Occupied Staging
Let’s face it, every dream staging client is one with no budget constraints, and completely open to all design ideas and starting with a blank slate. But in reality, many homeowners looking to sell are going to need to stay in the home while it is on the market, and that creates a challenge. This is an area called Occupied Staging.
No one wants to hear that they need to remove their beloved furnishings, artwork, accessories and that heirloom rug they inherited from their great-grandmother. But, unfortunately, all of the sellers prized possessions can really cast a shadow over the home, preventing potential buyers from being able to see the potential the home has as THEIR new abode. It’s not about making the homeowner feel like they have poor taste and their stuff has got to go….it’s about de-personalizing the home so that it presents as a somewhat blank slate.
Why not just move everything out and show the home completely empty, you ask? That poses another issue. Most people are visual and a totally blank slate also makes it hard for them to visualize themselves in the home. What we are looking for is the “sweet spot”. Think of a hotel room. They’re designed to be visually appealing to the masses. There’s nothing too specific, but they have a style to them at the same time.
Occupied staging is one of my favorite challenges, because it involves some creative problem solving techniques, and I think finding a way to make the occupied home appeal to every potential buyer that walks through the door is one of the more complicated types of jobs, but I am not scared of challenges or complicated designs! To be honest, I am starting to feel like all the Vacant Stagings I am seeing all over my Instagram feed are starting to blend into one another. The same neutral everything, the same pseudo-modern artwork…I feel there is a way to update, modernize and neutralize the look of an Occupied Home, while paying tribute to the best qualities of the home, downplaying any not-so-great features, and allowing the Sellers to save some money and remain in the home with a selection of their existing furnishings.
The easiest way to stage an Occupied Home is to leave all the big stuff. All the beds, sofas, large tables, shelving units, etc. Remove anything on the smaller scale and replace with newer, more modern pieces that will blend well with what has been left intact. Some art will stay, some will be better of stored and relocated with the Sellers at their new home. There is no reason for anyone to get hurt feelings, remember the potential Buyers striding through your home don’t want to buy your home, they want to buy their new home and being distracted by all of the current owners personal effects can have a bearing on how they feel about the house itself.
I’ve spent 26 years working in the homes of people who actually live in the home. I am acutely aware of how to treat the homeowner with sensitivity and respect, and happy to have the hard conversation that a Realtor might not want to.
It’s sort of like that saying, not being able to see the forest for the trees. It’s very possible for the potential Buyers not to be able to see the actual House, when they are too busy seeing all of the Sellers memories, photographs, lived-in furniture, the dog bed, the pink antique lamps, the collection of Hummels/Lladro, etc.
