The Differences Between Staging to Sell and Styling for Interior Design

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between staging a home with the goal of selling it, compared to styling a home for interior design? These two things can have many similarities, but we’ll focus on their differences in this blog.

Styling for Staging

Updating your home before selling—especially if it hasn’t been updated in 10 years or more—helps ensure you get the best value and maximum return on your biggest investment. We call this the resale redesign, which can range from a simple coat of paint to more significant upgrades like new kitchens and bathrooms. Design choices should appeal to buyers across all demographics, with selections that are as universally appealing as possible. That said, you don’t want your home to feel bland—adding a few unique features or pops of color can make it stand out and be more memorable.

However, staging a home for sale often happens on a tighter timeline, as the goal is typically to get it on the market as quickly as possible—whether the homeowner has already found their next dream home or is responding to a shift in the market. In these cases, styling becomes the most timely and cost-effective solution.

When we style a home with the goal of selling it, we focus on artwork and décor that appeals to the widest range of potential buyers. The idea is that anyone who views the home should be able to picture themselves living there, without the distraction of personalized décor that may not fit their vision or lifestyle.

The biggest difference between staging a home for sale and designing it for everyday living is the furniture layout. In staging, furniture is arranged to highlight focal points, showcase selling features, and capture the best angles for photography. It’s often less practical than layouts designed around the daily functional needs of a family using the space.

Styling for Living

Styling a home to support your family, impresses your friends, and feel welcoming the moment you walk in is a completely different design process. Interior design is much more personal and specific. With staging, the "client" is anyone who walks through the door. In contrast, with interior design, the client is the homeowner—and their opinion is the only one that matters.

This focus opens up the design and decor choices to be much more unique, personal, and specific to what brings those select people joy.

For example, in a home that’s been staged to sell, we wouldn’t want a gallery wall full of family photos climbing up the stairwell, or an antique coin collection on display. However, in a home being styled for those living in it, gallery walls are joyful moments we love to integrate, and coin collections can be safely showcased!

Interior design is a much longer process and typically involves a larger investment. We build close relationships with our clients, getting to know their lifestyles, personalities, and how they live in their homes. Often, this means designing custom furniture, sourcing local art, and bringing in specialized trades to bring a unique vision to life.

For example, one of our clients was a dedicated health enthusiast, so we transformed her basement rec room into a wellness studio, complete with a yoga area and a wellness bar for smoothies and healthy snacks. In contrast, another client had an extensive wine collection, so we designed a wine-tasting room around his formal dining space, complete with Tuscan stone accents. However, creating highly specific spaces like these isn’t something we typically recommend when preparing a home for sale.

Space Planning for Staging vs. Design

Full design projects aside, many people buy a new home and try to finish their homes similar to listing photos - which would be a mistake. As mentioned before, furniture layout for staging has different goals than furniture layout for design. Flow, function, and practicality need to be the priority when space planning. Considerations for the family's habits, hobbies, and realistic lifestyle will dictate how and where furniture and decor is placed.

The 3 most common differences we implement in space planning for staging vs design are:

• People with young children don’t often have coffee tables, so we recommend sourcing one for listing (and rugs too).

• Couches positioned for optimal TV watching often break up the room, and so are moved to a more ‘conversational’ position for staging.

• TVs are often too large and make rooms look smaller, so we recommend sellers change them for smaller ones or replace them with art.

Conclusion

In summary, the key difference is that staging a home for sale involves removing personal touches that could distract potential buyers from imagining themselves in the space. In contrast, interior design is all about celebrating those personal details—they’re what make a house feel like home.

Both staging and interior design play important roles in a home’s life cycle, and each can offer a strong return on investment (both financially and emotionally.)

Blog provided by: Unshelf Design