Wake up stagers! Have none of you really been watching the show?

I'm so glad to see a discussion on the real cost of staging vacants, and the compensation that is necessary to make a profit. Bravo!

Great points all, I am thinking the naysaying is about average clients and average stagers in markets where everything is not $4,000,000 but it is valid to show that end of the market too.  SO, for most of us, toning it down a few notches will do, but I am sure the show will do that in future episodes. 

Melissa,  Thank you for your email and your posts - your awesome - thank you for the support - don't worry about "the haters" they're still tuning in regardless!!!!!

David, Wow!   You have hit every point and answered every question with keen insight to the process.   If people spent less time complaining and more time doing their research, as you have done pouring over the countless interviews Dekora and myself have done, they would realize that schlepping our craft for less than 1% will hopefully be a thing of the past - DEKORA is a business model.  I appreciate the clarity and business mindedness you bring to the rants.   If the haters were half as diligent as you they would pay close attention and piece together the business equation to turn their little company into a formidable success story as DEKORA has done.  Its seems people would rather rant than discover how to make more money. As far as budget goes, if the client is willing to pay wouldn't YOU want to use a Naguchi Paper lamp over Ikea's knock-off version?   The rental of one is the same price as purchasing the other.   Go big or go home is my motto!

And you all think the drama is confined to my jobs on THE STAGERS!!!??!!    I have never been more entertained while on vacation under a palm tree a total fan of Active Rain - excuse me while I order a rum and coke during YOUR commercial break!!!!!!  

Like I say,  LOVE IT or HATE IT - keep WATCHING IT!!!!   

Matthew Finlason - Featured Designer on THE STAGERS

I am with Melissa when she says "I for one would like to thank the design team of Dekora and particularly Matthew Finlason for making such a great and (real) life like show". 

My hope is that the show will raise the bar in the staging industry.  I for one sell a higher end product at a reasonable price.  Not everyone is willing to pay a little bit more and will go with whom ever is the least expensive.  I agree with Matthew, go big or go home, because that is what really sells!

The budget may seem unrealistic to some, but for me I believe it will actually make my job easier and my clients will see that they are getting a quality product at a bargain price.

Moon,

First off welcome to AR, I see you jumped right in and started making waves. I have no idea who you are besides perhaps a stager Melissa hired who took one of her staging classes maybe.

Anyway, it looks like you know how to use Google to get some stats, good for you. I hope you Stage as well as you research.

Now as far as me, I am a Owner of a Staging firm who just last year had 2 employees....Now I have 6 and still have to give work away because I will not grow to fast and put myself in a situation I can't get out of. business 101

Here is a free life tip to you and Matt, You will never make everyone happy!  No matter how hard you try you will always have people who have an opinion opposite of the one you have. How you handle it is a reflection of the character you are... and calling people "haters" well I get an idea of who Matt is.

The average Joe who I was referring to does not know the insides of staging, and if you can't take some constructive advice on how to make the show more understanding for the homeowners who sees or don't see the break down of the budget I in my opinion think they will think staging cost an arm and a leg.

Moon you said well Decora has the right to keep the numbers to them self of the total budget do to compation. I think that is BS, if you agree to do a show on national T.V I think you should breaking down the numbers so people know Decora had contractor's come in to do costly work and had to pay them out of the budget therefore raising it to $20,000 not $6,000.

Matt ...I also want to welcome you to AR, as you can see you are going to have people here who are and have been Stagers for a long time. This group was designed to discuss all aspects of the Staging industry and how to make it grow. I do think you are talented from what I seen in a 20 minute segment of what you did, But you have to be open to people here who have been doing this for along time and will be doing this long after your segments on "the Stagers" is over.

I hope you understand that because we as you call us the "haters" discuss ways we think the show could improve in showing home owners realistic numbers. We are not targeting you as a Stager, just how HGTV can improve the show a bit by break down of the cost so not to scare off potential clients. You know as well as I that not all the clients you have are million dollar listings with a budget in the 10's of thousands. I know you say keep watching it gets better..... well when? If the whole show was shot in the wealthy parts of Canada, that is far from realistic from the clients most of us here on AR will be dealing with.

Anyway, I wish you all the best, and hope the show does improve by breaking down the budget, but I don't think that will happen.

Melissa.. you can rant on me here or email me, I'm sure you and I don't see eye to eye on this and hope it don't interfere with our friendship.. you know I love ya!

BB

Mr. Bloom: Why you chose to address me by just my last name is puzzling. Feel free to call me David - or Mr. Moon if you prefer to keep it formal. Yes, I know how to use Google, and it would only take a few minutes of Googling for anyone else on here to get a better perspective on Dekora and the real estate market the company serves. I would hope that the "average Joe" watching "The Stagers" can do the math and see that $20,000 to stage a $2 million home, or $40,000 to stage a $4 million home, equates to just 1% of the listing price, and that that would translate to, for instance, $3,000 to stage a $300,000 home. I stand by my assertion that it would be unreasonable to expect Dekora to divulge proprietary financial information. How may other businesses do that? If you walk into a furniture store to buy a sofa, are you entitled to know the wholesale cost as well as the retail price? Agreeing to let a camera crew follow their stagers for the public's entertainment certainly doesn't mean that Dekora is now obligated to open their books to public scrutiny as well. I think you underestimate the ability of "average Joe" to distinguish between the reality depicted on shows like "The Stagers" or "Million Dollar Listing" or "Flipping Out" and the reality of the real estate market in Joe's own hometown. Finally, I don't need a condescending "life tip" to understand that there are opinions that differ from mine. What I find exasperating is when those opinions are based on snap judgments, and then held onto even in the face of factual evidence to the contrary.

I agree with you too!  I couldn't understand why others were complaning about it!  I love it!!

I enjoyed the show and look forward to seeing a wider variety of projects.  I think Michelle's post on the show was great and I am also looking towards ramping up from the exposure.

Not to ruffle feathers but with a "wow factor" budget like that, painting and all why was it cost prohibative replacing a horrible dining room light fixture that could be purchased for under $100.  Was the homeowner attached to it or something? It was a real turn off in the room.JMO

Matthew you picked some beautiful art.

Melissa - I only caught one show, the debut last Sunday (how did I miss one???).  Now I have the DVR set to record every time it's on. I thought it was a fabulous show!  I think they showed Staging for what it is - hard work, lots of critical design decisions, sometimes made with very short notice, sometimes competition, sometimes potentially difficult sellers, etc.  I am with you on this one. When can we get our own show? 

Mr. Moon

I think you have tooooo much time invested in this post defending a T.V show.

I have employees I have to make sure get paid this week, and a store front property I'm flipping to become our office, so I have to let this one go before I cast judgment on you in which I prefer not to do, Melissa is a good friend of mine and said nothing but good things about you, so your OK in my book ( not that I like casting judgment on anyone here on AR unless they throw the perverbal first punch;)

But I do want to Thank you for the 101 on doing the math, I was doing that back in 03'-04' many years ago sir.

Enuff said.....Have a good nite and don't forget to watch your show, it's on tonight:)

BB

Melissa: Thank you for your positive words! It's gratifying that someone I respect appreciates the time I've taken to put the show in context, provide a little background information, and try to clarify certain points that others might have missed - or misinterpreted - in a single viewing of each fast-paced episode.

I took your training course because I was inspired by First Impressions' success and by your tremendous talent as a stager. I'm likewise inspired by Dekora's success and by Matthew's tremendous talent as a stager. So I've delved into their world, on TV and online, to learn as much as I can. I'm especially grateful to Matthew for taking time to give us his inside view. I'll continue to share my own thoughts on the show in a friendlier setting, the group Matthew started here on ActiveRain: http://activerain.com/groups/thestagers.

Melissa, you've made a lot of great points here.  I really do believe that this show will help create more buzz about our industry.  Thanks for the links to my blogs by the way.

Matthew, order me a Pina Colada will you? :-)

Melissa: Excellent! I agree with you wholeheartly! I've got my surfboard out and ready to ride those success waves.    Wish I was where Matthew is!  How's your tan coming along? :)

Woops, I thought I was logged in..  The Gary above is me...

Being that the show is based out of Vancouver, my home city, it is exciting that there is an actual televised show on staging.  Although the prices are much higher than we would do (ie:$10 000 for a 850 sq foot condo in 4 days) It is up to me to let my clients know that it wouldn't likely cost that much to stage their space, depending on the size.  I love the fact that istaging is finally getting more recoginition.  The more people hear about it, the more likely it will someday become the norm.

Melissa... Thank you for your post...I believe that regardless of how Dekora portrays the staging industry...it is being portrayed...Being new to the industry I am excited that maybe, just maybe this show will wake people up in Alabama...Staging is almost nonexistent here...I look forward to the show every week and as time goes on, I think it will have nothing but positive effects on the staging industry.

Matthew...Your personality is infectious and being an artist also, I appreciate your enthusiasm for the art you place in the homes you stage...loved the cow ottoman...It really was the jewel of the room...Have a rum and coke for me and I can't wait to see what happens next!

Stacey Holt

Setting the Stage

settingthestageforyou.com