Is it just me, or does anyone else really like to visit Display Villages? I mean… I am not even in the position to buy – I have no deposit, no intention to build a house… but there is something about walking through a Display Home that just hits the right spot for me.

If you are judging, I understand. I am judging myself too.

*she said as she opened Google and looked up another Display Village to visit this weekend*

But let’s get to the point.

Why Should We Style Display Homes?

Some builders believe their display homes should be presented empty to showcase all their premium features. Doing this contradicts what marketing professionals have been pleading for decades – customers buy on emotion and validate with logic.

“How can you possibly expect people to create any emotional connection with an empty house?”

We have recently been asked if we style Display Homes. Although it is not something we have been doing as a part of our regular business, we recognised the same principles apply to display homes as they do to home staging:

It’s all about creating a neutral & beautiful look that helps build a sense of lifestyle, without drawing attention away from the home’s architecture.

3 Reasons to Furnish & Style a Display Home:

Minimise analysis-paralysis – To achieve a smooth and quick sales process, it makes sense to want to remove any barriers that could cause hindrance in the clients’ decision-making ability. Sometimes the buyers’ get stuck on choosing the right home layout. Showcasing the potential furniture positioning is likely to lower the chances of the infamous analysis-paralysis.

Give it personality – No one remembers an empty and cold house, regardless of how beautiful the build was. A well styled home, however, is one to remember. Creating a positive memory in the mind of the customer gives the sales person a competitive advantage.

Brand image – Buyers’ perceived value of the house is heavily influenced by how it is presented. If the builders want to attract higher-end clientele, bringing in elegant & luxe furniture will prompt people to associate the brand with good-quality.

How Should We Style Display Homes?

As mentioned above, staging a Display Home is not significantly different to staging a ‘regular’ house for sale. There are only a few small changes we’ve decided to implement in comparison to our usual staging jobs.

3 Differences in Styling a Display Home vs House for Sale

Fewer rugs in carpeted areas – Placing a rug on carpet adds an extra burst of colour and texture to the room. For a Display Home, we’ve decided to take a different approach and use fewer rugs, to avoid drawing attention away from the builders’ carpets of choice. These are oftentimes premium, high-quality products that make great conversational topics.
Different furniture layout – When we stage houses for sale, our primary focus is making it look great in photographs and create amazing first impressions. For Display Homes, we take into account the practicality, for example we position the furniture to fit with the location of power points.
Using more soft textures – Because Display Homes are new builds, they can feel quite cold (white walls, tiles, echo). Using soft furnishings and textures gives the house a more warm & homely atmosphere.