I was very happy for Kim when she won, although I was not totally shocked. I also love Todd’s designs, and constantly taking off his shirts, sure, maybe a little brownie points there. Both designers were like night and day and very different styling and approach to their work. But I think why Kim won is the same reason why staging works to sell homes — she/staging appeals to the broader range of audience/buyer.
Todd is very creative and a very visionary & interesting designer, as we have seen in his work. He is certainly not boring!
But he doesn’t appeal to the general public. Most homeowners at home cannot recreate a 3D sea creature sculpture on the wall. Most of us (okay I will speak for myself here) cannot do that on our own. Also, I personally cannot envision living in a hotel room like so, let along my own home. The novelty will wear off pretty quickly, say oh, couple hours. I certainly cannot live in a room that looks like a 12-year-old kid’s.
Whereas Kim, chooses neutral, warm color tones that paired with ideas that everyday homeowners can accept and recreate. HGTV is a TV network that thrives on viewership and consequently, lots of well paid advertisement placements. For viewers to have interests, the viewers need to be able to feel that they can do this at home also or this is something they can related to. So the TV network must strive for appealing to a broader range of viewers by choosing to most crowd-pleasing act.*This is not to say that Todd is not a great designer or Kim is common. It’s about what would essentially drive the most viewers to watch the show.
And Kim’s work does do that – it appeals to a broader range of viewers than Todd’s. Her furnishings and accessories are well placed with good space planning in mind. The flow is great, the colors are soothing and grounding. People feel more at home and grounded, which they want in a home. Whereas Todd’s room, at first glance, “wow, how cool is this?” But after awhile, it is too much for day-to-day living. Kim’s DIY project, such as the divider screen in the Living Room, is also easy to recreate. Homeowners can utilize these ideas and very easily applied to their own homes and make a fun weekend project out of it.
Same with staging– a good staged home appeals to a broader range of buyers, and a good listing marketer (whether agent or seller or both) needs to aim for methods that will drive the most traffic to the home. For example, a home that was decorated with Asian decor may not appeal to everyone:
But a home that is neutralized and styled after staging may sing a different tune:
So let’s work on making those listings into more marketable homes!
Cheers,
Cindy*Staged4more
Thank you Cindy for this blog – I didn’t get to watch them all , but I agree that Kim will be more TV friendly. I also like the warm color tones and use them most often for staging here in chilly Minnesota.
Hey Kathleen
Thanks for commenting! I think Todd has a great presence as well, but he is too individualized that it’s difficult for most homeowners to be able to relate to his style. I do love Kim’s style as well. She picks really great colors that are very pleasing also her accessories are great. They just overall tie together very well.
Cheers,
Cindy