Yesterday we got a sneak peek at the HomeGain Top 10 DIY Home Improvement list for 2012. What followed behind the scenes was a rather heated discussion among many of the nation’s top professional home stagers. As noted in the article, “In past surveys, Home Staging and Lightening and Brightening were battling it out for the number two spot on the top 10 list. In the 2011 survey, Lightening and Brightening reclaimed the number two position and held on to it in 2012. Home Staging, however, fell to the number five position.”
Home staging, for the purposes of this survey was presented to Real Estate Professionals as, “Home staging: Add fresh flowers; removing personal items; reduce clutter; rearrange furniture; add new props or furniture to enhance room/s; play soft music; hang artwork in walls. See complete staging checklist.” To get a really good appreciation of what is characterized as home staging, check out the staging checklist linked above.
It’s no wonder that Professional Home Stagers are in an uproar over this survey. HomeGain, while we love you – I keep your little orange monkey, received after writing a really great article about you, visible in my office for anyone who comes here – can you please jump into the year 2012 and catch a reality as to what home staging really is?! Let me sum it up two sentences, just to be clear:
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