Many home stagers wonder if they should set the table for home staging.
Possibilities include: breakfast bars, breakfast room tables, kitchen tables and dining room tables.
What, if any, meal should you set them up for?
And if you are setting the table for a meal, how far do you go with the items and accessories?
Just the place mats, dishes and glassware? Or do you also need cutlery and a centrepiece?
What about chargers and bowls?
I don’t believe there’s a single rule of “yes you should set the table” for home staging or “no you shouldn’t.”
Setting the Table for Home Staging, Answer These Questions First
Ask yourself these 6 questions to help you decide in any given home staging situation.
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- Who is the likely real estate buyer for this home staging project? What might they expect to see?
- Will setting the table be a distraction in this room or will it add to the ambiance I’m trying to create?
- Is it too difficult to imagine how someone would use this room without setting the table?
- Will showings and open houses be well-supervised? Cutlery is easy to steal and you don’t want kids playing with knives.
- What will you use to set the table? The client’s own tableware or will you have to rent or purchase what you need?
- Who will be responsible for broken dishes and glasses and are you prepared to deal with this?
When I Set the Table for Home Staging
I’ve been staging my own real estate properties to sell since 1996. In 2002 I started Six Elements, my own home staging business. Since that time, I’ve only set a table twice in hundreds of home staging projects!
In both cases it was because it was a very high priced home with a very large dining room.
I wanted to showcase how elegantly and comfortably 20 people could have a sit down dinner. After all, this would be an impossibility in most homes.
We used the client’s fine china and crystal for home staging.
I felt it was especially important to set the dining room table in these homes because their layouts made them ideal for entertaining.
Plus, the target market for such high priced, conservative homes in these “old money” neighborhoods was senior executives and their families. They would likely want to do some serious business and personal entertaining.
In smaller dining rooms I’m not a fan of setting the table for home staging. I think it’s distracting to see plates and glassware when the table top visually takes up most of the room.
In my opinion, setting a breakfast island looks too gimmicky. It screams “this home has been staged”, which is rarely a good idea.
It’s clear what a breakfast island can be used for so I don’t think it’s necessary to set up a contrived meal scenario. Unless of course the counter top is really ugly and you’d like to break it up a bit with placements, cereal bowls, etc.
As a general rule, when home staging typical family homes my preference is a nice centrepiece on a dining table rather than going with place settings.
I generally use a bowl of fruit on a kitchen counter and a simple flower arrangement on the kitchen table.
Overall, you could say I’m not a fan of setting the table for home staging. It can be super distracting, when our real job is selling the house!
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Photo by Sincerely Media
Hi Debra,
I am not a fan of setting the table either. I think when a table is set it looks staged. In a kitchen I prefer to stack a set of plates with a a few napkin rings along with a nice floral centerpiece for color. I also love the look of several vases the same color, varied height with flowers spread along the table.
Luisa – Thanks for sharing those awesome ideas, really appreciated!
I agree with you Debra that in most houses, setting the table for home staging looks gimmicky. If I were to set a table, under special situations such as the one you describe, I would make sure not to use cutlery as I’ve heard of the story of a real estate agent who was attacked by a client using a kitchen knife that was on display in the house they visited together. Although this is certainly not likely to happen often, I would definitely avoid the risk.
That’s quite a story Lyne, thanks for sharing!
Debra – thanks for your opinion on this. I like what you had to say and agree. One thing to note, though, is if I -do- stage a table for a “dinner party” look, I make sure I never put the knives on the table. I never want to put the realtor or fsbo owner in any danger of someone using one of those knives to hurt them. There was a realtor in Chicago who got killed when a supposed “buyer” came to the open house and used one of the knives on them. Thanks! Jill
Jill,
Danger-wise, I would be more worried about kitchen knives than the type you’d find on a dinner table, but I see your point. Overall, I’d be more worried about theft of nice tableware
There are many stories of terrible things happening to real estate agents during showings and open houses, glad that’s not my career.
Thanks for commenting!
I actually have a small staging project this week where I have to set the table (with a tablecloth) just b/c the table is fire damaged and there is no time or budget for a new table. I plan on keeping it simple but attractive. If it weren’t for the damage a nice centerpiece would work better in this casual dining space.
Lyn, I’m glad you brought up that example. That happened to me too once! I used a tablecloth but still only put a center arrangement rather than setting the table completely.
It was a Victorian home so I used a lace tablecloth that kept things nice and light. You could still see the wood table underneath but the lace disguised the damage.
I appreciate you bringing this topic up. I just did a home staging and struggled with whether or not to set the breakfast counter. My gut told me to not do it, as I have always felt it looked a little forced when I have seen it in other homes for sale. With a couple of stools at the counter, the suggestion is already there, and I feel staging is about suggesting to a potential buyer how they could live there.
the only time I have set tables has been when I’m staging a home for photos for a vacation rental. I think it works in this case because it allows online searchers to visualize themselves at the table with friends or family enjoying a relaxing meal.
That makes total sense Rob, thanks for sharing!
Our team sets the glass tables we use so that no one sits there. We found that the glass can be unstable on smaller bases and this prevents accidents. Otherwise we don’t do it.
Makes sense Jill, thanks for commenting!
We usually set just 1 dining table if there’s 2 like a breakfast nook and formal dining. We usually don’t set the table if its occupied because they are living there and need to use the table. Also depends on Style….minimalistic goes a long way. Thanks for bringing up topic!
And i don’t use utensils, just charger, plate, bowl, glasses, napkins.
Thanks for sharing your experience Melanie!
I like this it helped me thank you so much!!!!!!??
This is so helpful thx for putting this website or I could have never gotten my table done thx
It looks like this article has been ripped off by another blogger. Many parts of the article are word for word the same as the article on this page.
http://www.sandrabestdecor.com/en/2018/02/25/home-staging-tips-set-table/