Why Staging an Open Floor Plan Home Requires Special Considerations

If you’re an agent reading this now, HOW many times have you heard the refrain of your buyers wanting an open floor plan. I get it… they have so many benefits to our casual life style – especially here in Sunny SoCal! But they can prove to be a little challenging when in comes to staging.

WHY? Each family uses the open concept just a little bit differently and it’s up the individual stager to figure out just how to make your listing appeal to the MOST buyers. Read on!

#1: Staging Helps Clearly Define Areas

It’s good to note first, that if we’re staging the house for your listing, we’re going to be focus on the target demographic for your neighborhood when we style your home. That’s part of our job. If you’re doing this on your own property, you’ll want to have a frank coversation with your agent about just who your buyer is and what their top goals are and do your best to address them.

An open floor plan gives you the opportunity to create multiple spaces within one larger spaces; creating a several smaller rooms. The use of area rugs can help to define the smaller spaces. Some ideas?

*A gaming area. This can be defined with a table set for game night with chairs and even a cleverly styled game board, cards, or other styling props.

*A smaller, cosy seating area WITHOUT the television. Picture a small area set up a small table, a reading light and a stack of books or home decor magazines.

#2: Staging Creates a Flow from Room to Room

While you’re creating these smaller spaces, you’ll want to watch those traffic patterns! It’s always really important to maintain a good flow throughout the home. Here’s a tip:

Stand at the entrance to your room – without furniture if you can (it’s what we do when we’re staging an empty house!). Where does your eye go? Where is the next most important space you want the buyer to go? Make sure they can get there but positioning the furniture and the furniture groupings together in such a way that the path is clear. Just because you have a lot of space? It doesn’t mean you need to fill it!

#3: Staging Unifies the Various Spaces

In any home you’re selling, it’s tremendously important to have great flow between all the spaces {link to blog article discussing the best staging tips}. But in a great room or any open concept space it becomes even more important. A lack of cohesion will result in a jumbled, cluttered look. NOT the desired effect you want when selling your home.

One final note? Don’t be afraid to pull a switch up on your staging floor plans. We’ve staged plenty of homes where remodels were done that left everyone scratching their heads wondering what to do with these new “improved” (not!) spaces. By flipping these questionable spaces and giving them a new purpose, we created open concepts where they did not exist before. All without moving a wall.