Silly home staging tricks are the gimmicks you often see that distract potential buyers from what they “should” be looking at. Namely, the room they’re standing in!
Simplicity is the essence of great real estate staging.
When home staging is over contrived, it fails miserably in our mission of romancing the prospective home buyer.
Must we continue to see tea trays carefully perched at a forty five degree angle at the end of a bed?
Or towels in a bathroom with a star fish and shell collection perched carefully on top?
Do I sound crabby (pun intended) saying I find that more annoying than relaxing?
The best (and most effective) home staging is invisible in my opinion.
Home staging tricks are on TV too
I saw a home staging segment on HGTV awhile back.
The staging team hung tassels around hand towels. They emptied lentils onto charger plates on the dining room table as a decorative touch.
Are prospective home buyers to think the family lives this way?
Will visitors imagine themselves living that way in such a dream home and want it for themselves too?
I’m picturing this scenario. Wife calls out, “Don’t forget to put that shell collection back on your towel after you dry off!”
Silly home staging tricks can backfire
Why not just run a special headline across the real agent’s Feature Sheet that says:
“Notice the special details to delight and surprise you in every room. This home has been decorated to make you pay as much as possible for it.”
What are the silliest home staging tricks you’ve seen?
Home buyers, real estate agents, fellow home stagers:
Please add your comments below on your pet peeves and the Silly Staging Tricks you’ve seen.
I’m assembling a list of bad staging ideas to share with everyone. It will be funny and at the same time educational for anyone wanting to effectively decorate homes to sell quickly and for top dollar.
There’s no need to insult home buyers intelligence 🙂
Want Help With Home Staging Design?
In the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans, I teach you how to pull a room together properly.
Potential buyers feel instantly that this could be their home because they’re immediately comfortable.
Rather than distracting them with overly contrived vignettes, you’ll learn to showcase a home to be seen in it’s best light.
Although I do think the seashell on top of the towels and tassels hung on hand towels are a bit excessive, I do believe in evoking a spa-like mood in a bathroom, especially a master suite. I do not necessary disagree with the lentils used in a table scape with candles or whatever. My staging practices are not so extreme that the sellers cannot “live” comfortably in their own home. I think my interior design background helps me to stage a home effectively, practically, and still evoke that wow! factor when a buyer enters a home.
I’ve just spent a week looking at open housed and model homes in Florida. I found the fake food on the counters and at the table settings to be distracting and ugly (especially the plastic fish!) It seems every dining table had a huge flower arrangement you would never use because you could not see the person across the table from you. Great lessons for me of things “not to do”.
Fake food and plastic fish really won’t help anyone fall in love with a house! Thanks for sharing these great examples Mary Ann!
I think that it’s safe to say that we’ve all done staging faux pas – myself included! So, it is with great humbleness (and much exasperation), that I express what makes me cringe: “The Diagonal Throw” It’s diagonal across the end of the couch, it’s diagonal across the end of the bed….it’s everywhere…and it’s diagonal. To me, nothing says, “I’m staged…and I’m staged unrealistically,” like a diagonal throw strategically placed, but with effort made to look like it was an afterthought. It’s so common that, after a consultation, even one of my clients did it on her own!
We are supposed to be creative, practical and resourceful people, so let’s use those “throws” in new and creative ways!
My pet peeve is the “motel” art on walls I’ve seen on some staging jobs. I think some stagers should make a better effort to find interesting pieces that truly suit the room, not necessarily cheap prints typically found at a Day’s Inn or Motel 6 to fill an empty space. Another pet peeve is fully set dining tables – stacked plates with a bowl on top at each seat, fancy silver ware, water glasses and wine glasses and all other serving items suited for a super fancy formal dining extravaganza! Is it really necessary to spend all that money on those things? I think not.
I agree that over-contriving (as in any situation, really) casts a feeling of falseness that can immediately kill a deal… why risk it?
What makes me cringe is the diagonal oh so perfectly placed rug to give the impression of a bed. To complete the look throw in a few toss pillows, a book and a few candles. Drives me crazy…… Guess we have all slept on the floor at some point in our lives. Not a good look for potential buyers.
I am not a home stager…yet… but I am searching the market for a new home. So far, the most ridiculous “prop” I recently saw on a freezing Toronto Winter day, with snow piled high outside, was a bathtub filled with blue colored water. Even if the room size hadn’t been miniscule it would have been a stretch. From a home buyer’s perspective I say, “leave out the cheesy stuff and stage the home simply and elegantly; buyers are just not that dumb!”
Please…no more champagne flutes or wine glasses sitting strategically placed next to an open bottle. Enough is enough!
And I agree with Libby, no one lives in a house with a fully set formal dining table. That is just wrong.
In defense of the “diagonal throw” I find it useful to break up the solid color of a couch or bed, and create an organic line against boxy furniture. A home being shown is a house without people, and I find providing some of the comforts of people, a throw or a tea pot, helps the viewer complete the fantasy of what life could be like in that house.
I really don’t like fabric over small tables to pretend they are end tables. Unless it’s done well, it just looks chintzy.
I will certainly be following this thread to see what other faux pas I’ve committed as a stager!!
I am eagerly awaiting the end of this school year (kids) to begin my course and business, but having been in the real estate world I’ve seen it all. My in-laws are brokers in another state, and said a certain realtor kind of “stages” her homes and puts flowers and candles out. Well, we all know it’s a bit more than that, right girls! So I happened upon one of her listings. It was a nice home, and she definitely loves the flowers. I have to say, they were so huge, and ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE!, that I felt even through the computer screen that I would be swallowed up by them. I mean, they were so incredibly huge, I laughed out loud, they were so tacky, and so everywhere! Plus, they purposefully put PERSONAL picures everywhere, for a touch! In the bathrooms, by the sink, by the kitchen sink, and you can tell they did it on purpose like it was a good thing. Oh, and one last thing (or two) about the place. They must have gotten too enamoured with the flowers and pictures, or maybe they were supposed to take the buyers’ attention off of the other things, but: They left like a thousand of those alphabet magnet letters all over the fridge, they had a small kids’ sized living room chair (not matching) in the living room, and, oh, they forgot to tell them to take the giant bird that is perched on the wall above the sofa as if it is going to attack the buyer as they make a bad comment down, for goodness sake, it looks so tacky! I could go on, but just suffice it to say, that the realtors do not know home staging like we do! They need us, folks, desperately! I cannot WAIT to get them some help! Wait till their homes start selling better!
Keep these pet peeves coming! You’ve added great stuff to our growing list of Stupid Staging Tricks, thank you!
Blue water sitting in a bathtub is one I hadn’t seen, how awful, especially on a cold winter day.
I agree throws break up a solid surface like a bed or chair and provide a comforting touch, the trick is not such a perfect diagonal.
I find a fully set table distracts from a room, there’s just so much to look at. The worst example of this I saw though was a badly set table. Some places were missing cutlery (perhaps pilfered by open house visitors?), there were no napkins or place mats and all the dishes and cutlery were just floating on a glass top table.
I have to admit, I have used the set dining room table in the past. I now know that it’s not that realistic and don’t choose to do the “Full Monty” I do like to have a either placemats or runners and a centre piece. One of my pet peeves is diagonal beds when they don’t need to be on a diagonal for space sake. I think it screams “staged home” to me, but that’s just my opinion. I like to fold my throws into 1/2 and then thirds and drape it over the end of a couch or chair; as for a throw on a bed I usually place it folded at the end.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, there’s more stupid staging tricks to be seen….and quickly forgotten!
I recently visited an open house that a builder had staged to sell as their model.
Left out on the kitchen counter was a plate, a cookie sheet and baking utensils scattered on the stove. The plate was full of delicious painted “plaster of paris” cookies with dust on them, a mixing bowl full of the same and a couple of drinking glasses with last weeks Kool-aid in them. Nothing says ” I have to have this house” more than some dirty plaster, rock hard cookies and Kool-Aid.
This same stager(?) must not have asked for an accessory budget. In one of 3 bedrooms, all without furniture, 2 queen size flat sheets were hung (with nails showing) from the ceiling, draping down where a bed should have been. On the floor was a rug and few throw pillows( ready for the Goodwill) to imitate a bed.
Childs shoes were nailed and painted to the walls for coat hooks. Now I can truly say, ” I’ve seen it all.”
The upshot was I contacted the builder. He hired me and loved the results. 5 pending sales in one month after 6 months without one offer. That’s how you make lemonade out of lemons!
Well done for turning this around to your advantage and of course the builders too
I am not a professional stager (yet), but I think I have good instincts. I have staged my house for sale in the Los Angeles area and get nice comments. Yes, I have the set dining room table because the glass top was too “cold” for winter. Yes, I have the shell soap on the color-coordinated angled handtowel in the baths (I had the soap already!) The level of staging to me is all about who the buyer is, what they are familiar with, comfortable with, understand. I use silk plants and lighting to help my almost empty home have energy. That said, when my husband and I were choosing a home to buy out of state, we ran across the most gagging screaming staged resale home ever — it had music piped through the sound system, and empty labeled cans in the cupboard. I was able to see that these gimmicks were eye candy diversions to some obvious flaws and couldn’t get out of the place fast enough. While I appreciate the effort, it was just too weird for me!
These are GREAT stories! Keep them coming I know they’re greatly appreciated by readers. It really is amazing what lengths people will go to. Is it possible that they REALLY believe these tricks will work?
Have you heard about the stagers who replace the family photos with fake ones of more attractive people? The “logic” being if prospective buyers see that really gorgeous people live in the home, they’ll aspire to live there too. Can you imagine trying to sell this practice to a client? What would they say, “your family is great for you, but this one looks better for buyers”?
Personally, I think family photos have no place in a staged home. All they do is remind buyers that they’re walking through someone else’s personal space. Better to replace all photos with attractive art that complement the room and decor.
I recently went back to college and graduated with a degree in Interior Design, and soon, with Debra’s expert advice, will open my own business from a home studio. My own subdivision has several unsold homes…what better opportunity could there be? On the Stupid Staging Tricks, I agree with Kathy Somers…what is with everyone putting beds and sofas on the diagonal?…even on most shows on TV…when only now and then it is actually a good thing! My pet peeve is when people copy what everyone else is doing, without first thinking about the space involved. I hate seeing the diagonal bed, leaving the ever awkward empty corner behind the head board (not a good thing in Feng Shui), and the things they come up with to fill that space…like a live potted palm…and how do you get to it to water it? There is no room for bedside tables that can actually be reached from the bed, and no room to open any drawers! Many times there isn’t space left for a chest or dresser. I feel that things should look and be natural and practical, even though they are staged! It is possible to achieve both. Just stop and think about how something is used in everyday life…after all, we do live in our homes. Then play off that basic foundation with a designers touch! That doesn’t mean that an ordinary thing can’t be used in an unusual way…a touch of whimsy is always fun!
Congratulations Judith on completing the Staging Diva Training Program I look forward to sharing news about your business on my blog!
I agree with you and Kathy about the diagonal placement of a bed, I’ve yet to see it actually work and it IS terrible from a feng shui perspective.
If the buyer can’t go into the master bedroom and see how they can live in there with all their furniture, they’ll conclude the room doesn’t work for them. At minimum there needs to be a bed with usable night tables on each side, one long dresser and one high boy dresser or chest. If that means a double bed instead of a queen then I’d rather do that.
This may not be a trick, but I find it stupid. Staged by………….. signs everywhere. From the open house ad, to the front yard, to the signs in the house.
Sorry, may be good for your staging business and that is questionable, but is not good for selling the house. Marketing is wonderful this just is not the place.
Kathleen Lordbock
Re$ale Design & Home Staging
Brainerd, MN
PS I would put out cards for the agents’ only tour.
As several of you have already mentioned for me it’s the whole 45 degree (diagonal) thing. Please tell me what differnece it makes???? From throws to whole room settings, I’m afraid diagonal is not for me. It’s just not practical, uses up more space and often looks just plain weird!
I have read all the comments and I have to say that I have seen a lot of them. I have been in new home sales for the last 4 years and have seen many model homes staged. The throws are huge,,they are everywhere, the tray at the end of the bed with wine glasses on it I have seen EVERYWHERE,,,and I always thought, do normal people have this? It seems that in model homes the tables are always set,,but I just started with a new builder and they have nothing on the dining room tables, not even a centerpiece. It looks very clean and uncluttered actually. I started my staging business a few months ago and the first staging consultation that I had, the woman was absolutely floored when I told her she had to get rid of all the personal photos, she said “but I thought that it would a good touch, I went to a house where they had gorgeous children” I said,,well, what did you remember to this day about that house? The gorgeous children! That is not what you want people to remember. Also, I worked in a model home where the decorator put out framed pictures of famous people,,that never did sit well with me, would we do that in our own homes? People would look at us pretty weird if they walked into our master bedroom and saw a framed picture of Sarah Jessica Parker on the nightstand. I think that if only people understood that a house that is clean, uncluttered, and depersonalized sells! It really is simple,,that is why I named my business Simplystaged,,it doesn’t have to be complicated.
Oooooh, so many tacky ideas. For me, the use of ribbons, bows and raffia tied to curtains, bath towels, shower curtains, above door frames – everything – it’s too contrived and very unsophisticated. Off with the raffia!!
These comments are great! Thanks everyone for contributing to the discussion! Keep the ideas coming.
I agree with Kathleen about not promoting yourself as a stager in a home you’ve done. It is totally not in your client’s best interest. You can read an article I wrote on that here:
https://stagingdiva.com/homestagingbusiness/home-stagers-sacrifice-clients-with-lawn-signs/
I join all of the other contributors in their dislike of certain staging practices. My idea of presenting real estate to the buying public is to do it simply and elegantly without a lot of the obvious and superficial “doo-dads” that we see appearing at some Open Houses. My favorite comment from a Realtor visiting one of my staged homes was that he “didn’t know whether it was simply well-staged or that the owners just had great taste”. Surely, that is what we should be aiming for. I have been at Open Houses where buyers have made derrogatory comments (with a rolling of the eyes and a “knowing” look on their faces that the property they were viewing was “STAGED!”), as if the sellers/realtor/stagers were trying to get something over on the buying public. Hmmm… I don’t think we want to encourage that impression.
Which brings me to several of my staging pet peeves: Realtors or Stagers who bring in spring-flowering plants and let them die from neglect, leaving them in place for all to see; being so skimpy on the staging that they might as well not have bothered; leaving plastic covers on rental beds under the coverlets – it sounds and feels crackly to buyers who sit on the beds (and yes, I know they shouldn’t sit but they do if they like the room enough and they want to hang out for a bit); those awful vignettes/tablescapes that have scrunched-up fabric and accessories all over the dining room table. Can you imagine what a home-owner would have to do to sit down and have a meal at one of those tables? Let’s get real – a lovely, simple arrangement of fresh flowers or a beautiful, appropriate flowering plant and a couple of candles – that is how most people live or want to live.
My advice for new stagers – keep your marketing efforts for the Brokers’ Open Houses. They are the ones who might be looking for stagers, not the buying public. I have found that the Brokers/Realtors will not be aware of what miracles you have performed on a house unless you are there at the Brokers’ Open with your before/after pictures. I don’t know why more stagers don’t use this valuable time for marketing their services.
Laurie Dawes
Sense-Appeal,
Homes & Gardens, Staging and Design
Sausalito, CA
As we have moved into the model home market in our area, we have noted more and more elaborate stagings. Everything from “fake” family photos to overstuffed dining room tables. More is NOT better! I wish some stagers would learn that the point is not to have buyers look at how great our STUFF is but it is about the space…No more “fake” cookies and milk and no more monkey candleholders on the night stands. We do not set place settings on the table as we feel dusty dishes won’t entice buyers and we also do not use fake trees to fill up empty corners. This is a great list.
I think many confuse staging with ‘model’ home decorating. We (stagers) have varing styles which I think makes it easier for home owners looking for a good fit to find someone with style they feel will appreciate.
Tricks to me are the ‘unethical’ myths we hear about staging…hiding problems in a property.
There are definately some stupid ‘things’ I’ve seen. There is a stager in Durham Region who is notorious for using those frames which hold multiple photos…but she never takes out the original manufacturers ‘fotos’ with models and the manufacturer’s name on them!
Now that is stupid!
Oh, she also uses a bunch of ‘art’ as a series from Zellers but she will have multiples of the same piece in the series.
Upon reading your post ” Stupid Staging Tricks – Home Staging Business Report “, I eventually made the decision to bookmark it on Google. This is definitely a great material to discuss to some people
I’ve been reading all the comments with great interest. I’ve also been reading a lot about ‘staging’ inside of cupboards and closets as well. Making storage areas look less cluttered, I get but how far does one go? Would love to hear more about specifics.
Great question Kathy. I’ve written hundreds of articles on how to stage a home. You’ll find them in this category.
I’ve also written a best-selling guide on this topic, Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans. You can read the table of contents and get it here.
Thanks for commenting!