originally created in the US in the 1970s, the brainchild of Barb Schwarz. Barb had worked for years in the theatre industry before starting out in the property sector, and drawing from her theatrical experience led her to the revolutionary idea of “staging” the properties that she was marketing. She created scenes in the same way you would for theatre or film, snapshots of an idealised lifestyle in each home. This helped her clients to visualise the potential of the homes which, without home staging, often went unnoticed.
Fotos: Die Home Stagerin Senta Hoffmann – http://www.die-home-stagerin.de, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
When launching this new project, she found it difficult at first to explain the concept to her clients. Again, she drew examples from film and theatre to help them understand the importance of preparing their property for sale. When you watch a scene in a film or a play, the set is carefully arranged to convey information about the lives of the people interacting with it. Without realising it, you gather all the necessary information you need to understand the characters’ lifestyle, personality, and so on. Similarly, home staging uses these concepts of set design in homes to create a feeling of value and wellbeing in each property, improving its potential for sale or rental.
Home Staging vs. Interior Design
Combining both interior design and property styling, home staging aims to update the style of properties (without major investments or renovations) to make them as attractive as possible to the widest possible audience. However, although it employs certain principles of interior design, it’s better understood as a unique marketing technique. Home staging is a form of emotional marketing that uses insights into human psychology to help promote properties for sale or rent. An interior designer works closely with their clients to understand their tastes and lifestyle. They then design a home tailored to what their client wants. In contrast, home staging professionals depersonalise the spaces. We present the house as a blank canvas, allowing potential buyers to see the property’s true potential without distractions.
Can I stage my own home?
There are several techniques that anyone can use to make their home more attractive when selling. Deep cleaning, decluttering, and storing away items that overcrowd the space. Fixing minor defects and painting the walls in light colours. Assigning a specific function to each room and organising the furniture and decor according to that use. These simple steps will already make a significant difference.
However, if you want to get the most out of home staging, it’s best to enlist the help of a professional. Even the tidiest among us often suffer from clutter blindness. It’s often difficult to emotionally distance ourselves enough to see the weak points in our home. Even professional home stagers often seek help from an industry colleague to stage their own home, as it can be challenging to shift the mindset from treating the property as your home to seeing it as a product to sell.
It’s true that home staging requires a small initial investment. But it’s proven that professional home staging interventions can bring a return on investment of up to 250%! Selling your house is already a stressful and emotional process, so leaving the marketing to the professionals will help you minimise stress and achieve a quicker sale at a better price.
