The Psychology of Home Staging

Realtors and home builders understand the importance of making a great first impression and that presentation matters. With the growing use of virtual tours, beautiful photos, and compelling videos are more important than ever.

The idea of owning a home is a source of pride that prompts feelings of stability and aspirations for a better lifestyle, which can influence a buyer’s decision of the house they want.

Potential buyers want to be able to imagine themselves and their families living in the house, cooking meals in the kitchen, and relaxing in the living room. They picture how they will arrange the furniture in the bedroom and whether all of their clothes will fit in the closets.

Showing off a home’s best features might increase its selling price and the time it remains on the market. This is one reason why working with a professional home stager has become a valuable part of the home-selling process.

Home staging is more than simply moving around some furniture and decluttering a few rooms. Professional home staging involves everything from thoroughly cleaning the house, adding detailed interior design touches, and thoughtfully rearranging furniture to maximize space and flow to organizing kitchen cabinets and bedroom closets. And yes, it often also includes decluttering and depersonalizing the house to make it ready to go on the market.

Home staging based on psychological insights can create strong emotional connections with potential buyers, making it more likely for them to envision themselves living in the space.

The ultimate goal of home staging is to create an atmosphere that resonates with potential buyer’s emotions by carefully selecting furniture, accessories, and decor that align with a particular lifestyle, such as modern, traditional, or minimalist. In fact, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), most buyers’ agents (81%) said staging a home made it easier for potential buyers to visualize the property as a future home.

Professional home stagers have years of interior decorating experience. They know how to use space and how strategic furniture placement and layout can impact a room’s flow, the perception of space, and a home’s functionality. By understanding the psychology of color, the home stager can select just the right shade of blue or tint of gray to paint the walls to make a relatively small room appear larger.

With updated lighting options, window treatments, and richly textured home decor accessories, home staging can enhance the look of a large space, giving the room a warmer or family-friendly mood. Little details, like which artwork is hung on the walls, what type of books are on the bookshelf, and other decor accessories like throw pillows and art pieces, can also create a more welcoming and inviting atmosphere. Even the smell of freshly baked cookies or pumpkin spice muffins can touch a cord in potential buyers.

By carefully creating a welcoming and relatable ambiance, professional home staging can stir a strong emotional connection with a property, making potential buyers feel like, “Yes! This is our home!”

If you are a residential realtor or home builder who is considering partnering with a professional staging company. Learn how we can customize our home staging solutions to appeal to your potential buyers’ emotions and preferences.