1. Staging With Furniture That Is Too Large for the Space
Large sectionals couches are a great lounging item, but if you’re staging a home to sell, they can take up a lot of space—especially dark colors. Think smaller couches with clean lines to open up the room giving the home a sense of spacious rooms.
2. Cheap Linens, Poor Bedroom Setup, or Empty Bed Frames
While quality linens can be expensive, they might be a worthwhile investment. The bedroom, as it implies, is the focal point of the room.That means cheap linens, pillows, or even worse, empty bed frames are a mortal sin against the gods of good taste. If you can’t invest in a good mattress, air mattresses are incredibly inexpensive these days, so there is simply no excuse for an empty bed frame.
3. Not Using Accent Walls
Considering how easy and affordable accent walls can be, it’s surprising how many stagers and real estate agents shy away from them. A well-thought-out accent wall can add some depth and drama to even the most boring room.
4. Outdated Window Treatments
After paint and lighting fixtures, nothing can kill a room’s vibe faster than ugly, outdated window treatments. Good news is that like lighting fixtures, good-looking window treatments are affordable, and you only need a few styles on hand to match any decor. Patterns should probably be avoided, though. There is no faster way to pick out a cheap window treatment than from a poorly designed pattern.
5. Using Too Many Bold or Statement Pillows
While you may be tempted to splash out on a dozen high-end pillows for your home staging, this could be a mistake. After all, nice pillows are very expensive, and bold pillows might not work well with other bold pillows. Like the gallery wall, having an assortment of boldly colored or patterned pillows is very on trend. Avoid boldly colored or patterned pillows. Instead, stick to complementary patterns and colors, or at most, buy a few bold pillows.
6. Not Knowing Your Audience
I As a rule, you should be staging with your audience in mind. Think about what kind of leads might be attracted to the home, the living area, or the price point you’re working with. If your listing is in a conservative community with a ton of senior citizens for instance, a more traditional staging will get a much better response than a slick, modern one. Young hip area with lots of college students and young professionals? Minimal graphic art and mid-century furniture is a must.
7. Not Staging With Table & Floor Lamps
Table lamps give off warm light exactly where you want it and both table lamps and floor lamps can make a boring room look dramatic in the evening. Not only that, lamps are usually one of the primary focal points of a room when they’re lit. So if you want to make your listing look like a home instead of a house, invest in some nice tables and floor lamps in a few different styles. I would go with say, two matching bedside lamps, and two different table lamps and floor lamps.You can make a cheap lamp look glamorous by using the right lampshade and right bulb. You can also just swap lampshades to make the same lamp look wildly different if you’re on a budget.
8. Using Too Many or the Wrong Fake Plants
OK, using cheaper fake plants isn’t the end of the world, but whenever possible, try to strategically use the plants in your home staging. Too many fake plants turns your home into a greenhouse. There’s also no crime in buying real plants! By buying live plants, you get the added benefit of having lush, beautiful plants in your home or office when they’re not being used for staging. A win/win!
9. Boldly Patterned or Colored Area Rugs
Instead of going for the bold and the beautiful, stick to the subdued and understated. A nice neutral Sisal or even a grey or white shag will do the trick. Just because you love that crazy-patterned rug you bought a few years ago certainly doesn’t mean other people will. In fact, the odds are better than even that some of your open house guests will probably HATE the rug. It will also overwhelm a small space the second you unroll it and place it on the floor.
10. Pushing ALL the Furniture Right Up Against the Wall
If you’re trying to stage a small room and your only option is to line the furniture up against the walls, then the furniture you’re trying to stuff in that room is just too big to work. Instead, pull out a piece or pull it all out and replace it with furniture that actually fits.Nothing can make a living room look dull and boxy faster than pushing all the furniture up against the walls. Yes, it’s easy, but it almost always looks terrible. It’s boxy-looking, and it will make a large room look empty and a smaller room look cluttered. It’s the worst of both worlds.
