An important part of staging homes to sell is arranging furniture to show how rooms will be used by typical buyers. Nine out of ten people can’t accurately envision what isn’t there, including how vacant home will look after furniture is added.
When you visit a vacant home, you get clues to the use of rooms from the layout. However, in pictures, the floor plan is seldom evident. Empty rooms remain undefined and often confusing. Since most home shoppers start searching by browsing pictures on the internet, confusion could mean not getting on their must-see lists.
Test yourself. What do you suppose is the function of this room?
Click on the picture to enlarge.
If you guessed dining room, good for you! Even if you guessed correctly, notice how the picture after home staging is much more informative. The room’s purpose is defined by furniture pieces with specific functions. It is also easier to estimate its size with furniture in it.
Click on the picture to enlarge.
The example above shows why it’s important to stage vacant homes. But, rooms in occupied homes need to be appropriately defined as well. A common situation is a third bedroom which has been converted to a home office.
Both bedrooms and home offices have value, but which one will add greater value depends on who the target buyer is. Empty nesters might prefer two bedrooms and an office. Young family buyers would prefer three bedrooms. If the home is a bungalow in a retirement town you might be anticipating equal interest from both groups.
Faced with such a dilemma, if you are advertising the room as a bedroom and it was designed to be a bedroom, display a bed. It not only allows viewers to see that a bed will indeed fit, it also imprints the room in their memory as a bedroom. After buyers have viewed a half dozen homes, spending only a few minutes in each, their powers of recollection will be taxed. Any visual memory aids you have provided with home staging will help.
Sometimes when staging an occupied home, such a room may be shown with both a desk and a day-bed or futon. This might be done to continue functions for the family during the selling period. But, staging a mixed use room of any kind is less effective than giving it a single purpose in buyers’ minds.
Show each room’s purpose without relying on buyers’ imaginations and keep it easy for them to remember. A visual message is conveyed in seconds – the seconds it takes for a glance at an online picture or a quick peek into the room from the doorway. It’s like creating a three second TV ad with no words. Defining rooms keeps the message crystal clear and helps you sell your house.
