The home staging glossary: 20 terms you'll meet when selling a home
What do home staging, virtual staging, depersonalisation and wabi-sabi mean? The glossary that explains 20 terms in styling, interiors and selling property.
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The styling and interiors world is full of terms that all seem to assume you already know them. Here's the glossary — 20 terms you'll meet when selling, styling or decorating, explained without the jargon.
Home staging
Preparing and styling a property for sale so it appeals to as many buyers as possible.
Virtual staging / AI staging
The same thing — but digital, in the listing photos instead of in the property. Furniture and styling are added with AI while the room's structure is kept.
Depersonalisation
Removing personal objects (photos, names, souvenirs) so the buyer can imagine their own life in the home.
Digital tidy-up
AI cleaning of a photo: make the bed, clear surfaces — without touching the room in reality.
Before/after image
The pair of photos showing a room unstyled and styled. Staging's strongest proof format.
Reference photo
A photo of a specific piece of furniture that the AI recreates in your room — e.g. the product image of the sofa you're considering.
Mood board
A collage of images, colours and materials that sets the direction for a project before anything is bought.
Styling vs decorating
Decorating is for the person who lives there; styling is for the person who's selling. Decorating is personal, styling is strategically neutral.
Listing photos
The industry's word for a listing's photos. In many markets they're the single most important marketing asset.
Scandinavian style
Bright, functional, natural materials. The most common listing style in the Nordics.
Japandi
Japanese minimalism meets Scandinavian warmth: earth tones, low furniture, calm.
Wabi-sabi
A Japanese concept for the beauty in the imperfect — patina, handmade, lived-in. A load-bearing idea in Japandi.
Compact living
The art of living space-efficiently: multifunctional furniture and smart storage in few square metres.
Accent colour
A contrasting colour that gives the room life — classically via cushions, art or a single piece of furniture.
The 60-30-10 rule
A classic colour split: 60% base colour, 30% secondary, 10% accent. The room becomes balanced almost by itself.
Negative space
Deliberately empty areas that let the rest show. Minimalism's secret ingredient.
Viewing-ready
The condition a home should be in for a viewing: decluttered, cleaned, styled, bright.
Lead photo
A listing's first photo — the one that decides the click in the feed. A listing's single most important decision.
AI label / image disclosure
The label stating that a photo is digitally staged, e.g. "AI-enhanced" in a corner of the image. Good practice — and the buyer's right to know.
Fixtures vs styling
The line that decides what's honest: styling changes loose décor (fine), never fixed property or flaws (not fine). Serious tools refuse the latter.
From words to action
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