{"id":13042,"date":"2019-11-27T15:32:13","date_gmt":"2019-11-27T23:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/?p=13042"},"modified":"2025-09-18T03:29:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T10:29:04","slug":"interior-design-home-staging-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.homelight.com\/blog\/interior-design-home-staging-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways Interior Design and Home Staging Are Nothing Alike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Interior design and home staging come from a similar school of thought, and there are overlapping principles between the two. But you can\u2019t use the terms interchangeably. Here we\u2019ll explore three key differences that separate them: purpose, material selection, and cost \u2014 so you can decide which one you need at this moment in time.<\/p>\n

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Source: Hutomo Abrianto \/ Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Purpose<\/h2>\n

The first major difference between interior design and home staging comes down to purpose. In other words, what\u2019s the end goal?<\/p>\n

Interior design<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The goal of interior design<\/a> is to enhance the beauty and comfort of a space<\/a> for your own enjoyment. Details like color coordination, furniture selection, accents, and lighting impact how a room looks and feels and your overall satisfaction with your home. For example, cool modern coastal hues<\/a> bring serenity to a beach house, while light mid-century modern<\/a> furnishings create a clean, timeless aesthetic.<\/p>\n

Mcdonalds vs. Westminster Cathedral<\/strong>
\nPerhaps Alain De Button describes the power of design best in his book The Architecture of Happiness<\/em><\/a>, where he contrasts his anxious and hurried experience in a harshly lit London McDonald\u2019s to finding soul-restoring calm and refuge in Westminster Cathedral down the street.<\/p>\n

Two places, both with doors, ceilings, windows, and a roof, but a world of difference in \u201catmosphere.\u201d Relatable, no?<\/p>\n

Express your personality, style, and taste
\n<\/span><\/strong>Whether you dream of a red dining room, zebra wallpaper in your half-bath, or jade green marble for your kitchen countertops \u2014 an interior designer will entertain your ideas and incorporate elements of your personality into the design, no matter how eccentric.<\/p>\n

The primary indicator of success with interior design comes down to your individual and immediate happiness. Adding value to your home in a monetary sense is secondary. That\u2019s where interior design diverges sharply from home staging, which is void of personal touches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI recently listed a home with an interior done up to look like a log cabin tucked away in the mountains\u2026but we\u2019re in Tulsa,\u201d recalls Tulsa, Oklahoma agent<\/a> Paul Wheeler<\/a>, who’s sold 73% more properties than the average agent in the area. \u201cWhile it\u2019s a very beautiful home, having d\u00e9cor that unique shrinks your pool of buyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home staging<\/h3>\n

While home staging draws on some of the basic principles of interior design, such as using symmetry, repetition, and proportion<\/a> to plan out a room, its sole purpose is to stoke the imagination of potential homebuyers while your house is on the market.<\/p>\n

Put on a show
\n<\/strong>The word \u201cstaging\u201d has roots in theatrics and performance<\/a> \u2014 think of it like putting on a show for others with prop-like furniture and accents. While it sounds silly to bring in items that won\u2019t stay with the house simply for presentation\u2019s sake, the power of home staging is backed by solid research.<\/p>\n

Mission: to get more money out of your home<\/strong>
\nAccording to HomeLight\u2019s Top Agent Insights Survey for Q1 2019, two-thirds of top-performing agents from markets across the country believe buyers will pay more for a staged home<\/a>, and nearly 83% say that a staged home sells faster than an unstaged home.<\/p>\n

Keep it neutral
\n<\/strong>The key with home staging is to cast a wide net with your design selections. You need to appeal to the largest pool of buyers possible, so your color, style, and material choices are limited to neutral hues, subdued styles, and popular finishes that have mass appeal.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood interior design captures the character of the home\u2019s owner,\u201d explains Nicole Grey<\/a>, Interior Design Lead at the UK-based luxury furniture and accessories company Pavilion Broadway. \u201cThe aim with staging is to make your home feel as light and inviting as possible for potential buyers, but not too individual in appearance.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: Francesca Tosolini \/ Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Materials, furnishings, and decor selection
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

You also wouldn\u2019t use the same furnishings, fabrics, and decorative items to stage a home as you would to design it for you and yours \u2014 let\u2019s dig into why.<\/p>\n

Interior design<\/h3>\n

Interior design caters to your personal lifestyle, guiding the selection of everything from your couch, color schemes, and which throw pillows work best for your living room.<\/p>\n

A family of five who needs to design for durability and to protect against wear and tear might opt for a design that incorporates weathered, vintage furniture and heavyweight, easy-to-clean fabrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cInterior designers need to plan the room schemes to maximize the functionality of each and every space, so that the homeowner\u2019s daily routine runs smoothly,\u201d explains Grey.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a young professional couple without kids could decorate with breakable accessories in a glass display and white rugs throughout the house, which allows them to enjoy a stress-free sense of luxury and works just fine for a household of adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had clients who\u2019ve spent millions of dollars decorating their houses, importing fabrics and building materials from all around the world,\u201d recalls Wheeler. \u201cThat\u2019s totally fine if that’s their taste, but the average buyer isn\u2019t going to pay more for those expensive materials.\u201d<\/p>\n

Home staging<\/h3>\n

While the day-to-day needs of your household drive your interior design choices, home staging is all about showing your house in its best light using clever touches, even if the temporary setup would be impractical for actual living.<\/p>\n

\u201cHome staging is designed to inspire buyers, but it\u2019s not necessarily functional. For instance, you might include aspirational touches such as a beautifully set table, which helps buyers envision living in the house,\u201d says Grey.<\/p>\n

Indeed, home stagers use stylized vignettes<\/a>, or a group of eye-catching objects arranged to create a pleasing picture, similar to a department store window. Think: fancy napkins placed around a tablescape, bowls of colorful fruit in the kitchen, and glass jars filled with seashells as centerpieces \u2014 all strictly decorative displays that you wouldn\u2019t necessarily put together for yourself on a rainy day.<\/p>\n

Home staging also aims to make your house look spacious and open using proportional furniture sizes and arrangements. While your family may love the oversized living room couch for movie nights, a stager would likely swap that out for a more streamlined and fashionable piece.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way that you arrange your furniture to sell your house may well be different from how you arrange it for day-to-day living,\u201d adds Grey. \u201c Smaller furniture settings are best for home staging. Large settings can feel shoe-horned in \u2014 giving the impression that the room is too small for the furniture.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Source: Toa Heftiba \/ Unsplash<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Cost<\/h2>\n

Home staging and interior design also come with different price tags. In either service you can select the level of expertise you need and there will be professionals who will do the work for more or less. But in general, interior design is more permanent and involved, and therefore more expensive.<\/p>\n

Interior design<\/h3>\n

Interior designers get paid (on average) $6,500<\/a>, although the cost ranges anywhere from $2,000 to $11,000, depending on the size of the job.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll also need additional funds for a design budget to cover furniture, d\u00e9cor, paint, and other materials. Some interior designers charge an hourly rate at an average of $70 to $80 per hour<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other designers have started charging by the square foot for each room<\/a>, at rates that vary depending on the work they do, such as designing, shopping, or installation.<\/p>\n

Most also charge an additional markup on any furniture or d\u00e9cor they source for you, to cover the time and work it takes for them to find these often one-of-a-kind items.<\/p>\n

Home staging<\/h3>\n

Hiring a home stager is typically less expensive<\/a>. For one, stagers often incorporate your existing furniture and d\u00e9cor into their design and charge less because they aren\u2019t spending a lot of time searching out unique finds or rare materials meant to last you a lifetime.<\/p>\n

\u201cTypically, interior designers are more focused on achieving a style than sticking to a budget, because the look is paramount. They\u2019re not thinking about getting any sort of return on your investment,\u201d explains Wheeler. \u201cOn the other hand, pro stagers aim for getting the biggest bang for your buck \u2014 because the return on investment is their main goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

A couple of points to note on the cost of home staging<\/a>:<\/p>\n