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Vacant Home Staging Tips: How to Stage A Vacant Home

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My Home Staging tip series is back and I am so excited to be pulling together a webinar this Spring, but, in the mean time, all my insider tips are still going to be posted here every Monday. If you have been following along I tackled, home staging courses, part one of building your home staging portfolio, and the best tech tools, and today, I was going to tackle occupied consultation reports; however, I keep getting asked about how to handle your first vacant home staging. So, even though, I highly recommend to begin your home staging business with occupied properties while building your inventory for a vacant, I do want to answer the #1 question, how to stage a vacant home.

Vacant Home Staging Tips: How to Stage A Vacant Home

If you are just starting out in your home staging business or you have been only doing occupied home consultations and want to venture into the world of vacant home stagings, you might be wondering, where, how do I start. There are two easy ways to get started in the vacant home staging world until you can carry enough of your own inventory.

1 – Build Your Inventory with Occupied Consultations

When I started, naturally many of my first clients were occupied homes. Perfect, consultations was what I could handle. But, as it turned out, many of my clients needed pieces they were missing. For instance, a mirror or a side chair. Maybe two night-stands and matching lamps. Almost always, they were missing throw pillows, area rugs, mirrors or a floor lamp. Naturally, I let them know that I carried that inventory. If a client needed a lamp and rug, I would purchase that item. Then, rental fee is 20% retail price per month. For instance, if a floor lamp cost $80 retail, the rental fee was $16 per month. This began to build my inventory for when I was ready to do a full vacant.

2 – Use a Furniture Rental Company

If you get the phone call for a vacant, and you do not have heavy furnishings in your inventory yet, don’t say no. I didn’t ever turn down a job when I first started. So, how did I do it? I partnered with furniture showrooms and furniture rental companies like Brooks Furniture Rental and Cort. I also partnered with private showrooms. I wanted to build my inventory so I only rented heavy furnishings and made sure to bring in the lighter pieces myself; example, all accessories, pillows, art or mirrors.

An extra Vacant Home Staging Tip: OVER STAGE

The biggest mistake I see non-professional stagers making is not bringing in enough pieces, from heavy furnishings to accessories. The properties look bare. You can never over stage. Less is NOT more. Add five accent pillows on the bed or sofa instead of two. Layer your rugs, add coffee table books next to tiered candles and some coffee table knick knacks. Add side tables to the side chairs and a floor lamp, add add add. When the properties have just the basics, it still has a cold feeling. And that is not staging.

You are a marketing specialist selling a lifestyle dream. No one wants just the basics, they want it all. That cozy, warm, styled home.

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Comments

  1. robin rue says

    I have never heard of staging an empty house. I don’t think that has really caught on around here yet, but it should. What a great idea.

  3. Melissa Chapman says

    I am not ready to sell my home and am not in this business but my brothe-in-law is in realestate so I will share this with him. I think my house will be full when we sell it.

  4. Angela Tolsma says

    I have seen a few homes under staged and a few homes overstaged but in a good way. Overstaging makes a huge difference and I tend to be able to picture it better! I love the feel of a cozy home!

  5. Reesa says

    This seems to be a new trend now, selling a vacant home. These are some great tips for homeowners looking to sell.

  7. Karen Morse says

    I’m not thinking of selling the house but this is really good information. I think renting furniture makes it more convenient for people than to buy new ones!

  8. Beth Davidson says

    These are such good tips. When we sold our house in NC after moving to TN it was vacant for six months. Our realtor let the flooring people leave the bathroom in shambles for half of that! I think we would really have benefited from having the rest of the house full so the bathroom was less obvious.

  9. Toya says

    Thanks for a great article there were some great tips about staging. These are good things to keep in mind the next time i sell my home. Thank you.

  12. Serena says

    Such great tips. I’m a fan of staging a vacant house. It’s amazing just how much that helps potential buyers see their life there.

  15. Terri Steffes says

    This was really interesting. I always thought the purpose for staging was to reduce the clutter and personalization. I love that it is more than that!

  16. Jessica Joachim says

    I have always been fascinated with staging. I think it can really help sell a home, as a lot of people prefer seeing a furnished home to get an idea of what they want.

  17. Maria Katsulos says

    I looove watching HGTV, even though I don’t know the first thing about interior design, and this post made me feel like I was watching an episode of Property Brothers! Thanks for sharing!

  18. Jeanine Macintosh says

    I get staging the house for resale, not sure if I’d want leave it staged for a prolonged period though

  19. Carolyn says

    Great tips. I can tell when someone has just tried to leave a couch and bed to make the room look bigger. Staging can make all the difference.

  23. Britt says

    I’ve always been the worst when it comes with decorating. I am always up for any tips I can find!

  24. Jennifer Herrmann says

    Love this post Kiki! Super helpful. Question (if appropriate)…. do you keep a storage unit to house your inventory? How long did it take you to build it up? Thanks for sharing (as always!) xo Jen

    • Cecilia Cannon says

      Hi Jennifer – glad this helps some. Yes, I started in my garage and even my mom’s house. But a separate storage unit is a must with shelving and all. It actually doesn’t take too long, you can easily do it in 3-6 months. I am going to break it down more in more detailed posts too. However, remember, pieces can get such wear and tear that some things didn’t last as long as I had hoped so I have learned what do buy and what not. I will share all that too asap.

  25. Bobbi says

    I’ve never staged an unoccupied house before. That sounds like quite a challenge. Thanks for the great tips though. I’m going to bookmark this post just in case I need it in the future!

  26. Heather says

    Excellent tips! Staging is fun when you have a blank slate but that means you can definitely go overboard too. Using a rental company is a great idea!

  28. Debbie DeBerry says

    YES! I flip houses, and teach other women how to do so successfully as well. I cannot stress enough the importance of staging these vacant houses. I know for a fact that I get at least a $15,000 higher sales price, and my properties sell within just a few days because of staging.

    People do not buy houses, they buy homes. And if they cannot see how spaces work with furnishings in place, most people have a difficult time imagining it themselves.

    Additionally, our eyes scan spaces for something to latch onto, and if there isn’t furniture or accessories to distract them, our eyes tend to zero in on the negative things about a space.

    Great post!

  29. Carol says

    Perfect timing, my realtor and I are staging my empty CA home and are renting the furniture from a rental staging company. I needed to hear that less is more and the reason behind it. Thank you for this post.