Model Unit Staging: The Greatest Hits
If you've ever hunted for a place to live, you've walked into a staged model unit. And you knew, within about four seconds, which kind it was - one that makes you want to sign on the spot, or one that looks like it was thrown together in five frantic minutes with a roll of duct tape.
A well-staged model unit does real work. There's the tangible: it increases rental value, shortens lease-up, and hands your marketing team images actually worth publishing. And the intangible - the energy of an opening, the "I see myself living here" feeling a prospective resident absorbs during the walkthrough.
Plenty of that comes from the whole team pulling in one direction. But a surprising amount comes down to small design decisions that barely register on their own and hit hard in aggregate. Here are a few of the greatest hits.
Variety does the work - texture, height, color.
Stage for two audiences at once: the person walking through the space and the camera shooting the listing. A matchy, single-note vignette always photographs flatter than it feels in the room. Take a little risk! Don't be boring!
Verdant Apartments, uppercase | Tapestry, Clark Barnes | Swell, GGLO
More is better. Bigger is better.
Accessories and artwork shrink in an empty room. Scale up. One oversized piece beats three timid ones; homey objects (throw blanket, books, a dog leash) beat one candle doing its best.
Centerline, GGLO | Verdant Apartments, uppercase
Skip the clear containers.
They’re begging to be filled, and we’re not trying to add busy work.
The sleeper hit: Table lamps.
Overhead light is honest; lamplight is cozy.
Centerline, GGLO | Swell, GGLO | Kaye, Grzywinski+Pons
Bedroom Bonus: A solid nightstand hides cord tangle.
Closed-front nightstands provide cover for the charger tangle and the surge-protector chaos. We’re always about sexy cable management.
Verdant Apartments, uppercase
Bedroom Bonus: Dress a queen bed with a king duvet.
And cram a California king duvet into a standard king cover. You'll get that super-fluffy, jump-in-bed look. Fold the extra length a little further down the mattress to get a fuller drape and a bonus layer of texture.
Take these notes with you on your next model unit walkthrough, and see which make the biggest impression.
All photography by Lindsay Hale
