Tuesday, January 10, 2012

(UNITED STATES) January 10, 2012 – It is a common mistake for home stagers to "over stage" their clients' homes, which can distract buyers and sometimes even insult their intelligence. The dining room table is one of the areas where this occurs most often. Home staging expert Debra Gould discusses various options for staging this tricky spot on the Home Staging Business Report blog.

"Silly home staging tricks can often backfire when a home stager is decorating a house to sell on the real estate market," explains Gould. "The trick is to maintain the right balance between romancing the home buyer while not being over the top. After all, we want people focused on the house itself, not just the finishing touches."

According to Gould, founder of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, there are times when it is appropriate to set the dining room table while staging a house, but it must be done properly.

For illustrative purposes, Gould describes a home stager who posted a portfolio photo where the dining room table had been set. The table was featured in the foreground of the photo, so it was very prominent. However, the setting included inexpensive-looking plates set on placemats with a few artificial flowers in a vase. Both the cutlery and glassware were missing from table.

"To my eye, this really detracted from the stager's home staging portfolio photo," says Gould. "The rest of the room in the background actually looked great. But if you're going to set a table, then set it. Don't leave it looking like a distracted 5-year-old was helping mom before running off to watch TV until dinner was served."

On the opposite extreme, Gould also recommends against setting the table in such a "creative" way that it becomes the focal point and no one notices the room surrounding it. Gould explains that elaborately set tables look nice in magazine spreads and recipe books, but they can be too much when the goal is decorating a home to sell on the real estate market.

"You want to draw in the buyer, showing them how they can live in the home," Gould says. "But if you go too far, it can have the opposite effect. The buyer may have unconscious thoughts that the house is too fancy to live in, which can stir up negative emotions. As a home stager, you don't want potential buyers associating negative emotions with the house you're trying to sell them!"

To read opinions from fellow home stagers on this topic, visit the Home Staging Business Report on the Staging Diva website.

About Staging Diva

The creator of the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program, Debra Gould has staged millions of dollars' worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. She is the president of home staging firm SixElements.com and has trained over 7,000 home stagers to start and grow their own businesses.

Debra has gained international recognition through features in major media in the US and Canada including: This Old House, HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, Global TV, City TV, The Wall Street Journal, Women's Day, Reader's Digest and more.

###

Debra Gould, The Staging Diva

President

Six Elements, Inc.

Toronto, ON

416-691-6615