Home staging trends come and go, depending on market conditions, interior design styles and many other factors. This is why it is of paramount importance to stay current on the latest trends, in order to please clients and therefore, to please prospective buyers.
While it is great to honor trends in interior design, I always warn stagers not to become too “trendy”. This means that the idea of property marketing must always come before the exclusive aesthetics of design. Some design trends are not ideal for real estate marketing purposes, so it is often best to include traces of the latest trends, rather than rely too heavily on elements that might be out of style in a few weeks time, especially for homes that are expected to take some time to sell, such as high-end luxury residences.
This dialog examines some trends in the staging sector for both working professionals and do-it-yourselfers. I will also discuss changes within the staging business that impact stagers and clients alike.
Timeless Home Staging Trends
Staging does not have to be trendy to a large degree. Some of the best examples of property staging contain classic elements of design that are timeless and ageless. This is not to say that the designs are traditional. In fact, most are contemporary and can therefore be easily enhanced with some inclusions representing the newest design trends without being “too trendy”.
The problem with embracing trends that are likely to be short-lived, such as color schemes, materials and accessories, is that seasoned buyers will always recognize true style versus “style of the week”. If the décor embodies a look that will get old in a month or a year, many buyers will immediately gravitate away from the property, thinking that the home will begin look dated very quickly. While staging is a temporary arrangement of furniture, art and other design elements, potential buyers have difficulty making this distinction and can therefore judge the home itself based almost completely on the present state of décor.
It is for this reason that I recommend using timeless design styles that are still fresh and appealing, with a few touches of the very latest in color, style and fashion included to be sure to appeal to a buyer’s sense of “nowness”. Just do not go too heavily on the “hot right now”, since it may hurt the long-term marketing prospects for the property over time, if an immediate sale does not materialize.
Changing Home Staging Trends
Trends in real estate are constantly changing based on economic indicators and market characteristics. This means that staging trends are always also in flux. Stagers must be extremely knowledgeable about current local real estate market conditions in order to be successful. This is because clients often expect different results from different types of real estate markets and if stagers fail to deliver, they will not be in business for long.
Some of the factors that change often in the staging business include any or all of the following: fashion, outdoor design elements based on season, ideal color palates, furniture styles, budgetary pricing, services provided and many other factors.
Stagers who work closely with real estate professionals have a distinct edge, since they have the inside track to market conditions before the general public even realizes the direction that the local marketplace is headed. For this reason, I always advise making close connections with real estate agents, real estate attorneys, home inspectors and other industry professionals for market insights and general networking reasons.
Embracing Home Staging Trends
Many stagers tend to avoid new designs simply due to comfort in doing what they have always done. It is great to have an approach to staging that universally works great, but eventually, even the best practices tend to get stale and suffer degeneration of opinion based on “been there, done that” logic. It is vital to keep designs fresh and new, reflective of what is happening “now and tomorrow”, while still maintaining classic appeal.
Stagers should keep try to continuously learn new ways to improve their designs, regardless of how long they have been working or how successful they have become. If you are not current, then someone else will be and no one wants to become “yesterday’s news”.
It does not take too much effort to include the latest fashion choices into excellent staging designs. Just recognize quality trends from garbage trends and selectively include samples of some of today’s latest buzz designs into the each project. However, be sure to utilize trends that will still completely complement the remainder of the décor as a whole. Otherwise, your choices will look disjointed and although they might say “now”, the visual disarray will have potential buyers saying, “later”…
