The home staging industry is growing fast. As more homeowners want to sell their homes quickly for top dollar, home staging has become a popular option for sellers who wish to make the most of their listing.

Running and maintaining a home staging business involves many challenges, the biggest of which is organizing inventory. How do you stay on top of the furnishings and decor you can use for your clients?

This guide has all the tips you need to make sure your home staging business remains efficient and profitable.

How to Organize Your Home Staging Inventory

You can begin organizing your home staging inventory by following this five-part process:

1. Plan Your Storage Space

Whether you keep your furniture in a storage unit or warehouse, the first step to getting organized is sorting out your physical inventory.

Some home stagers prefer grouping their assets according to decor style or furniture type. There is no hard and fast rule to this one—just figure out what works for you. For example, if you are showcasing your inventory to prospective clients, you may need to consider aesthetics more than you would consider space utilization if prospective customers are expected in the area. Similarly, heavier items may need to be closer to point of loading or unloading for saving time when using trucks.

2. Make a List of All Your Items

Now that your inventory is organized, it is time to build your home staging inventory list.

The goal is to create an exhaustive and detailed list of all your assets. This includes everything from plants to area rugs to couches.

It is best to include high-resolution photos of these items for easier identification. You can also add descriptive tags or categories to your home staging inventory list. For example, you can classify items as “Bohemian,” “French Country,” or “Shabby Chic.” Doing so will allow you to filter your inventory list by these categories, so you can quickly pick out furniture based on the style of the home.

3. Label Your Furniture

Asset tagging allows for more efficient inventory management and expedites the most common inventory-related tasks, such as checking items in and out of storage.

4. Update Your Inventory Records Regularly

Log every time a piece of furniture or decor is taken in or out of storage. This is the most accurate way of tracking which items are available and where they are.

This is crucial, especially if your home staging company handles multiple projects simultaneously. To know what you have in hand to work with, you will need to know which assets are in stock and where to find them.

We suggest using Nest Egg to manage your inventory records. This software has two levels of sub-locations, so you can track which pieces are on which property and in which rooms.

5. Conduct a Year-end Inventory Audit

An end-of-year asset audit ensures your physical inventory matches your records. There is a constant inflow and outflow of home staging items, which may easily get damaged, lost, or stolen while in transit or used in open houses, making this step all the more necessary.

Do a physical count and see if it matches the data on your inventory list. Verify the quantity of each item, assess for wear and tear, and update the photos if needed.

An audit is also the perfect opportunity to appraise depreciation for your items and identify which must be retired so that you can replace them with newer, on-trend pieces.

How to Build a Home Staging Inventory

A well-stocked inventory means you can handle any home staging project with ease. You can get ahead of your competition and show your clients what your company is capable of.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Staging Bedrooms

One of the most important things about staging a home is ensuring that people looking at the space can envision themselves there. And you can use some tricks to boost a bedroom’s aesthetic appeal.

Instead of a queen bed, use metal frames and two twin air mattresses. Dress them up and double up to make the “mattress” seem larger than it. You can add a headboard to dress it up even more.

For drawers, go for floating tables and nightstands. They give off a similar illusion without taking up much floor space. You can also avoid the hassle of transporting heavy armoires or cabinets.

Staging Living Rooms

Side chairs are an important part of any seating arrangement, and they should be your priority when building a living room staging inventory. They are great for living rooms because they can create a sense of intimacy and coziness.

These chairs are also easy to re-purpose: just change the slipcovers to match different color palettes and living room aesthetics. This is a practical way to minimize your inventory while remaining flexible enough to stage all sorts of projects.

Pieces You Do Not Need to Invest In

When building your home staging inventory, it can be tempting to keep stocking up on the newest and trendiest items. But the truth is that the best decor for home staging is neutral, simple, and accessible to as broad an audience as possible.

You also do not need full-sized furniture and appliances; there are plenty of ways to make small spaces appear larger by using mirrors and plants.

For example, bigger pieces may seem like a good idea, but it will actually make the living room look smaller than it is. Instead, use smaller accent pieces that do not take up as much space and still have an impact on the overall aesthetic.

What Happens to Furniture After Staging?

After staging, furniture is often returned to the staging company or the furniture store that they were rented from.

Some buyers might fall in love with what you have done to the space and ask to purchase all of the staging inventory en masse. This opens up some great opportunities for further profit. With an organized staging inventory list, you would be able to quickly come up with a total price based on your costs and margin.

However, you must think beyond the sticker price of the pieces of furniture and décor you want to sell:

• How much time or money did it take to assemble and transport the set to the home you have just staged?
• Will you be able to replace the set of pieces immediately after selling it off, or will you be left without a big part of your inventory for a few weeks potentially leading to lost staging opportunities?
• When you shop for a replacement, will you be able to find a newer, trendier piece immediately? Or will you spend hours looking through dozens of options? Should you buy the same piece again to save time and effort?

Tips for Building a Profitable Home Staging Business

• Do not buy too many items for your home staging business. Focus on a few durable, flexible, and practical pieces you can use over and over again instead of buying everything in sight.
• Get insured to protect all of your business assets. This includes liability insurance, warehouse insurance, workers’ compensation, and more.
• Manage your inventory with the help of apps like Nest Egg. Keeping tabs on your inventory is key to maximizing efficiency.

Conclusion

Keeping your staging inventory organized is essential to maximize productivity and complete your projects on time. Automating the inventory management process is the best way to manage total cost, cash flow and profitability.

Download Nest Egg for all of your home staging inventory needs!