Sean Blanton, 31
Occupation: Home stager with Define (formerly Innerspace Chicago). He and partner Sue Hawks own the business.
Salary range: $50,000 to $70,000
Q. What does a home stager do?
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A. We dress a home for sale. We try to put it in its best light, to make it a little more comfortable. We work with real estate agents, developers and homeowners. If a homeowner is looking to sell a space, we get in there to tweak it, to try to get it to sell fast.
Q. What do you work with when staging a home?
A. We always keep the prospective buyer in mind. We always consider what type of family would buy a certain house. We consider that hypothetical family’s age bracket, its interests, its income level. We then work with the existing furniture in a space to arrange it in the most pleasing way for that potential buyer. Other times we bring furniture and items in from outside the home. We will even tailor the magazines sitting on the tables to whoever the potential buyer may be.
Q. How important is staging to boosting a home’s sales chances?
A. It’s pretty important. If you’re going to a party, you don’t wear jeans and a T-shirt. You dress up. Why not take the same approach with a home? It’s all about creating the best light for a home to be seen in. The potential homeowner has about three seconds to decide whether or not he likes the space. Staging is your chance to give potential buyers a `wow’ experience. If the first thing you see is a cold, sterile space, you’re not going to take anything away from that.
Q, What do you like best about this business?
A. I really enjoy the designing and the creativity.
Q. What kind of background should someone interested in this field have?
A. I had some interior design background as well as some arts background. My partner had some sculpture background. That has resulted in a great marriage for our business. I used to work in visual merchandising, where I was taking products and trying to arrange them in a way to make them look more enticing.
Q. Is this a new field in this area?
A. It’s pretty new here. In California, it’s quite the rage. Out there, it’s hard to sell a home without having this done. Here, there’s not really much competition in this field yet. It’s kind of hard to get people to think they need you. That’s a pretty big challenge. But once they see how well we can portray their space, and how enticing it makes that space look, everyone’s sold.
Q. Is it hard to demonstrate to people the direct benefits of staging?
A. We tend to work with hard spaces. We usually work with people who have not [generated] any interest in their properties for a year or so. Our first project was a million-dollar home that had been on the market for more than a year. We came in, did our staging, and it sold in 28 days.
Q. What is your average day like?
A. We do a lot of consultations. When we walk into a space, we are usually accompanied by a real estate agent or developer. We work with them to determine who the potential client is for this space. From there we sit down and brainstorm ideas for different looks for the rooms. From that point we’ll do some sourcing, where we find pieces of furniture or other items that we will use in a staging. Usually, sourcing is a big part of our day. That can take days to finalize. After that, it’s installation. We’ve had projects where we’ve done the complete installation overnight. On others, it’ll take us as long as a couple of weeks. As far as sourcing goes, we have our trade secrets on where we find things. I can’t really divulge those. But we do look everywhere.
Q. What are some of the challenges in this field?
A. People are very funny about their tastes and change. We are definitely not your average decorators. We like to make things that are different. It can sometimes be a challenge to get someone to believe in you enough to let you go ahead with whatever you want to do. Once you can get them to see your idea, though, things tend to become clear.
Q. What are three traits people interested in this field should possess?
A. You need to be creative. You must have drive, a lot of motivation to do well. And you should be very innovative.
Q. What kind of education does one need in this field?
A. I don’t necessarily think you need a certain degree. I took classes in interior design, but I never finished. At the same time, I was working in retail. It helps to have some technical training, but the key is having the eye. I also encourage people to read a lot of home magazines and to attend a lot of home shows.
Q. What should people interested in this field expect?
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A. You really have to want to deal with people. This is a big people business. Dealing with real estate agents and developers is a really big beast. That’s something we didn’t anticipate, but we are learning it now, slowly but surely.