Top Staging Props for Preparing a Home for Sale

When preparing your home for buyers, staging is bigger than you may think, at least for the photos. Did you know 90% of buyer decide to look at a home from photos they have seen online? Check out my 6 top staging props.

• Bowl of lemons

I love seeing a glass bowl of lemons on a kitchen countertop or island. Whether you use a ceramic platter, a wooden bowl or a basket — the pretty effect is the same.

Think of lemons as the default dining room centerpiece, the perfect prop for completing a staged beverage bar of glassware, or the easiest way to dress up a foyer tabletop.

There are a couple reasons why I rate lemons high for home staging. One is that nobody is tempted to try and eat them the way they would apples or pears. They’re clearly decorative. The other reason is that lemons represent freshness. They’re tangy and fragrant, and even if you’re staging with fake lemons, the message is the same: clean and fresh.

• Plants

The one thing that adds more life to a room is plants.  Knowing where you want to stage with plants is the first and most essential step—and it’s not just about finding the best spots where plants can help your house sell.

Plants soften the room and allow you to add a little outdoors in. They also provide additional height to create vertical interest and great balance.

It is a simple and low cost decorative piece that can add the perfect cozy touch to make potential buyers feel at home! Knowing where to put plants before you buy is essential though. Palms, faux Fig trees and Grasses are my favorites to stage with. When picking out house plants for staging. I also love to use woven baskets as my planters.

I like to put plants in the home’s entryway, and on tables, like the kitchen and dining room tables, and bedside tables.

Also, if you have any awkward, empty spaces that you don’t know what to do with it, fill it with a taller plant in a good-sized pot to give the area purpose.

• Plush towels

New towels are a must for dressing up a bath and this one of the cheapest and easiest staging props. Face it — towels age and although they work just fine for everyday use, when you’re aiming for that clean, comfy look, you want fat and fluffy new ones. I always suggest white ones unless the entire bathroom is white. White towels will always work in someone’s next home.

• Large landscape paintings

This prop might be a tad more difficult to locate and afford, but the results are dynamic. A landscape painting literally opens up a room. The most economical sources are the usual second-hand places we all love (eBay, thrift stores, garage sales), but you can also buy budget-friendly new artwork that works fine.

Your landscape could be a beach, forest, city, mountain or rural scene. Make it match the mood of the home — abstract watercolor you create yourself, one of your own photos blown up big and framed, a colorful travel poster, or a sophisticated black and white photograph.

• Matched Table Lamps

Tour model houses and study photos of professionally designed rooms, you’ll notice how often the savvy decorators who plan these rooms use pairs of lamps.

Anytime a pair of anything is used as a decorating prop, there’s a sense of order and quality. Rooms done on a shoestring from castoffs lack the cohesiveness that twosomes add to a space.

Although you might be home staging on a shoestring, the last thing you want is to look like money’s a problem. Buyers’ perceptions of your financial situation will influence the purchase price they offer you. Write that down!  Look wealthy. Look generous. Look comfortable. Don’t look needy or you’ll attract “bottom-feeders.”

A pair of table lamps in the bedroom or living room will help you pull off mismatched nightstands or side tables.

The lamps should be placed close enough so that they are both visible in a glance, such as on either side of a couch or bed. Their shades should match, and they should both be on the same level.  Walk through the home to make sure you haven’t separated a matched pair of lamps, and then reunite them for staging.

• Plump pillows

Pillows are one of the absolute best ways to add another layer to a room’s decor.

I recommend pillows in colors that flow seamlessly with the color scheme of the room rather than oft-touted pops of color. You can still have fun with geometrics, textural fabrics, dressmaker details, and animal prints.

What to avoid: Cute sayings on pillows, pillows flattened by age, stiff pillows that don’t look comfortable, and an excess of pillows on any bed, sofa or chair.

If you make your pillow insert slightly larger than the pillow cover, you’ll have a nice, plump pillow. Pillows add the custom details that give a room some interest and make a room look finished. They also suggest hominess and comfort.

Staging props are key to creating a room that buyers can see themselves and their belongings in. Neutral, but attractive. A soft and comfortable feeling is the goal.  Things to avoid according to the National Association of REALTORS