I never tire of house hunting and it’s even more fun now that I’m a home stager and I also train home stagers. It’s fascinating to observe how people live in their homes and how they choose to present them for sale.
On this particular day, I toured 15 properties because I was actually considering buying.
Most of the homes were in desperate need of home staging, I really should have taken more pictures to show you! Some of the properties were so beautifully staged, even I fell in love with them. I seriously considered putting an offer on a house that was twice as big as I wanted because it looked so perfect!
And in other properties, the home stager went overboard into the realm of bad home staging. As soon as we walked into this condo bathroom and saw the shower, my daughter said, “Oh Mom you have to take a photo of this to show your Staging Diva students!”
She knew immediately— as I hope you do too— that this is an example of bad home staging.
You might find this an appealing vignette (or still life). I love the combination of red, black and white, so much so that I used these colors in my own home staging company’s logo.
But is this shower scene good home staging? It’s important to remember why we are staging a home in the first place.
How to Eliminate Bad Home Staging:
1. The whole point of home staging is to romance the buyer. You’re appealing to them on an emotional level, not a rational one. You want to create an environment they will want to imagine themselves living in. Give them that “this is home” feeling, even if they don’t consciously know exactly why.
2. The goal of home staging is to sell a home fast and for top dollar. When your home staging screams “I’ve been staged,” isn’t that a bit like putting up a sign that says, “This home has been decorated to help you offer more for it than you might otherwise have done”?Being subtle works better. In fact, I’ve previously gone so far as to say that great home staging is invisible.
3. While I applaud the home stager’s effort to carry her red pop of color (that appeared in every room), into this otherwise gray and white bathroom, it’s how she did it that I have an issue with. This shower stall floor is even more contrived than a tea tray on a bed (my other pet peeve). Yes, those are carefully placed glass stones surrounding the towels, candles, dried flowers and vase. I wonder how long she spent on this scheme?
4. Great home staging doesn’t distract from the home itself. In this case, I have no memory of the master bathroom other than this silly shower scene. Showcase the home’s best features and downplay the negative ones. Don’t keep people looking at “smoke and mirrors” instead of the home itself.
5. Don’t set something up that’s just begging to be undone. In fact that might be a quick test of whether it’s too contrived or not. Can’t you imagine some sassy potential buyers saying, “Let’s see how good the water pressure is in this shower!”
Home stagers, do you think I’m off base with my criticism of this carefully styled shower stall?
What other tips would you add to my list of how to avoid bad home staging?
Please share your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
A home stager since 2002, Debra Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program in 2005 to help others make a living from their creativity. Debra is the author of 5 guides including the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans.
Agree. When staging, I try to keep in mind, would I live like this in my own house? If not, I don’t do it.
Great way to look at it Mary Ann~
They way I looked at it was over decorated and trying to show a never before seen art. Mary Ann is right, you have to think of yourself living in the same place having this kind of staging. Thanks for sharing Debra.
Can’t WAIT to jump into that shower and break my neck!
I would not use really bright colors as the main color in rooms. I use more neutral and then add a pop of color.
That’s a great way to go Katie! I wrote another article about that which you might enjoy called: Home Staging Uses Color Repetition When Decorating a Home To Sell
You are bang on with your criticism of the bathroom. It also looks like they are trying to hide something. Also not what you hope to accomplish with staging.
Dianne, the funny thing was the rest of the condo was staged pretty well. Perhaps an overly enthusiastic assistant did the bathroom and the home stager didn’t have the heart to tell her how bad it was?
wow!
Hi Debra
Great article.
You where not off base with your criticism of the shower.
When I seen the pictures of the accessories in the shower I was amazed, I have never seen this before.
I have walked into a display home and there where so many accessories it was over whelming. This was a few years ago,however to this day all I can remember about the home was the how it was over styled with accessories
Less is more and this was over the top.
Less is more indeed! Thanks for sharing your feedback Sharon!
OMG. I didn’t even see the glass rocks until you pointed them out. How wrong is this. I often tell my clients that your home shouldn’t look staged. You want the potential buyer to think you live like this everyday and that you take care of your home. I also say to them that I will never do the tray and glasses on a bed ( my pet peeve as well ). Great article Debra.
Thanks Diana! Totally agree with your approach, appreciate you commenting! The little glass rocks really made it “special”. Had to share the close up of that detail so you guys wouldn’t miss that finishing touch 🙂
Hi, This is hilarious! As you said, the intention is good, but the execution is seriously deficient 🙂 It is so unrealistic, it’s funny.
Glad I could give you a staging inspired chuckle Sveta!
The colors are great! but the set up in the shower is all wrong. I sure can do wonders with the accessories outside of the shower.
Thanks for commenting Monica!
I actually agree 100%. I’m somewhat new to the industry, having only staged several of our own redeveloped homes, so this is some great advice. I love a nicely set table, but it is a dead giveaway that the home is ‘staged’. I’ll have to work on toning it down a notch. I have trouble editting myself, but seeing my pics, feel I need to focus a little bit more on the mantra “less is more” and become more of a minimalist. But I do also feel sparse staging is a big no no as well. Sticking a chair and an end table in the corner of a room and calling it a day is lazy staging! I always see it as my mission to allow people to see furnishings fitting in a space, so they know how it looks with furniture. Plus gives them ideas as to how they might set up their own furnishings in the space. Our last home sold, the buyers went out and bought the same exact pub table with seating for 8 that we had in there because it looked perfect for the space. So thank you for your input. Be blessed!
Thanks for commenting Julie, you make excellent points. Wishing you every success in your staging business!
Great article Deb. thanks so much.
This is so over the top it’s ridiculous. I think she’s trying to be creative but has forgotten the concept of why she is staging this bathroom. She needs to get out of her own way.
Deb I know one of your pet peeves is the tray on the bed, but one reason that I actually do that is because we use blow up mattresses and it discourages people from sitting on the beds. (for Vacant home)
My team also came up with a tip i hope you don’t mind me sharing,
We needed a white shower curtain but didn’t have one and the stores was far away, so we took an upside down white sheer and it looked amazing. For vacant homes this works wonderfully because it also allows the buyers to see the fixtures.
Fantastic ideas Michelle, thanks for sharing! I also love your rationale of when to use a tray on the bed, makes total sense.
My pet peeve is when you look at pictures online and the rooms look bare. Looks like no one lives there!
People comment and say this house has been staged. …..the wrong way.
Completely agree with you Helene!
I just purchased your course and I am excited get started! I have loved decorating and organizing since I was a child, I just need to know how to turn my passion into a business. With that being said, I agree that this shower staging is definitely over the top. I doubt anyone decorates the inside of their shower in real life with fake foliage and glass beads! A thought I had recently in regards to home staging is to think of a nice hotel. They are designed to look clean and inviting. The decor is generally simple yet bold; not a lot of small accessories, but rather a few items that make a big impact. The beds have neutral beddding with lots of layers and pillows to make them look inviting, and the bathrooms have white towels and shower curtains to give them a clean look. I’ve also noticed that hotels generally have a decor theme that runs through the entire hotel to help it look cohesive. While I’m not saying that a home should be staged exactly like a hotel, I do think there are elements of hotel decor that can be incorporated. Something else that has really stood out to me in reading your articles is that the homeowner needs to realize that decorating a home to be lived in is not the same as staging a home to sell. Obviously when we live in a house, we are going to have personal effects on display and functional items out because they are being used regularly, and a decorating style that appeals to us. A staged home needs to showcase the best features of the home and make it appealing to potential buyers.
Vicki, I just love that you brought up the idea of a nice hotel. That’s absolutely how I think about it too. And when I’m doing a home staging consultation at a home that the owners will be living in while it’s on the market, I often use that analogy when talking about how clean and uncluttered they’ll have to keep their bathroom (and everywhere else).
I say something like, “When you’re staying at a hotel, you don’t walk into the bathroom or bedroom and think of the thousands of other people who have used it before. Instead, you walk in and spread out your stuff and make it immediately your own. You want potential buyers to feel the same way.”
Thanks for commenting, you’ve got it exactly right!
I can’t help but wonder if there IS something wrong with the shower and this is how they are discouraging buyers from discovering it. Chipped tiles? Slow drain? And if that isn’t it then maybe this where the stager put all of her leftover decor. It is distracting either way and it raises eyebrows — not what buyers should be doing. I am new to this field but I prefer simplicity.
You’ve stated it perfectly Shauna! I had that thought too when seeing the place, “I would definitely turn that shower on before making an offer!”