Dressing the Stage

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When Artefacto furnishes properties, they not only dazzle. They sell.

by Drew Limsky

EMPTY ROOMS might be stories waiting to happen, as the saying goes, but home buyers often find it hard to see themselves in the story. To spark their imagination, high-end home-furnishing master Artefacto has elevated the concept of luxury home staging. The

Florida-based company, spanning three generations of the Bacchi family, is setting a new gold standard for staging—one that nearly guarantees a home sale.

“What we do is very different from what people think of as staging,” explains CEO Paulo Bacchi, whose team has worked with 130 homes in the past year. “Staging is when the owner or developer rents furniture to make the property look presentable. What Artefacto does is design properly, hiring an interior designer to partner with us— and 98 percent of the homes are then sold furnished. We don’t stage just for show. We furnish for the end user to buy and use immediately.”

Artefacto’s staging makes the most of the water views in an Arte Surfside penthouse.

— EXPERTS —

In a hot market like South Florida, where home buyers shy away from preconstruction purchases because they want to enjoy their homes right away, a turnkey home of the sort Artefacto cultivates is a top-tier amenity. Even properties that have been on the market for some time usually sell within 30 days once Artefacto has worked its magic, according to Bacchi.

Another factor that sets Artefacto apart is its ability to provide quick service. “We’re the only company that can furnish in one week,” Bacchi says. This is possible because of Artefacto’s huge inventory, a selling point at a time when many showrooms and their clients are facing delivery delays. The inventory is on daily display at the Artefacto showrooms in Doral, Aventura, and Coral Gables, where a new 40,000-square-foot flagship recently opened to mark the company’s 45th anniversary.

Artefacto’s products blend contemporary design, environmentally friendly resources, and fine Brazilian

Understated decor creates a sense of serenity in a bedroom at Monad Terrace. Curved pieces complement a living room at Monad Terrace.

craftsmanship. (The company factory is located near Sao Paolo.) Each staged space is unique, though Bacchi favors neutral colors and rich textures. He also keeps art and accessories to a minimum, knowing that those are choices the buyer will make to personalize the space.

A WINNING APPROACH

Artefacto recently collaborated with Douglas Elliman on several Florida properties, including Arte Surfside and Monad Terrace. “Artefacto really understands what our clients are looking for,” notes Jay Parker, CEO of Douglas Elliman, Florida. “It makes a perfect building that much better.” According to Parker, units always sell faster when Artefacto stages them.

Artefacto outfitted five of Arte Surfside’s 16 units. The lower penthouse, which encompasses the entire ninth floor of the Antonio Citterio–designed tower, “had been on the market for one year,” Bacchi says, “and after we staged it, it sold in one week.” The transaction made the news because it set a record as the biggest real estate sale in cryptocurrency, $22.5 million, notes Bacchi.

At Monad Terrace in Miami Beach, Artefacto’s staging of unit 11F sparked a successful sale, so the sales manager asked Bacchi and his team to furnish 7F. They completed the work in just five days, which helped lead to a quick offer from a buyer. (At press time, the unit was under contract.)

These days Bacchi estimates he spends half his time on turnkey staging projects. “I love it,” he says. “There’s volume, there’s speed, and there’s action.”

Organic shapes link indoors to out at Eighty Seven Park.

Subtle earth tones draw the eye to the view at Eighty Seven Park.