Is It Time for Your Firm to Get Into Staging?

The developers aren’t the only ones who have leveled up their design expertise. According to Andrew Bowen, a partner at ASH NYC and the head of ASH Staging, consumers now are more educated about interiors than they were a decade ago. “There’s an elevated taste level. You have to work harder. But when we’re done, most people don’t even know it’s staged—they think it’s someone’s home.”

ASH NYC, which was founded in 2009, has some experience. Back then, Bowen says, when development was booming on the Brooklyn waterfront, real estate staging “was really an unmet need.” Today, the firm’s ASH Staging division has a team of nearly 50 people across multiple states and an inventory of 25,000 pieces. That level of offering has helped the studio carve out a major reputation in the industry, and enabled it to be able to fully decorate and furnish a vacant space in 30 days.

The group’s work has also proved to be invaluable during the last couple of years, when global conditions threw wrenches in move-in timelines. At The West on 47th Street in midtown Manhattan, ASH Staging developed a turnkey offering for new residents. “Finding something move-in ready is really valuable given supply chain issues, relocations, and other factors,” Bowen says.

Like ASH Staging before them, Porter and Hollister Hovey spotted an unmet need in the design market. Seven years ago, they launched their own studio, Hovey Design, focusing on interiors and staging that combines vintage style with modern decor. “When we started, we saw a big hole in the market—where either a model residence had basic rental furniture or super-super high end, like IMG, where it looks like a pristine showroom,” Porter says. “You almost felt like you didn’t want to touch anything.”

Since then, the duo has devised numerous model apartments and private homes in Brooklyn and the East Village of New York. Porter says their goal is to create a home that looks like it belongs “to the coolest people you know—the most interesting person at the dinner party.”