Home Staging vs. Interior Design – What is the Difference?
Home staging and interior design are two terms which are often bandied around almost interchangeably, yet they represent separate concepts serving fundamentally disparate purposes. If you’re not sure how the two differ, we aim to outline the distinctions between them here.
Home staging
In essence, home staging is a marketing strategy. It refers to the preparation of a property for sale or rental, with the aim of attracting an optimal number of prospective purchasers or tenants to realise the maximum selling price or rent as quickly as possible. One major online property portal, for example, found that staged properties typically enjoy more than 90% more views online than places which have not been staged.
So it’s about more than just a property’s decoration – it’s a powerful marketing tool which removes possible barriers to rental or purchase. It’s also worth noting that the potential audience for home staging are would-be buyers or tenants, not the property owner themselves. What’s more, the usual timeframe is short-term, generally between one and three months. This is much briefer than it is for interior design. The aim is to appeal to the maximum number of viewers by creating a universal appeal.
Techniques include depersonalisation of a place, and making it as neutral-looking as possible, while also optimising the positioning of furniture and lighting. The emphasis is on prompt, cost-effective transformations which tap into buyer psychology. According to the Home Staging Association UK, staging typically costs between 1% and 3% of a place’s asking price yet returns up to 10% of that value.
Interior design
This is a very different concept. The current occupants are the target audience for this discipline, which has a much longer timeframe of up to five years or more. It’s all about individual taste and lifestyle, personal enjoyment and functionality of a property while maximising quality of home living.
With interior design, there is far more scope for expressing personal style and adopting bespoke solutions. There is also potential for long-term increases in a property’s value.
In short, it’s about design choices aimed at long-term satisfaction and creating unique, highly personalised spaces which incorporate individual tastes and character.
In summary: when to use each discipline
You would go for home staging when getting ready to sell a home or rent it out for its maximum value, or for a quick property refresh. Interior design, for its part, can help you create your dream home. Equally, you may choose it if you are planning major renovations or addressing particular functional requirements. It’s a long-term investment.
Appreciating the differences between interior design and home staging can help you to invest in the right service at the right time, therefore potentially saving you significant frustration as well as, potentially, money.
Interior design and home staging from McGlashans
At McGlashans Interiors, we’ve worked across the prime central London property market for decades, and created countless beautiful homes. And we can help whether you’re looking for a luxury furniture rental or purchase package in the capital or professional home staging.
Our central London shop and showroom, based near London’s famous Baker Street, showcases a gorgeous range of our furniture and home accessories. (We source unique pieces through our extensive network of trust suppliers.) Equally, our experienced design team is on hand there six days a week to answer any questions you may have.
For bigger projects, we offer home visits and design consultations free of charge to come up with a proposal that’s uniquely tailored to you, your space and your requirements. Read more about our interior design projects. Get in touch today by phone or email, or fill in the simple online form.