Apr 13 2021

Home staging is not about adhering to a prepared list of guidelines. The style of home you have, the neighbourhood you live in, the type of buyer that will want to buy your home, the room sizes – all differ. Thus, the strategy behind your home’s staging needs to take that into consideration and be customized to accentuate your homes unique features and minimize any weaknesses.

Below we will discuss the basic differences between staging a house and staging a condo.

Staging A House

  • When it comes to staging a house, you should start from the outside. What will the first impression of your home be? The walkway up to the front door, the door itself, and of course, the yard and landscaping. The state of the driveway and garage will also come into play.
  • The neighbourhood you live in will decide the type of buyer who will be coming to your house. Now you can’t stage a neighbourhood, but what we are referring to is that your house needs to be staged in a way that will speak to the lifestyle of the potential buyer, i.e. families with young children vs empty nesters.
  • Choice of furniture, accessories, and artwork must match the house: modern styles for contemporary houses and classic styles for older homes. Whether you are in downtown, a particular suburb, or a country home will also dictate how we stage your home. We stage the right way for the property and neighbourhood.
  • Houses have more rooms and more space, therefore, the staging will be more cozy and relaxed.
  • We recommend staging the whole property or at least the main floor and master bedroom. In larger homes, where budget may be an issue, you will need to focus on the key spaces. We rank room importance in this order: Entrance, Living Room, Dining Room, Kitchen, Family room, Master Bedroom, Master Bathroom.
  • In houses with smaller or odd-shaped rooms, we recommend that they should be staged as it is often difficult for buyers to imagine what to do with the space, what size bed will fit, etc.

Staging A Condo

  • To begin with, the logistics are very different when staging a condo. You must consider booking the elevators not only for removing your furniture etc., but also for when we drop-off and pickup our staging décor.
  • Condos are a completely different buyer than those that are looking at houses.
  • Condos tend to be more modern, but that also depends on which neighbourhood you are living in. A condo in Markham is very different style from one in downtown and we take these things into consideration for every property.
  • Since condos typically have less rooms and less space, we need to show the versatility of the space. We try to make people see how they can utilize the space in the best way.
  • Condos are typically smaller. Since you are selling “space”, showing how much space you have will help sell the condo faster and get you a higher price. For example, showing a king-size bed in the master bedroom (if it fits, of course) will make the condo look more expensive and will likely attract a couple, which usually means two incomes and better affordability.
  • The smaller the space, the better it needs to look. In addition, we recommend staging the whole property to allow for consistency and flow from room to room. We have the perfect scale furniture pieces to make any condo appear as large as possible.
  • Staging luxury condo suites are a different process entirely. In these cases, we need to appeal to a very specific buyer. For example, Yorkville is quite different from units by the lake such as Harbour Square. In addition, even two condos in the same building when they are different sizes, finishes and price points, will be staged individually. For all luxury condos, we will use higher end furniture, appropriate artwork, and upscale accessories. However, the layout of the suite, the asking price, and the area it is located will determine many of the staging details.