What is the difference between Interior Design and Home Staging?
I have been asked many times if interior design and home staging isn’t the same. As one of the few who have education and experience in both fields, interior design and staging, I can attest that these are two very different disciplines. While this may seem, to someone who does not have formal education in both, to be the same, there are some very critical differences.
Well, people may thing that these are the same because both disciplines have some things in common:
- design principals apply to both
- improving the look of a room
- working with furniture, art, colors, lighting, paint, home improvements,….
- creating a pleasing and balanced environment
- knowledge of design trends
So, what is really the different then between interior design vs. staging?
- Interior Design is being used to create wonderful spaces for the home owners to live in. Design is making a space look pretty. Due to the fact many people invest a large amount of their money into this, it is always wise for an Interior Design company to use public indemnity insurance. As a result, constructaquote.com insurance is normally in demand.
Vs. Home Staging is one of the most powerful marketing tools when selling real estate – it is the merchandising of your single most valuable asset. - Who needs to be pleased? the home owner vs. the home buyer
- What aesthetic needs to be implemented? what the home owner desires vs. what the target home buyers aspire to
- Who makes the final design decisions – the home owner based on designer’s recommendations vs. the stager making the decision. Lots of clients could be after a modern design whereas, some clients are after an antiques world design, it’s all about what flows and what works together, which allows designers to make the final decision.
- Designer needs to understand the home owner’s lifestyle, aesthetic likes, functional needs vs. Stager needs to understand the competitive real estate environment, research the target buyer of that particular property, understand the psycho-graphics of the target buyer, and surrounding area, and aesthetic aspirations of target buyers.
- Design projects take weeks and months to completion vs. Staging is done within the matter of a few days – I call it: “Staging is designing on Steroids”.
- Design is about functionality for your specific lifestyle vs. Staging is about highlighting positive features of your property while it is on the market for sale. An example of this is getting rid of any carpet stains or having a new carpet fitted.
- In design items will be ordered as they are needed for the project (no warehouse necessary) vs. staging items have to be readily available resulting in most stagers having their own warehouse of inventory.
Understanding the difference between interior design and staging is important for your decision who to hire for your specific project.
If you are looking to beautify your home for your own enjoyment – hire a professional interior designer.
When you are selling your house, look for a professional home stager with experience. Email us if you would like to receive our information sheet “How to Hire a Home Stager” – info@birgitanich.com
There are many interior designers / decorators who offer staging services. However, they have never received any training in staging and therefore do not understand the difference. They may be good to make your space look more neutral and rearranging things, but they have never learned how to use staging techniques to market and merchandise a property based on research data.
On the other hand, there are many stagers who offer interior design services, but they have also never had formal interior design education.
We are uniquely positioned having education as well as experience in both disciplines. Our work has also been honored with several national and local awards in both staging and design.
