Hi everyone! Hope your week is well!
I recently read some comments on a post about HGTV being a friend or foe. I think we all were in agreement that there are good and bad points to these shows. Perception and Reality are often very different...and sometimes these shows don't rightly portray EXACTLY how a staging job works, the time that goes into it and most importantly, the MONEY that it takes.
I write a column for my local paper and this Sunday we are doing one on this topic. I think it's important that the general public understand the WORK we go through to do what we do....it's not a snap in all cases. Read below. It's wordy...sorry (don't have time to add pics and such tonight). :) But I think you all will appreciate my small contribution to educating what public I can! :)
AMBER
It never fails. Like clock work. And I especially notice it now that I have been paying attention. Every time I meet someone new and they ask me what I do for a living and I let them know that I own a Home Staging company the following response is as sure as night and day: “Oh! Like those shows on HGTV! I love those shows. I watch them all the time.”
It’s always a bittersweet feeling that ensues.
TV shows on the various Home Improvement television stations have done a fabulous job perpetuating the importance of getting a home ready to sell. They have really helped communicate the importance of the Home Staging industry as a whole. For this I am thankful. Although the concept of Home Staging has been around for 30 years or so, the shear importance of it is really just now picking up steam and this is especially true in our Central Arkansas market.
On the flip side….I am a member of a Real Estate community called ActiveRain. It’s an online community of “bloggers” from all across the country and Canada. Any one from real estate agents, to home stagers, to title companies, to marketing gurus, etc. blog away posting questions, tips and general information. If you polled the Home Stagers on this network about their thoughts on the popular Home Improvement shows, you would get mixed reviews.
A majority of my well represented fellow Home Stagers across the country would say the same as myself, “Home Improvement shows have done a great job communicating the importance of Home Staging, but many of the realities get lost in translation.”
What exactly do I mean? Well, for starters, on popular shows like “Staged to Sell” or “Sell this House” the completion of a staging project is almost “magical”. Don’t get me wrong, staging is often times quite magical in how it works, but the actuality of completing a staging job is a tedious process that in no way can be completed in a day without an army of people. What you do not see in these 30-minute shows is the ARMY of people working to complete painting projects, shopping, staging, cleaning, etc.
Money. The magic word! Keep in mind that the amount of money shown for completing these projects only includes the materials for the job and in no way includes the labor costs of these armies of people working on the project. So when they say “This room was staged for $100!” They don’t tell you how much the painter, stager, contractor and gas (can’t leave that out) cost.
Ideas. Someone once said that there was no such thing as a bad idea. Well, I usually believe this concept. But I have seen a few ideas on these shows that make me cringe. In one episode the stagers, seeking a cost effective way to make night-stands, took 2 metal garbage cans, painted them white, flipped them upside down and shazam, bedside tables. EEK! Now I know that we have to be thrifty, but seriously, garbage cans? I would wager that you could go to a discount furniture store and find 2 nightstands for less money than the money and time spent on spray painting garbage cans!
Ok, I know what you are thinking and I am not a Home Television scrooge. I, infact, watch these shows quite often!! So many ideas are great for inspiration and application. AND they are perfect for inspiration and great ideas. Sometimes it’s just important to remember that just because you saw it on TV does not make it the right thing to do or the true reality of a situation. You know, someone should do a reality TV show on Home Stagers…that would be a hit! Sign me up! In the mean time stay away from garbage cans in the bedroom!
Comments(9)