Interior Design vs Home-Staging

Interior Design and Home-Staging share a similar school of thought, but they are not the same. There are a few overlapping principles based on enhancing the look of your home, but the execution of each differs.

—

As professional Home-Stagers, we often get asked “Can you style my home to live in?”. Don’t get us wrong, it is an incredibly flattering request to receive (meaning the client must have loved our styling). Unfortunately, the styling principles are so different that we must politely decline and educate the client about the four main differences between Interior Design and Home Staging.

1. Goal

Interior Design is about creating the most efficient and aesthetically pleasing look, while taking into account the owner’s personality and lifestyle requirements.

The goal of Home Staging is to sell a house as quickly as possible, maximising the property’s dollar value.

2. Subjective vs Objective Taste

Interior Design is subjective; it involves an analysis of the homeowner’s lifestyle and personal style and then develops a solution that works harmoniously with both. Interior Designers work with specific needs and tastes of the homeowner, which involves styling with bold colours, wallpaper or personalised décor.

Home Staging, on the other hand, is objective; it involves highlighting the best features of the house and styling it according to the most recent market trends to appeal to the highest possible number of potential buyers. This type of home styling usually involves a lot of neutral colours and depersonalised spaces without a trace of the previous owner’s lifestyle.

Photos Before & After Home-Staging:

Read "8 Tips to Depersonalise Your Home Before Selling"

3. Functionality vs First Impressions

Interior Design is meant to achieve a functional goal, such as facilitating a lifestyle of the homeowner. The entire furniture layout is well thought out to fit in with the day-to-day needs of the household, with preference towards large, oversized furniture for extra comfort. Interior Designers choose materials for their durability and functionality, planning around the family’s requirements (e.g. no glass-top surfaces or sharp edges for families with young children).

Home Staging is all about first impressions. Stagers position the furniture to look its best from the entry point of the room, without taking into consideration the location of the power points or TV antennas. The intention behind this is to create the desired “WOW Effect”, which Real Estate Agents refer to as ‘the thing that seals the deal’. The preferred choice of furniture is slim-line and small to optically enlarge the room or showcase the versatility of the space.

living room with a glass coffee table, mirror on the wall and two arm chairs facing the sofa

Read "3 Home-Staging Illusions"

4. Speed

The average time to deliver an Interior Design project is anywhere between 12-24 weeks. That includes everything from the initial concepts and mood board presentations to the delivery of the furniture.

Some Home-Staging companies (including us) can install a property in less than 24 hours, from the time of the quote to the delivery of the furniture and styling service. Some Home-Stagers hire their furniture and removal services from 3^rd party providers, which may add a couple of additional days to the turn-around time. At Foxy Home Staging, we own all our stock (incl. furniture & accessories) and have a full-time logistics team and Property Stylists, which enables us to do quick turnarounds.