Did Barb Schwarz "INVENT" Home Staging?

Any writer will tell you that it's inevitable that as a writer you WILL come to a point where you search for that one "right word" that clearly conveys exactly what you are trying to say. Finding right words is critical to communicating an accurate message... and ultimately establishing one's credibility. Your words are a reflection of you.

So recently, as I was surfing the web, I noticed that some home staging blogs and websites cite Barb Schwarz of StagedHomes.com as the "inventor" of home staging. The more I read this the more I have to admit I thought that it was a mighty bold statement to claim that Barb "invented" the idea of a home seller proactively preparing their home to help maximize its appeal to potential buyers. This infers that prior to Barb’s 1972 "invention" no Realtor EVER had advised nor did any home seller EVER do anything to prepare or improve their home's appeal that would influence a potential home buyer's interest in a home that would cause them to then buy it.

Since I work in the Home Staging Industry and since I love words, I constantly seek out the right ones to accurately communicate what I want to write about in this industry. Seeing how this word was being applied, this got me to thinking. To help in my own understanding, I first looked up the word “invent”... wondering, what actually does it really mean? The American Heritage Dictionary's definition for "invent" is: "To produce or contrive (something previously unknown) by the use of ingenuity or imagination."

When you consider the dictionary's description of the word “invent” it makes it easy to see why it is said that Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone... because before Bell's invention, there was NO such thing as a phone. Likewise, it is easy to say that Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb... because before Edison's light bulb, there was NO such thing.

Speaking of electric...what about it? Did anyone really invent electricity? Well actually… NO. Ben Franklin is recognized for discovering electricity, but he did not invent it… for electricity had been in existence forever, just not harnessed by man.

Which brings me back to staging… did Barb Schwarz "invent" home staging? Well, if I apply the definition, I guess I would have to say NO. But if Barb did not “invent” staging… what did she do? Well, I believe she "coined" a term. She gave a name to a process. Barb brilliantly assigned the “right word” to a process that savvy home-sellers had already been doing all along. "Staging" is the perfect word that clearly described the process. Barb found the the one 'right word' that easily captured and communicated a message.

Ever since Barb had her bright idea to call the process "staging", she has been a tireless champion for it... developing one of the many staging methodologies and sharing the message of the benefits of what can be gained when home-sellers proactively take steps to ready their home for it's sale. Barb is now joined by so many others stagers through out the world who continue to perfect the staging process and contribute what they know in the hope that sellers benefit and the home staging industry grows and improves.

Anyway… getting back to words, the use of the words “invent” and “staging” demonstrate how the use of the one right word can help to effectively communicate a message. So while Barb's word "staging" is masterfully on target, on the flip side, the word "invent" falls short.

Think about it… if Barb Schwarz had not come up the term "staging" who knows, I might not be doing what I do and blogging on what I blog on. Which then makes me wonder... who came up with the word "blog"?

Part 2: Click HERE for the follow up post on the controversy this post created.

Word It Forward...
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See this post on NBC - NEW YORK's website.