All the magazine and catalogue shots show perfect rooms in perfect houses. But, we know that life isn’t like that. Not everybody has the most stylish furniture and the latest accessories. I always thought we should be showing the closest thing possible to the dream home that we could, but, I read an article that makes me wonder.
In a blog entitled “Perfectly Perfect – Almost” the author of Buy-ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy tells about European cosmetics company that wanted to save money by cutting the length of their commercials. To see which parts to cut they used a neuro-scientific tool based on EEGs. They were able to scientifically analyse which scenes were the most emotionally engaging by measuring consumers brainwaves. Then they tested a 30 second version created from the most emotionally engaging scenes and found it caused test subjects to choose the product 35% oftener.
Consumers today are looking for products that are authentic. Lindstrom says:
“The thought of gigantic factories churning out millions of cookies, or food being injected with additives that boost the ‘natural’ color or enhance the aroma, or irradiation processes that keep old fruit looking new – well, all these sophisticated processes just seem to generate feelings of enormous distaste and even horror in the minds of consumers.”
This made me reflect on whether we can make staging more authentic. We’re often tempted to strive for perfection in our staged product. We work hard to hunt down the right pieces to stage vacant homes, especially new models. We are all tempted at times to be more like decorators than stagers. We love it when we can get the magazine-like shots for our portfolios. Of course, when we stage occupied homes using homeowners items, it’s easier to keep it real. But sometimes even there we might get carried away in our search for perfection. We banish TV sets, hide the kids toys, super organize the closets, even set the table for grand dinner parties. Who lives like that?
For the staging to sell a house, it has to be believable to the buyer. If it has a stereotypically staged look, will it be effective? Won’t the obviously staged home raise questions about what the seller is trying to hide?
Here’s a family room in a home where I did a consultation. The homeowners followed my recommendations and sent me an after picture.
Family room before staging
Family Room After Staging by Homeowners
Author, Martha Stanton-Smith, owner of Rearrangements, is a Certified Canadian Staging Professional who helps serious home sellers in Kingston, Ontario get full worth for their homes. She completed her staging training in 2006. Visit her profile here:
