Back to the Basics – Furniture Arrangement

We continue with our back to the home staging basics with an examination of Furniture Arrangement.

Furniture arrangement can help define the focal points and deliver the easy flow of a home.  It can make the house feel neat, ordered and in proper perspective.  Furniture arrangement can help make sense of the house and its functions or it can create questions and confusion.

A couple of important questions that I ask as I am assessing a house for the furniture arrangement include:

·         What role does this room play in the house? 

·         Does the furniture make sense for this space?
·         Are there pieces of furniture that are inconsistent with the purpose of the room? 
·         Does the furniture arrangement enhance or detract from the room’s best features?

Each room in a home should have a clear purpose and be staged to enhance its original intent.

We use photos today of a past staging project (Evergreen).  As you can see from the “before” pre-staging picture, this room was used and furnished as a home office. 

To get a perspective on the situation, think of a traditional home built in the 1970s. You enter the front door, and you notice the formal living room off the small entry to the right.  Then you look left and see the…… home office (?) or is it the dining room (?).  If it’s the home office then where is the dining room (?)  This arrangement created questions and confusion, immediately upon entering the house.

As you can see from the “after” staging picture, this room is now staged to enhance the original intent as a formal dining room.  We brought in a dining room table and chairs and placed it on a more proportional rug, accessorized the table, hung some silk drapery panels, added some artwork and positioned the chandelier over the table. 

Voila!  The room looks ready for a dinner party!  The furniture is arranged to enhance the room’s original intent. 

You can experience the full impact of professional home staging on this Evergreen house by visiting our Transitions website at http://www.transitions-home-staging.com/Evergreen---Bartlesville.html. 

Furniture arrangement is another area in which the art of professional staging is on display.  Furnishings should complement the space, not take it over.  It is not simply a matter of moving a couch and chair.  And it takes skill and experience to create that effect in most houses. 

With a professionally staged house, buyers do imagine living in that house and making it their home.  And, isn’t this why we staged the home in the first place?

Dwell in possibilities!

Cindy