The Basics of Staging
There’s so much you can do with staging. So many different styles, layouts, and design elements to take into consideration when furnishing a house. Finding the right angles, creating an aesthetic, appealing to the target market and so on. However, there’s so much more than the details! Its about finding that family their forever home, helping display how an empty house can feel full again, helping the family on a time crush sell their house faster, or even show how a small space can feel huge. When it comes down to it, its about serving you. Whatever your reason may be, we’re here to help.
We care about our clients and would love to show a few of our favorite staging tips so you can follow along or even try some yourself! So, with that being said, here are our staging basics.
The dinner plate rule
When staging a house, accessories are crucial. They can totally change the way the house feels. Red flowers vs. Blue flowers. Red is vibrant and exciting and blue is calming and welcoming. The same goes for the size of the accessories. Too small is cluttering and breakable, while bigger is more luxurious and expensive. This is one of those, “I heard from a friend of a friend" rules that you never really hear about. Basically, the rule is, don’t use any items smaller than a dinnerplate. An easy size to visualize!
2. Create a balanced space
Creating balance in décor and furniture can calm the mind and give a bigger appearance to the property. It can increase the sense of stability and show the space as more of a home. So, how do you create balance? Doing things like blending your dining table in with your kitchen to create more open space, painting the walls the same color as your curtains, and keeping a flowing style throughout the whole house will do TONS for the essential feel. Another way of creating balance using accessories is making sure all pieces have a purpose. Decorating with items you can actually use will create a sense of authenticity and personality for your potential buyers. Things like flower pots, trays, candles, cake stands, or even cookbooks will be way more personal than using geometric shaped statues, or porcelain animals, or fake books just feel empty and cluttering.
3. Furniture that works
When using furniture, try finding pieces that DON’T match. Crazy right? But sometimes all uniform furniture that matches and collides can make your house appear out of date and predictable. Instead, find items that are interesting to look at with trendy colors and mixed textures/patterns. Try to avoid matching bedroom furniture sets (the kind you would find at Mathis Brothers) and instead go for a style theme such as farmhouse, grandmillennial, or maybe transitional. I like to use Pinterest as a source for inspiration! It can help your vision and give you style inspiration using mixed pieces.
4. Easy on the eyes
When staging a house, less is actually more. Try finding key pieces that stand out and make an impression vs. using tons of small items to show the aesthetic. Keep things simple and stage each room as it was intended for. For example, if a room was intended to be a home office, don’t make it a bedroom. This helps the house to not be so confusing. Another thing referring back to keeping things easy on the eyes, don’t use clashing patterns. I’m sure we’ve all head you cant mix dots and stripes, and this is very true! Try to not mix florals and dots or other busy patterns while staging. Just keep things simple!
5. Finishing Steps
When completing a home staging project, make sure that the house is clean. This might not always be your reasonability, but a quick sweep and wipe on some areas can go a long way. Make sure to leave any business cards for the open houses and snap a few shots. Home staging is so helpful to any listing and can make your buyers easily fall in love. Have fun staging friends! Until next time.
