While home staging does require being visually creative, it really is a bit of marketing and merchandising "trickery" that gets the job done. Unlike the practices of interior design, decorating or re-design, staging is about creating an illusion of a possible lifestyle within a particular house that appeals to the largest home buying segment possible. But in order to create this REAL appeal within a house, a stager might have to resort to some "fakeness". One of the basic practices of staging (like decluttering or depersonalizing) is to bring the outside in. However, while some in our industry suggests its as simple as going out and clipping something fresh and green from one's garden, in reality that just might not be possible. Both climate and accessibility quite often can put the kybosh on little treks out to one's lovely garden... because it is freakin freezing and everything is dead... or, oh ya you don't HAVE a garden, you live in a high-rise condo.
This is where fake plants can help. Today's silks are so "perfect" and so widely accepted that they just blend into the background and MORE IMPORTANLY do not distract a buyer's eye. Fake fruit does this too. However using fake FOOD as a prop is a No-No! For some reason people are captived by fake food, they love to go up to and look and touch fake food to see just how "real" it looks... which means the buyer is distracted and is looking at something other than the house.
In vacant homes, it is quite acceptable to use fake TV's, especially flat screens, which are quite often used to help a buyer understand how a room can be configured... as TV watching a big part of our culture. (We happen to use proptronics.com as our supplier for these props. Today, after writing this, I called and spoke with Darlene, the owner, who graciously offered to give any stager who mentions this post a discount. HOW COOL IS THAT! Please, just ask for Darlene or Michael.) 
That being said, I want to stress the importance that while sometimes "Fake" is OK... it is NEVER OK to resort to contrived trickery. Contrived staging (<- LEFT) just tries to hard. Resorting to laying out silk gloves, with single red rose (fake); setting tray on a bed with a tea cup, a sonnet book with the word "Love" configured out of sticks from your garden; or setting out 2 champagne glasses wrapped with raffia bows on the edge of a tub is just NOT real and is not the way most people live. Because this is NOT the way MOST people live, it becomes a contrived distraction to a home buyer touring the home.
So always remember, the best staging is about the HOUSE being the star, not the stuff. The most talented stagers know and master the principal that "less is more" and their work is always tastefully understated.
The picture (right ->) of a staged property (just staged and self-photographed this week by Marci Toliver of Fresh Eye Designs) is a perfect example of how to apply the understated "less is more" approach to staging... and as you can see, it is a beautifully appealing room without being contrived. Oh ya... and one more thing... Marci created that floral arrangement herself using fake tulips.
Stage It Forward...
Me
PS: THANK YOU MARCI... for allowing me to feature this picture of your beautiful work. STUNNING!
HOLY MOLY NBC did it again! They picked up my blog feed. Here is the link to ths San Fransico NBC bay site and my blog on The Stage It Forward on Active Rain. ( I have NO idea what I am doing. I feel like Sally Field winning an Oscar.)
Comments(60)