How to Stage your Home When You’re Staying Put

I love helping folks stage their homes when they are selling. Staging makes an enormous difference.

I also enjoy helping clients stage to stay.  If you are living in your home— as opposed to marketing to prospective buyers— your home should tell your story.

I have been privileged to be invited into many homes since I launched my organizing/staging business thirteen years ago. I’m honored and humbled that clients would invite me into the most private —and sometimes most embarrassing— part of their lives.

Observations I’ve made when visiting homes:

• If a house is hidden behind overgrown shrubs and trees it says, “Go away”.
• A dirty or cluttered entrance is not welcoming.
• Most people don’t know the best way to arrange furniture.
• They do not have a specified purpose for each area.
• Pictures are hung too high or incorrectly.
• Traditional design principles are not embraced.
• Clients are stuck with old furnishings that currently don’t work.
• They have been talked into purchasing furniture that does not meet their needs.
• They make an erroneous assumption that a container of some sort will make them organized.
• They plan a costly and expansive construction project thinking  their problems will be solved.

Tips for making your home truly yours:

• Create areas for conversation so that you can look another person in the eye when you’re chatting. Don’t line the walls with furniture.
• Every little spot does not need to be filled. Empty space is restful for the eyes.
• Decide what is the main purpose for each area or room. Do you play games, visit with friends, read or watch television? What furnishings are needed?
• Think creatively when choosing pieces of furniture. Repurpose second-hand items to suit your current needs.
• Don’t get bamboozled by impressive ads of expensive pieces that look like they’ll solve all your problems. Make shopping decisions based on your own unique needs.
• Choose lamps that are adequate in size. I’m surprised at how few lamps I see in homes and how small they are.  I often ask, “Where do you read?” Lamps are important for warmth and ambience in addition to reading.
• If you have a rug in your main living area, make sure it is large enough to incorporate furniture into a warm cohesive unit.
• Locate the focal point in your room–usually the largest decorative feature— if possible set your sofa parallel to it.
• Make sure your accessories and decorative pieces are things you love and use. Have just enough old things to weave the stories of generations together. Don’t obliterate your current life with all the old stuff.
• Be open-minded. Furniture items eventually become a part of the wall and you may not realize that your crowding can be alleviated by simply moving out one item.
• Before embarking on a huge reconstruction project bring in the experts! You may be able to solve  your problems by rearranging and repurposing.
• Lastly, don’t design your home around what you think other people will like. Create an environment for you and your loved ones! When you are comfortable in your home the feeling is contagious and others will want to share it with you!

Having a beautiful home isn’t an end in itself—its purpose is to provide joy and peace in the place you live.

“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.” Maya Angelou