The Art of Luxury Home Staging

In a world where first impressions can make or break a deal, the art of home staging has emerged as a powerful tool to elevate a home’s appeal. While staging is valuable for any property sale, it becomes necessary when dealing with luxury properties.

Though a sale is the end goal, hiring the right stager is critical to the process. When selling your home, one cannot afford not to know the difference between virtual and physical staging, the types of stagers, and recognizing how they can impact the sale. At Hilton & Hyland, we approach staging luxury properties as an essential strategy for expeditious sales. Here are some of our reasons:

Create a Captivating Narrative

Luxury properties are not just brick and mortar but expressions of opulence, grandeur, and a lavish lifestyle. Staging allows you to craft a compelling story around the property, drawing potential buyers into a world of luxury and sophistication. Each well-placed piece of furniture, exquisite decor, and meticulously chosen accessory serves to narrate the lifestyle that comes with the property. Stagers offer direction. “We believe that every luxury home has a story just waiting to be told through thoughtful design,” said Jeff Marshall, Owner and Design Director of The Marshall Design Group, a seasoned and professional home staging company. “As a team, we orchestrate a symphony of style, ensuring every luxury estate we dress becomes its own masterpiece.” 

Maximize Value

Luxury homes often come with a hefty price tag, and prospective buyers need to feel that they are getting their money’s worth. Effective staging accentuates the property’s finest features, emphasizing its inherent value. When done correctly, it can make a property feel even more valuable than its price suggests, leaving potential buyers feeling like they are investing in something truly extraordinary or missing out on an exceptional offer. For sellers who made a small investment in staging, roughly 75% of them saw an ROI of 5% to 15% over the asking price, according to data from the Real Estate Staging Association.

Appeal to the Senses

Luxury is not just about what you see but how you feel. Staging goes beyond aesthetics; it engages multiple senses. The soft touch of luxurious fabrics, the scent of fresh flowers or freshly baked cookies, and the sound of subtle background music—all these elements work in harmony to create an immersive experience that resonates with potential buyers on a visceral level, so much so that 81% of buyers’ agents said staging a home made it easier for a buyer to visualize the property as a future home. “Every single detail down to the bath products required careful precision and alignment with the overall identity,” said Andrew Bowen, Partner and Head of Ash Staging, the premier full-suite interior furnishing service by Ash NYC offering world-class design solutions delivered with white-glove service. When buyers can imagine themselves living in such luxury, they are more likely to make swift decisions in favor of the estate. “The dream often actually becomes the reality when buyers move right in, occasionally with no object unchanged,” said Bowen.

Highlight Unique Architectural Features

Luxury properties often boast unique architectural details that set them apart from the ordinary. Staging helps showcase these features, whether it’s a breathtaking view, a grand staircase, or intricate molding. By drawing attention to these elements, staging ensures that no exceptional feature goes unnoticed, thus making a compelling case for the property’s worth. For Ash Staging’s design process, as the only AD100 firm with an end-to-end staging service, “we begin each project by crafting a series of characters who we imagine will inhabit the home, and build a narrative around them: it is here where our design is born,” said Bowen.

Evoke Emotion

Buying a luxury property is not an easy decision; it’s an emotional one. “People do not buy on logic, they buy on emotion,” says Paul Salazar, Estates Director at Hilton & Hyland. Staging is a powerful tool for invoking zeal in potential buyers. Staging elicits positive emotions by creating an atmosphere of sophistication, comfort, and exclusivity, making potential buyers more attached to the property. When potential buyers connect emotionally with a home, they are more likely to act swiftly to secure it. 

Showcase Functionality

Luxury properties often come with spacious layouts and unique room configurations. Staging helps potential buyers visualize how they can utilize and enjoy each space to its full potential. It provides clarity in terms of room functionality, leaving no room for doubt about how the space can meet the needs and desires of the buyer.

Virtual staging

Despite its digital nature, virtual staging can enhance a property’s appeal and captivate potential buyers. Using technology and design, virtual staging transforms vacant or under-furnished spaces into visually appealing, fully-furnished environments. It allows for customization and flexibility, enabling sellers to showcase multiple design options, catering to diverse tastes and preferences. Virtual staging not only breathes life into empty rooms but also helps buyers visualize the property’s potential, making it a valuable tool for presenting a blank canvas ready for their personal touch. Moreover, it is a cost-effective and efficient alternative to traditional staging, eliminating the need for physical furniture and the associated logistical challenges. Virtual staging bridges imagination and reality, making it a potent tool in the real estate industry for enhancing a property’s marketability and accelerating sales.

Create Consistency

Luxury is synonymous with excellence, and inconsistency can be a deal-breaker. Staging ensures that the interior and exterior of the property align with the luxury brand it represents. It creates a harmonious flow and aesthetic coherence throughout the property, leaving no room for discord or distraction.

Professionalism and Prestige

Staging a luxury property is a testament to the professionalism and dedication of the seller and their agent. It sends a message that every aspect of the transaction, from marketing to presentation, has been meticulously handled. “Staging drives the marketing,” said Salazar. “If the property has beautiful staging, the photos will be captivating and will drive traffic to the home.” This level of care and attention to detail attracts potential buyers and instills confidence, making them more likely to make an early offer.

The Buyer

“The buyer drives the staging,” said Stuart Vetterick, Broker Associate at Hilton & Hyland. When finding the right professional staging company, knowing who the potential buyer is makes the staging and selling process seamless. “The purpose of staging is to market the property to sell,” said Donna Lipofsky, CEO of My Design, a boutique home staging and interior design firm. “To successfully market a property, one needs to strategically identify the target market, their wants and needs, and stage according to what is in greatest demand amongst the target market.” The perfect design for the right buyer can lead to a harmonious transaction.

Time is Money

In any deal, time is of the essence. High-end properties often come with carrying costs that can quickly add up. Staging helps sell homes three to 30 times faster than the nonstaged competition. Staging a luxury property maximizes the chances of a quick sale, reducing the financial burden associated with prolonged holding periods. 

Picture Perfect

99% of millennial home buyers start their search online, making the property photos and what you see in the photos more important than ever. In the realm of luxury real estate, buyers have come to expect nothing short of perfection. They seek homes that are not only beautifully staged but also meticulously maintained, leaving no room for renovations or repairs. For discerning buyers, a flawlessly staged property represents not just a dwelling but an immediate lifestyle upgrade. The prospect of moving into a home that requires no fixing or remodeling is a tantalizing proposition, and it’s often the decisive factor that drives them to make swift purchasing decisions. The marriage of impeccable staging and a property in impeccable condition is the golden ticket to capturing the hearts and wallets of luxury homebuyers.

Staging luxury estates is not just important; it’s necessary for achieving a swift sale. More than a quarter of buyers will overlook property faults if a home is staged. It transforms a house into a compelling narrative, enhances its value, appeals to the senses, and evokes the emotions of potential buyers. It sets the stage for and showcases functionality, ensures consistency, and conveys professionalism and prestige. In high-end real estate, staging is the key that opens the door to a successful and timely sale, turning a property from a blank canvas into a work of art that entices discerning buyers.

Statistics provided by NAR’s 2021 Profile of Home Staging.