The Steps of Staging
Over the past few years, the concept of staging has gained momentum in the home buying and selling world. But, you may be wondering about logistics and what staging actually entails. Here are the general steps that Maple & Moss goes through as we work with clients to stage their homes.
1. Partnering with Clients
Maple & Moss works with a variety of clients. For example, we often work with large home building companies OR individual clients seeking to increase the appeal of their home.
When a LARGE COMPANY enlists the help of Maple & Moss, they often want model homes (which potential buyers walk through) to be staged. For obvious reasons, this helps sell properties. A building company will have a variety of model homes that need staging, so we often have multiple projects to assess and work on.
When an INDIVIDUAL seeks the help of Maple & Moss, we can do a minimal consult that helps the client prepare their home for pictures and potential buyers to walk through. Or we can do a more extensive partnership with the client, completely staging their home.
Ultimately, we work with clients to establish what their specific needs are and partner with them to give their homes the appeal needed to sell or attract potential buyers.
2. Preparing to Stage a Home
Maple & Moss has an inventory of lovely and functional furniture and accessories that we pull from for staging. As we prepare to stage a home, we have to establish what furniture and accessories we'd like to use.
The spaces that are usually completed in a staging are the kitchen, powder room, master bedroom, master bath, dining room and living room. We have to ask a lot of questions as we prepare to stage these spaces, such as: "What pieces are appropriate for this space?" and "Will the inventory that we are planning to use be cohesive in this space?"
When we go to stage a home, we have a general idea of what pieces we are going to utilize and how we ideally would like the space to look.
3. Actually Staging the Home
While the finished product of staging a home is beautiful, the actual process is not as glamorous as you may imagine. It's a lot of moving, lifting, and experimenting. It's hard work!
First, we gather the inventory we are going to use for a specific staging, enlisting the help of a moving company to transport the larger pieces (example: dining room table or couch). For one home, we can easily fill a large moving truck full of inventory. We need every piece, especially for larger homes.
Next, the entirety of the inventory has to be unloaded into the home. During this process, we have to be incredibly cautious to ensure we don't damage the home. We are careful not to scrape floors or bump walls. Pro tip: NEVER SLIDE A PIECE OF FURNITURE. Always lift it to move it. No matter how small, always lift!
After all of the inventory is unloaded from the moving truck, we spend an average of 3-4 hours staging a home. Obviously, that time can vary based on the size and layout of the home. It's a lot of trying things in different spaces, organizing pieces, hanging artwork and ensuring that the entirety of the space is appealing and has a natural flow. We want to help buyers picture themselves in the space.
4. Completing a Staging
The client dictates how long a staging stays in a home. For buyers, staging can be the icing on the cake, showing them exactly how they could live in a specific space. Staged homes can be under contract quickly as buyers are eager to make the space their own. There are countless statistics related to staged homes doing better on the market. For example, a survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. found that staged homes spend half the time on the market than non-staged homes.
Once the home is under contract, the inventory is removed. This means we, along with the moving company, go to the home and pack up all of the staged inventory.
And, with that, we are on to the next house that needs to become a home!
Before and after photos of a staging below:
