I receive daily listings of homes on the market. Most of the time the owners and agents have taken great care to prepare a home for photos and viewings by staging well. However, every once in a while I do receive an example of what I refer to as a staging DON'T and here is one of those examples.
In this photo of a master bedroom, owners have chosen to display their marlin on a prominent wall. This is an automatic No No in my opinion. When staging a home, it's best to remove all evidence of outside interests. Now if this particular home were located near the ocean it would make more sense to display the marlin. This home is a lakefront home on a man made lake. Artwork with a boating theme would have been more appropriate. This marlin just looks out of place in the room. The room looks more like a lodge than a seaside home.
When staging a home it's best to remove signs of the current owners interests, political affiliations, religious affiliations, occupation, team sports references, etc. etc. Better to have a clean slate for any potential buyers viewing the house.
The marlin aside, this is actually a very nice room. Beautiful wood floors and window frames with the wooden beams plus the many large windows and natural lighting make it an ideal retreat. It reminds me of a Bed and Breakfast I once visited in Estes Park, CO, The Taharaa Mountain Lodge.
Other than removing the marlin the only other thing I would have changed in this photo is the position of the area rug. It would have looked better out in front of the bed. I can guess why it is under the bed. Most likely the current owners experience some movement when they get in and out of bed if the wood floors are too slick under the bed frame. But the rug looks awkward. One solution would be to cut slip proof drawer liners down to size to keep the bed from sliding, then, reposition the area rug in front of the hope chest. A darker rug color in maroon or green would have been my first choice to complement the bed's leather head and footboards. But in this case the color of the rug does not take appeal away from the room.
When staging a house it's good to have a guideline, like a hotel room, to decide what stays and what goes. Hotel rooms are minimally furnished and decorated. They don't lean towards any particular personality type. Instead they keep things simple and try to appeal to everyone. A potential buyer should feel the same way walking into an open house as they do walking into a hotel room. Ready to sit down, relax and not feel they are intruding in someone's home. This way they can start imagining themselves in the space and get that much closer to making an offer.
- A staging DON'T
When staging a home it's best to remove signs of the current owners interests, political affiliations, religious affiliations, occupation, team sports references, etc. etc. Better to have a clean slate for any potential buyers viewing the house.
The marlin aside, this is actually a very nice room. Beautiful wood floors and window frames with the wooden beams plus the many large windows and natural lighting make it an ideal retreat. It reminds me of a Bed and Breakfast I once visited in Estes Park, CO, The Taharaa Mountain Lodge.
- The Stetson Suite at The Taharaa Lodge
When staging a house it's good to have a guideline, like a hotel room, to decide what stays and what goes. Hotel rooms are minimally furnished and decorated. They don't lean towards any particular personality type. Instead they keep things simple and try to appeal to everyone. A potential buyer should feel the same way walking into an open house as they do walking into a hotel room. Ready to sit down, relax and not feel they are intruding in someone's home. This way they can start imagining themselves in the space and get that much closer to making an offer.
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