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Preparing to Photography Your Property
Professional Staging vs DIY
Professional Staging Services
Professional staging is one of the most powerful ways to make your home stand out. While not every seller invests in it, those who do often save time, reduce stress, and maximize their return. A stager doesn’t just tidy up — they transform your home into a space that buyers can instantly imagine themselves living in.
Here’s how:
- Optimized layouts: Stagers evaluate the furniture arrangement in each room, creating functional zones and flow that highlight the best use of space. If something feels off, they’ll fix it.
- Smart furnishings: They’ll advise what stays, what goes, and may even provide rental furniture to fill gaps or elevate the look.
- Finishing touches: Decorative elements are carefully chosen to:
- Balance or complement room colors (sometimes with a pop of contrast).
- Draw attention to your home’s best features.
- Create a warm, welcoming environment that appeals to buyers.
Why go further than a simple clean-up? Because professional staging is about more than photos — it’s about creating an emotional connection. Buyers walk in and feel “this is the one.” That’s what sells homes faster and for more money.
Do it Yourself
Do-It-Yourself Staging
We all have a little “collector” inside us. Over time, that can mean counters full of gadgets, shelves packed with knick-knacks, or rooms crowded with furniture that no longer fits. It’s not hoarding — it’s just the everyday clutter of life.
The challenge is that clutter makes spaces feel smaller and distracts buyers from seeing your home’s true potential. That’s why the first rule of DIY staging is simple:
Clear and clean the counters. Then return just one or two decorative items.
This small step can have a big impact. While DIY efforts can go a long way, professional staging takes your home from “neat and tidy” to “irresistible.” And in today’s market, that can make all the difference.
DIY Checklist
General Preparation
- Clean: windows, mirrors, and floors
- Clean base boards.
- Paint wall scuffs
- Store all personal items – particularly personal imagery and information about children under the age of 18.
- Store religious items
- Store small interior rugs. These are not your area rugs. These are the small rugs that we use to hide or protect small areas of common use.
Exterior
- Generally, clean up the front and rear yards
- Clean pool and store all equipment used with the pool
- Store flags; hoses; gardening equipment; children’s toys; pet bowls, blankets, and chains.
- Clean Porch – remove any décor that you don’t intend to include with the home
- Check for pet waste and remove.
- Store garbage bins and any waste containers in the garage.
- Park cars away from the house or in the garage if there is room. Do not obstruct the view to the house or the garage.
Lighting
- Turn on all interior lighting – this includes cabinet lighting, nightstand lights, and any other secondary source of lighting in each room
- Replace any burnt out bulbs
Entry or Mud Room
- Store shoes in closets
- Store coats in closets
Kitchen
- Clear your counters and clean them. Add back up to three decorative items. Do not add back things like hand soap, cleaning sponges, phones, charging cords, etc. Add back appliances if they don’t clutter the space.
- Store all refrigerator bedazzling. This includes photographs, magnets, artwork, etc.
- Open curtains.
- Blinds should be set consistently open. They should all be set at approximately the same angle, and you should be able to see out of the room. If they are damaged and are not going to be replaced, you can roll them up. However, if you do this for one you should do it for all of them. Consistency is the key here.
Bathrooms
- Clear your counters and clean them. Add decorative items that don’t clutter the space. Do not add back things like hand soap, cleaning sponges, phones, charging cords, toothbrushes, hairbrushes, etc.
- Store toiletries. This includes toilet paper. Generally, I store toilet paper behind the toilet. It can’t be seen, and it is still available in the event of an emergency.
Bedrooms / Dining Rooms / Living Rooms – Main Living Spaces
- Blinds should be set consistently open. They should all be set at approximately the same angle, and you should be able to see out of the room. If they are damaged and are not going to be replaced, you can roll them up. However, if you do this for one you should do it for all of them. Consistency is the key here.
- Store area rugs under three feet on both sides. This does not include runners which are under three feet on only one side.
- Clear and clean all counters, nightstands, desks, and surface areas.
Pets
- The best choice is to have them boarded for the day. But this is not always an option. In these cases, they should be kept outside while the photographer is working inside and inside while the photographer is working outside.