How to shift your home

The art of house staging

IN A LEAFY PART OF west Los Angeles is a house so tranquil and inviting, it’s hard to believe it’s in the city at all. The rooms are light and airy, with eyecatching objects decorating every corner. There’s a reason it looks so good – it’s the home of Meridith Baer, the owner of the biggest house-staging company in America, which last year styled over 2,000 properties for homeowners wanting to make them more appealing to buyers. It’s a lucrative business – her beautifully presented homes sell for 20 per cent more and 76 per cent faster, which makes her extremely popular with both estate agents and private sellers.

‘My hobby was fixing up my homes and those of my friends,’ she says. ‘I knew how to make a space look good, but I never thought I’d make a career out of it.’ Instead, Baer spent decades in the film industry, firstly as an actor and then as a screenwriter – one of her projects, a comedy called Unbecoming Age, featured a young George Clooney. As her 50th birthday approached, she decided to take a break, and began renovating her rented house.

‘My landlord came over and liked the changes so much that he sold the property from under me,’ she recalls. ‘I needed to find a new home, which was difficult as I had so much furniture. Also, I’d really got into gardening and had 250 pots filled with trees and flowers.’

Her friend had an empty house that wasn’t selling, so Baer moved in and decorated it with her things. Within a week it was under offer, for $500,000 over the listed price.

Word spread quickly, and estate agents began asking Baer if she could help style properties they were finding it hard to shift. She repeatedly moved her possessions from house to house, and her business began to grow. Today, her eponymous company has 250 employees, offices in LA, San Francisco, Miami, New York City and the Hamptons, and a glittering list of clients, including Taylor Swift, Cher and Kendall Jenner.

‘Although I fell into it accidentally, it’s a big industry now,’ she says. ‘In faster markets, staging a house means that you’re going to get the best price. In a slower market, it means that your house is the one that sells.’

Although Baer is based in the US, her techniques are helpful for anyone trying to sell their home on this side of the pond. ‘Housing activity in the UK is subdued at the moment as a result of so much political uncertainty,’ says Patrick Gower, a research associate at Knight Frank estate agents. ‘People have been waiting to buy, while homeowners have also been holding off on putting their houses on the market.’

Properties that do make it on to the market are taking longer to sell. According to a survey by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, the average time it takes to sell a property is 19 weeks, 21.5 weeks if you live in the south-east. This is where house staging can dramatically improve your prospects. ‘An empty or unkempt home will not sell nearly as fast as one that has been carefully crafted to entice the right buyer,’ says Nick Warner, a partner at Knight

‘You’re selling people the fantasy of how they’d like to live’

Frank’s Henley office. ‘Visually, the impact is huge – a dressed home has the ability to allow a potential buyer to envision themselves at the property.’

Baer’s tricks include creating what she calls ‘mom bait’ – decorating children’s bedrooms with one or two stuffed toys, as opposed to the box-loads of clutter that you usually expect to find. The same principle applies to home offices or studies – a staged room might feature a couple of books with a pair of reading glasses on top, not messy stacks of papers. ‘You’re selling people the fantasy of how they’d like to live,’ she says.

Baer seems to have mastered the art of minimal yet stylish living – her own home is as perfectly curated as one of her professional projects, but she says that it’s been a long journey. ‘I fell in love with the location as opposed to the house itself,’ she admits. ‘When I moved in, I realised it was a mess. I had to move a huge mountain of dirt that stood behind the building, then I redid the house, a section at a time. Eventually it became what I wanted, but to this day I’m still moving things around.’

You sense that for Baer, her home will always be a work in progress, but she sees it as part of the fun. The one thing that never changes is her ability to create a welcoming atmosphere. It’s a talent that has enabled her to build a business. ‘Buying a house is a big investment, both financially and emotionally,’ she says. ‘A house isn’t just bricks and mortar – it’s where you live your life. What people are looking for is a feeling of comfort and security. They want a place that makes them feel good.’ meridithbaer.com

Right The open-plan living room of Meridith Baer’s LA home is styled in a similar way to her commercial projects – from the orchids to the coffee-table books. Far right Baer completely renovated her house after purchasing it, adding touches likethisbespokewoodendoor

Clockwise from right Baer used a neutral colour palette throughout, and a mix of antiques and contemporary objects, as seen in the study area; a timber frame provides a shady spot for an al fresco dining area on the terrace; pendant lights define the dining area in the light and airy kitchen; crisp white bed linen is Baer’s favourite trick for brightening up bedrooms; clever planting creates a feeling of privacy in the garden and pool area; natural light is maximised in the bathroom by the large mirror