Staging Tips 101: I have a theory

It is possible I am a teensy bit compulsive. But, I have this thing about making sure everyone means the same thing when we talk about an item. So, these are some of my staging definitions.

Furniture
Any unattached items in the room that are big and sturdy enough to sit on, lay on, or put things on (chair, sofa, end table, bed, dresser, TV stand).

Attached
Anything affixed to, embedded in, or sold with the house by law; anything that, if removed, will cause damage (built-in bookcases, unmovable kitchen island, jetted tub)

Accessories
Any unattached item that is not furniture (silk plants, TV channel changer, figurine, telephone, original Rembrandt painting, vase, toothbrush holder, coffee maker, framed photo, statue........)

Collection
Four or more related accessories (books lined up on a shelf, pink elephant figurines, vases of flowers....)

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I have a theory.

It is an algorithm used to assess whether an interior room has so many accessories and pieces of furniture that (a) it really, really should be staged; and (b) during the staging some items will need to be removed, packed, and stored.

I am still refining this theory.

I would really appreciate it if you could help me test it. Please follow these instructions. Then let me know if the instructions made sense, and if you agree with my staging assessment.

Do this for each room individually (to help me test, just check a room or two)

First Step
Calculate the approximate square footage (SF) of a room. Because not all rooms are perfect squares, take measurements from the center of the room. Multiply the length of the room by the width of the room to get the approximate SF. (PS If you have a floor plan that gives SF, use it. While approximate SF is fine for my theory, being exact is certainly acceptable.)


Second Step
Count the accessories in the room.

Of course, in this kind of exercise, counting is never as simple as it sounds (if it was, I would no be asking for help)

Add 1:
- For each unattached non-furniture item (if you have tons of books or cd's, make a guess about the number)
- If the item is small enough to fit in you hand (so, that porcelain tea cup counts as 2, one for being there and one for being small)

Add 3 more:
- For each collection (so, those books count as your guesstimate plus three, those four pink elephant figurines count as seven)
- For each shelf that is more than 50% full of a collection (a bookshelf full of CDs, a display cabinet full of painted thimbles) ... (so, now those pink elephants count as 10)


Third Step
Count the pieces of furniture in the room (just count 'em, nothing fancy here)


Fourth Step
Add the number of pieces of furniture to the accessory count (four pieces of furniture plus ten accessories/collections counted equals 14)


Calculate
Divide your count from Step Four into the SF (If you totaled 14 when you counted accessories, and the SF is 150, divide 14 into 150 giving 10.71)

Check Your Results
If the results from Step Four are:

• More than 7, accessories and/or furniture should be removed, then the room should be rearranged, when you prepare your home to sell. The higher the number, the more likely the room will benefit from being staged.
  
• Range from 3 to 6, you can probably just rearrange using some of the helpful (if long winded) staging advice
  
• Less than 3, you will probably need to bring things in when you stage to sell (yes, sometimes stagers have to bring clutter in)
  

What I am hoping for with my theory is way to help people decide if staging will really make a difference, or if they can probably just straighten up.

Thank you in advance for trying this and letting me know what you think about it!

Have a great Wednesday.