Statistics say that 90% of your buyers will not be able to imagine how they can live in your home other than the way you’ve staged each space. It means this: if your home has no formal or dedicated space for dining, and your small living room is staged as a living room AND a dining room… the majority of your buyers will likely feel that their living room furniture will not fit into this dual dining/living space… and they’ll move on. The other 10% will see that removing the dining feature out of the space opens up the entire room for their living room furniture. This is a real-life scenario that was shared with me… the buyers loved the house, but the staging was too crowded in the living room, and the buyers walked away.
Here’s my take: I’m all about showcasing possibilities but be careful to not to crowd a space in the name of creating options. In the above scenario, the home was older, with no formal dining room except a small eating area in the kitchen. The stager could have painted the picture of dining in the living room by using a small round table with a chair pulled up in a corner… (instead of a full size dining table and 4 chairs). This could have looked like a place to eat, read a book, or catch up on emails. In one of my recent stages, the dining chairs we brought ended up being too big for the room… potentially causing buyers to turn away for lack of walking space. So we took the chairs back and swapped them for a different option with a slimmer profile. Problem solved!! The dining space looked pretty AND had plenty of walking space.
Buyers are looking for space… and your staging can go a long way to showcase a gorgeous, spacious home for buyers to fall in love with! Remember to stage for the 90% … if a space is crowded, that’s what they’ll feel. If a room looks spacious, that’s what they’ll see. You cannot afford to leave your potentially largest investment up to the imaginations of your buyers. Help them see how your home is where they’ll live their best life!
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