Whether you’re planning on selling your home, or just want to feel more comfortable in your own space, staging is important. I sat down with the wonderful Brittany Simon, of Simon Staging, to learn the tips and tricks that we can all use for home organization and design.  

Picture Perfect

With HGTV, home shows and digital series, most buyers walk in with an automatic expectation. Gen Z and Millennials made up 50 percent of last year’s buyer pool. Gen Z is also the first generation to do the entire buying process online. They are obsessed with HGTV and they expect that level of quality when they look at house photos. So, if you’re not doing some element of home staging when you go to sell your house, you’re losing money. Your house will sit on the market longer. In fact, the National Association of Realtors came out with a stat that staged homes sell twice as fast for 1- 5 percent more than a non-staged home. The investment in staging your house, no matter the cost, is far less than what a price reduction would be on your home, if you had to go that route.  

Photo Credit: Brittany Simon

Personal to Product 

The moving and selling process can be an emotional one and it’s certainly personal. When you’re selling your home, it’s a mental format of “home, to house, to product.” A home is something you live in, a place where you have made cherished memories and adore. If you want to sell it, you have to switch your mindset into believing that it is a product. A great product that you want people to buy, so they can eventually love it as much as you do. Brittany says, “Bottom line is that 83 percent of home buyers cannot see themselves visually living in the space if it is not officially depersonalized, or has some touch of home staging. That’s why most houses on the market these days are staged.”  

Photo Credit: Brittany Simon

Let Things Breathe

So what about staging tips even if you’re not selling your home? Brittany has you covered there, too. She says, “We need to create open space.” It's the little things like removing a bench or stool from a hallway because people need to walk around freely. You need to “let things breathe.” It’s natural for everyone to collect things over time, but periodically get rid of items that might clutter a space. Focus on the  natural walking pathways of your house. A house needs to have good flow.  

Photo Credit: Brittany Simon

 For more of Brittany Simon’s tips and tricks (including what are the most important rooms to stage and her big three “Simon Staging Secrets”) listen to her episode of the Patt Pod: