What you feel when you enter a house is dependent on what your senses encounter within the first 7 seconds. That goes for touring a potential home for purchase or browsing a vacation rental site to make a booking. Within 7 seconds, the average person has made up their mind based on how the property makes them feel. This is one reason why staging/design Step #1 for me involves walking through room by room and imagining what it would be like to live there.
I am currently working with a friend who owns a number of small, starter homes and the principles I use for staging larger homes work the same with these. My aim is to create an atmosphere of beauty and order. An empty house is easier in some ways, and harder in others. Empty means you can do whatever you want, but you supply everything. Furnished means you have a starting place, but often the furnishings are less than ideal. Either way, I begin by imagining what people will be doing in each of the rooms.
Let’s think about the living room or main ‘public’ room in a house. Furniture backed up against the walls does not spark a cozy feeling and often gives the room an off-balance feel. Try to imagine seating areas where lively conversation can take place and entering the room makes your heart happy—that is the feeling you want to create. I don’t stage or design a room around a television, although I make space for one. People interacting with guests is where I begin and that usually involves 4 chairs in a group (could be a sofa and 2 chairs). I use area rugs to create ‘boundaries’ for the conversation space and I fill in the blank spaces with decor vignettes and lots of candles.
What about candles? Personally, I don’t think you can have too many. At home, I mostly use battery powered tea lights with a remote control, and I use real candles sparingly, mainly for the scent. The first thing I do when I get home is click the remote to light all the candles in the house. The soft beauty is like a welcome home to me. When photographing a house for a real estate site or a vacation rental site, I always have the candles lit. Remember, you only have 7 seconds to catch their attention and touch their hearts with the feeling that they would love to live in this place.
For more about the 7 second rule as well as staging tips and tricks illustrated in full, order my home staging book, 7 Seconds: How To Leverage The Seven Second Rule In Your Home Designs and Real Estate Investments Second Edition. You will be glad you did.
Changing the atmosphere,
Karen Conrad Metcalfe
PS. For staging tips and tricks illustrated in full, before/after color, order my home staging book, 7 Seconds: How To Leverage The Seven Second Rule In Your Home Designs and Real Estate Investments Second Edition.