Stage To Sell: Beautiful Clutter

On Sunday, a fellow Stager and I visited several Open Houses. Our primary goals were meeting local realtors and builders, admiring (and picking up tips from) Staging work done by other Stagers and/or Interior Designers, and discussing how we would handle the unstaged and vacant houses.

This, my friend, is a Stager's idea of a good Sunday afternoon (when not working).

Hendersonville, NC is a boom town for retirees who want four seasons and for snowbirds who want temperate summers with views. On Sunday we toured several retiree's houses. In each space, the history of the owner was displayed in furnishings that crowded together family pieces like Victorian occasional tables and paintings, early just-getting-started personal purchases like mid-century modern bedroom sets and pictures, and later we-have-arrived purchases like heavy 1970's sofas, chairs, and rugs.

I am a mid-century modern kind of gal. I adored that part of the show.

Anyway, in each house or condo my friend and I admired the history, the love, and the lifestyle the furnishings proclaimed. Then we discussed which pieces needed to remain to allow the owner to live in comfort; and which pieces needed to be stored away in a safe place to showcase the house. In each case about 50% of the furniture, pictures, and tschotckes needed to be stored away. And most of what remained needed to be moved to enhance focus and flow in each room.

One house keeps bothering me, though.

Intrinsically the house was lovely. But it was very, very cluttered. And the clutter was way too much truly wonderful artwork and beautiful furniture. Small walls were made even smaller by being literally covered by exquisite paintings. The kind of paintings that deserve to be admired. Walking around in the rooms required occasionally walking sideways to get around large and very nice pieces of furniture.

I did not get photos. I have included some stock photos here, to give you the idea.

The home was beautifully decorated. It was truly Staged To Live: everything about it supported the current owners' love of art and family, need for space, and preferred lifestyle.

I stood in the living/great room, about 18 by 18 feet, and counted a sectional sofa, three chairs, 19 paintings, four end tables, two coffee tables, 22 figurals, three occasional tables, two statues, three lamps, three rugs, two large windows with heavy draperies, and a fireplace. All color coordinated. All quality. Each piece an original, designer work of art.

A narrow path led single-file from the foyer across the room to the kitchen. Walking into the room was a delicate undertaking because I had to weave my way around the furniture and breakable objects.

I truly believe most potential buyers are going to stand in the foyer, look into the room, and tread the narrow path to the kitchen thinking there is no way their furnishings will ever fit in such a delicate, small, and dark space.

In my mind I packed and stored two chairs, 16 paintings, two end tables, one coffee table, 19 figurals, all three occasional tables, both statues, all three rugs, and the heavy curtains. Just over 75% of the furnishings need to be removed to make the room feel full enough, neutral enough, welcoming enough, and beautiful enough to engage the imagination of a potential buyer and to invite buyers to explore the room without worrying about breaking something.

The whole house was like that.

When we met them, the owners were not interested in Staging. I am going to keep an eye on the house. Maybe that perfect buyer, the one who can see beyond any kind of clutter, will find it. Maybe it will sell quickly.

I do wish the owners the very best of luck and the very fastest of sales.....

I did, however, give them my card.

Funniest Stage To Sell story I ever heard

This happened decades ago.

My friend and her husband sold their house as part of a very amicable divorce. The house sold quickly to a retired military family. The buyers did not request a home inspection.

At the closing, someone asked the father why they made such a fast decision.

He explained that he used the "white glove" treatment to find out how well the sellers had maintained the house. In the kitchen, he ran his finger under the stove's vent hood and filter. Both were spotless. From that, he knew the sellers were fanatical about home maintenance. So, he knew the house was in superb shape.

After the closing my friend and her ex went to lunch. During lunch my friend remarked, "In all the time we lived there, I don't think I ever turned the stove on or prepared a meal at home. Did you?"

The ex replied, "Nope, never did. .....I wonder if the stove works?"

Why Stage To Sell when someone is going to live in the house while it is on the market?

You have straightened and cleaned your home. It looks better than it does when company is coming. Day to day you are keeping it straight and clean.

Why should you consider taking the time and absorbing the expense of bringing in a Stager?

Because of human nature.

Because your house is your Home. Gradually, over the time you have lived there, the furniture arrangement, the colors and the decorative items have been tuned to your use of Space and your Lifestyle.

When potential buyers walk up to the front door and into your house, they see you, your family, your Lifestyle.

And that is going to make it difficult for them to imagine themselves living in this place where you so obviously live.

Stagers are trained, and have the experience, to remove just enough of you to make the house feel welcoming to the largest, most generic number of potential buyers possible. And we are trained, and have the experience, to leave just enough of you that those same buyers will feel they know, and like, you.

For example, let's assume you have a collection of porcelain bird figurines. You have tiny birds, you have big birds, you have the State Bird of all fifty states. In all, you have 107 bird figurines. There are birds in every room in your house. There are hummingbirds on the kitchen and bathroom counters, goldfinches on the coffee table, chickens peek out from behind books on the shelves, buntings flock on the dining room table, a life-sized eagle with spread wings and gaping beak stands in front of your fireplace, birds cluster on the occasional tables you purchased just to display your lovely collection.

And, it is lovely. Your guests really enjoy exploring the flocks. You feel good every time you walk into a room and see the birds. Your home is Staged To Live and those belong.

But, all those birds do not work in a house that is Staged To Sell. Because it is human nature to stop, examine, and understand large groups of small things, potential buyers are going to look at the birds. The visual space taken up by the bird figurines will make buyers feel the room is small. Buyers will not be able to imagine themselves living in the house because most of them cannot imagine living surrounded by bird figurines. Yes, on one level they understand the birds will not be there when they live in the house. But, because there are so many birds, buyers will have difficulty imagining them gone.

Buyers are going to start anticipating bird figuines as they enter each room. They are not going to see the room because they are hunting for birds.

When I Stage your house, I am going to suggest most of the birds need to be packed away. I may keep a grouping of three birds out to decorate your mantle. Another small group of birds may find a home on the dresser in the master bedroom. Potential buyers are going to notice, but not be distracted by, the small groupings. Buyers will understand you love and collect bird figurines. So, they will feel they know a little bit about you.

Once the bird figurine population has been reduced, I am also going to address those extra occasional tables. Those tables take up both visual and physical space which, again reduces the perceived size of the room. Some of the tables may fill empty space in other rooms. Some of the tables may need to be stored out of sight.

Potential buyers are going to see and appreciate the Space in the room. They will be able to imagine themselves living in the house. You are going to move closer to a sale.

Oh, and yes, it is sad, but that wonderful life-sized eagle...the one protecting the fireplace...is going to startle, intimidate, or distract some buyers. It needs to be put out of sight until it can again fly free in your new home.

Stage To Sell: When Should I Use Rugs?

When Staging To Sell, rugs are usually clutter and should be removed.

Say what? Rugs hide defects and make a room beautiful!

Absolutely, rugs are a wonderful means of decorating a room that is lived in. But, when that room is in a house that is for sale, rugs should be used very sparingly.

Hmmm, how to explain..........

Got it.

Let's start by defining the purpose of a floor. The floor grounds the room. In Staging terms, the floor is the bottom of the "picture" that we are painting of the room.

When buyers stand at a door into a room, they look first at the midspace: the walls, the furniture and the accessories (the furnishings). Then they look up towards the ceiling. They see how the furnishings fill and enhance the room. They get an initial impression of the Space in that room. Then, if they like what they see, they step into the room to see more.

As they step into the room, they finally look down to see what they are stepping on. At this point we want to invoke an "Oh Wow! Lifestyle!" reaction. We want that floor to be so in keeping with the colors on the walls, the style of the house and the furniture; we want that floor to be so clean that potential buyers immediately start imagining themselves walking on it, living on it. We want them to look around the room again, seeing at the floor the way they looked at the midspace. Anything that disrupts their line of sight at this point is a distraction. And, when we Stage a room, we minimize distractions so potential buyers can appreciate the Space and look forward to the Lifestyle they will have when the room is theirs.

Furniture disrupts the line of sight. BUT, they already saw the furniture when they looked around the room. So, it is a minimal distraction which should not modify their perception of the Space.

ditto Accessories.

Now, I want you to go stand at the door and look into a room, any room. Imagine the room is turned on it's side. (Imagine someone big and strong completely emptied the room before you tilt it.)

Okay, the room is empty of furniture and on it's side. One wall is now the floor - ignore it. The floor is now a wall, a blank wall you can see from side to side without interruption.

Piece by piece, imagine the furniture coming back into the room and settling in place on the floor/wall. Your side to side view is interrupted. The interruption does not happen just at the place the furniture touches the floor/wall. The interruption is 3-D because the furniture extends away from the floor/wall.

BUT, as I said, this 3-D interruption is minimal (as long as you do not have too much furniture in the room) and expected.

When you have all the furniture in place, bring back any statuary or other accessories (except the rugs) that touch the floor.

Look at the floor/wall the way you would look at any wall you are staging. Do you see significant gaps that unbalance the Space? Most floors have a pattern: wood shows grain, tile shows squares, carpet shows fabric, etc. That pattern means it is virtually impossible to find a gap.

Now, in your imagination, bring the rugs back in. Once the rugs are in place, in most cases, the floor/wall is too busy, too full, too distracting.

In most cases, when we Stage To Sell, rugs disrupt the pattern on the floor and make the Space in the room seem small or out of balance.

So, when should rugs be used in Staging To Sell?

These are my rules-of-thumb:
1) Any rug used should have no or very minimal pattern.

If the sellers have a beautiful rug with a complex pattern, consider using it as a wall hanging.

2) The color of the rug should not be the same as the color of the floor or of the major pieces of furniture around it. Because it is part of the base of the Space, the rug should usually be darker. But, in a room where you are desperate to bring in light, you can use a lighter, very neutral color. The color of the rug can be a complete contrast to the overall color of the room only if the same color is repeated in the Staged accessories.

3) If more than one rug is used, and if the different rugs can be seen at the same time, their style, pattern, and color have to be consistent. I actually take it further and try to keep a consistent style, pattern, and color even if the rugs are in different rooms. This provides continuity.

4) A rug can be used to simplify and unify disruptive but unavoidable groupings.
For example, the dining table and four chairs have a total of 20 legs. That many legs are like a collection of small things, they may really disrupt the pattern on the floor. A rug in the same shape as the table, but extending out just beyond the chairs, provides a base for the 20 leg grouping and reduces the impact of the disruption.

5) Just like wall art, a rug can be used to fill a major gap that unbalances the Space in the room ... IF it is a really, really, really serious gap.

6) If the room is large and holds multiple purposes, one rug can be used to separate and group one of the purposes. The classic example is a using a rug under the dining set in a great room to separate the dining area from the living area.

If the room is really huge, more than one rug can be used to group individual purposes. Be very careful when you do this: the Space of the room is at risk.

7) No floating rugs! The rug is always integrated into and grounded by a furniture grouping/purpose. At least one side of that furniture should be placed ON the rug. For example, place the front legs of the sofa on the rug. This reinforces the purpose. Floating rugs are a major distraction to most buyers.

Exception: in an open-concept room, a runner can be used to show buyers the "hall" out of that big open space. Ground the runner with something. Hang pictures above and along it. Echo the line of the runner with the back of the sofa. If you cannot ground the runner, it is likely the way out of the room is obvious (like a door in the middle of the wall) and the runner is not needed.

8) The fireplace and hearth are usually the Staging Point of the room. Remove the hearth rug. The architecture of the fireplace and hearth should be enough. If they are not, use wall color, vases, bowls, flowers, or pictures to punch up the Staging Point. Why? Because a rug placed in front of a fireplace, can lead the buyer's eye away from the fireplace.

9) Every house is unique. All of the rules are flexible depending on the Space being Staged.

10) Nothing fuzzy on the bathroom or kitchen floor. Rugs in the bath or kitchen both disrupt a fairly small Space, AND encourage potential buyers to think about things falling on that rug. We do not want buyers wondering, even subconsciously, what might be on that rug.


That's about it for rugs...for now.


Oh - and before I go - don't forget to tilt the room back upright!