Beginner Home Stagers worry they'll have nothing to recommend

One of the concerns or questions that always comes up with my new Staging Diva students is

What do I do if the house looks so great there is nothing for me to recommend?

Trust me, that won't happen! Every house has something that needs to be moved around, removed or added before it goes on the market.

Decorating to sell is not the same as decorating to live which is why there is always something to do. Take this living room at right. All the contents were already in the house when I arrived. But not in the same places as you see here!

At the start of my Home Staging by Design client consultation, it was difficult to walk through the living room because of the placement of the chairs. The corner to the left of the fireplace was empty and the plant that currently occupies that space was in an awkward spot in the crowded dining room. The fireplace mantle was covered in family photos and figurines and the hearth was covered in small plants. There was no lamp beside the couch, I found this beautiful one in a basement guest room!

While what we do may seem obvious to us at times, it isn't obvious to the clients we serve. They don't bring the same eye to their home that we do for two key reasons:

• very few home staging clients can look at their own homes as objectively as they should before putting them on the market

• the general population doesn't have the same design and color sense we do

If you would like more direction about what to do in a home staging client consultation, you might be interested in "Taking the Mystery out of Home Staging Client Consultations." You can take this course live with The Staging Diva in one evening by phone from the comfort of your own home.