It’s impossible to become an expert at home staging overnight. Even if you finish several courses on home staging, or you’ve got multiple home staging certificates, you still cannot do the task flawlessly if you do not have first-hand experience in doing it. Practice makes perfect, and by doing something over and over again, you will be able to refine your process and make it almost perfect. Professional Expert Home stagers have been staging homes for decades. They have gone through tried and tested strategies that allow them to polish their processes so staging becomes as easy as breathing for them.
In this blog, we are going to share several home staging mistakes that they have gone through so you don’t have to repeat them over again. If you avoid these mistakes, you will have buyers clamoring to make your sellers house their own.
Mistake #1 Using too many accessories
Accessories and decorations are used to improve the overall appeal of a home's interior. However, there is a very fine line between “Staging To Live” and “Staging to Sell”. Too many props can hurt you rather than help you. A rule of thumb for Professional Expert Property Stagers is as follows, “When you live in your home 70% of the space is filled with your possessions and 30% of the space is vacant. When a Professional Expert Property Stager prepares your home for market readiness, they reverse that rule. Now 70% of the space will be vacant and only 30% of that space will have your possessions. Keep in mind that you are not designing or decorating to achieve a “stage to live” appeal. We are merchandising your property to appeal to the largest target audience. When staging, use a design that is versatile, adaptable, and pleasing to the eye. The reason for this is that you don't know who will be seeing the property or what their design tastes are. It's best to stick with something neutral and not too overpowering. Keep your accessories to a minimum to prevent making the area appear congested.
Mistake #2 Using the wrong furniture
Furniture needs to match the architectural features of the home. Traditional furniture pieces like Queen Anne, Chippendale, and Sheraton styles don’t fit in a contemporary setting. So, when staging a modern home, use modern furniture sofas, armchairs, and accent chairs. Chesterfields, Lawson couches, and mid-century modern sofas can be used for traditional homes. Cabriole sofas, on the other hand, and Camel back sofas are way too classical to be incorporated into a modern scene. However, if you’re staging a classical mansion, you can opt for these types of furnishings to create that grand opulent appeal. Know your audience.
Mistake #3 Hanging an Art Piece that’s out of proportion
A beautiful piece of art in the appropriate size may make a fashionable statement while also helping a potential buyer connect with your house. However, when the scale of the artwork is incorrect, even the most beautiful piece can detract from the ambiance of a room and influence a buyer's impression of the place. A large wall with insufficiently sized art makes the wall appear smaller. Look for artwork that occupies two-thirds to three-quarters of the wall space, either as a single piece or as a collection. A 50-by-40-inch rectangle artwork is an excellent way to ground a sofa in a living room.
Mistake #4 Forgetting the entrance
Many home stagers focus more on staging the living, dining, and bedroom area often forgetting the most crucial part – the entrance. The first impression happens the moment a buyer saw the entrance to the property. Real estate agents call this “curb appeal”. It has to be as interesting and as clean as the inside of a home. When you are staging a house, don’t forget to include the entrance as well. If the property has a porch, place a seating or lounge area, place greeneries, hang lighting fixtures, and you can even go as far as trimming bushes and arranging the landscaping of the home’s front yard.
Mistake #5 Not including lighting design
Buyers want a bright and spacious home and ample lighting in a property is essential in making it appear larger and welcoming. Lighting is especially crucial in older homes with no artificial lighting. Increase the amount of natural light in a space by using window coverings that allow lots of light in. Paying attention to curtain arrangement is a simple method to increase luminosity. Hang your curtains appropriately and if the curtains are tired dark and dated replace them with neutral panels or remove them completely.
Mistake #6 Using too much color
There is no rule that restricts home many colors a designer can incorporate in a room. However, too many color combinations may ruin the visual appearance of a home. This is why having a mood board is crucial. When you have a mood board, you will be able to stick to a color palette of your choice. You should only use three colors in every space, according to the 60-30-10 guideline, but you can also combine many other tones from these three colors.
Mistake #7 Staging without thinking about how it will appear in photos
It's easy to focus solely on how a home appears in reality when you are staging it but you also should consider how it appears in photographs. Keep in mind that homebuyers would often start looking for homes online and how a property’s interior appears in the photographs affects their impression and will determine whether they’ll skip over it or save it in their favorites list. Potential buyers won't be able to get a good sense of size from the listing images if you obscure the view of a window, for example. Photographers frequently use a window or fireplace as a focal point, so position furniture around it.
Mistake #8 not asking about who the potential buyers are
Consider who would be interested in your neighborhood and the kind of property you have. You want purchasers to see your home as a place that fits their lifestyle. Inquire with the seller's real estate agent about the most likely target demographic for the property. Are they first time home buyers? Empty Nesters? Young single professionals? Know your target audience so they can imagine themselves living in that home.
Mistakes, as long as they are not repeated, can help do better in the future. Whether they are huge strategic errors or genuine mistakes, they all have an impact on your output and your business in general. Consistent mistakes damage client confidence, which we should avoid. If you want to learn more about home staging, enroll in our master class program, which includes all of the required materials and coaching to launch a thriving staging business.