Staging Makes Your Home "Just Right"
"People are smart enough to look past all our stuff to see the bones." I hear this a lot - and I can assure you it has nothing to do with how smart the client is...but the fact is, they can't! The eye is drawn to bright colours, shiny objects, things that do not match, items that are too...anything - too bold, too odd, too ugly, too gorgeous, too much, too little... Remember Goldilocks not feeling comfortable until she found a bed that was "just right"??? The same principle applies.
After working with hundreds of buyers over the years as a realtor, I can tell you with certainty that there are very few people who CAN look past other people's stuff. There were countless times that I got back in the car with my clients and heard them go on and on about an ugly chair, shiny or patterned wallpaper, holiday photos, kid's photos, wedding photos, outdated furniture, coloured carpet, weird art, bold paint colours, huge collections of different items, hunting/fishing trophies on the wall (there was even a dead moose in one garage waiting to be butchered - that client ended up getting sick in the yard...). The clients couldn't remember how many bedrooms the home had, let alone notice any great features like new bathroom renos, updated appliances, lots of storage space, etc. In fact, they kept getting details mixed up with other homes we had seen.
Staging eliminates the confusion and allows the client to focus on the "bones" of the house! Making the home a clean, uncluttered, neutrally decorated (i.e. updated, but not too trendy) space with just enough stuff that it flows properly, is the best way for people to properly recall the actual features of your home!
