Navigating the endless stream of home staging advice found online can be daunting. From tired, dated practices to hot new trends that should never have caught on, here are a few home staging practices whose time has come — and gone.
Cringeworthy home staging practices that need to die
Layering area rugs over carpeting
Well over a decade ago, this became one of the first trends to blur the lines between home staging and interior design. It’s time this practice got back in its own lane.
Layering a rug over carpeting interrupts the continuous room-to-room flow, visually chops up the space and can actually make a room feel smaller — the exact opposite of what good home staging can and should accomplish. You also don’t want potential buyers wondering if you’re sweeping something under the rug. If there’s an issue, address it — don’t hide it.
Throw blankets over furniture
It takes a surprising amount of finesse to make those casually tossed throws look picture-perfect. But maintaining that kind of photogenic precision is a challenge for the average homeowner, and that perfectly placed throw can look messy in no time.
Besides the problem with maintaining the look, as a professional MLS troll, I see tossed throws everywhere. Too much, in fact. Draped over the sofa. Tossed across the chair. At the foot of the bed. Sometimes multiple times in the same room. Enough already!
What started as a way to add a touch of visual softness has now turned into clutter. I’ll concede that this practice doesn’t need to retire completely, but we definitely need to rethink how often it gets tossed around.
Creating a feature wall with paint
Painting one wall in a room a contrasting color was once a major decorating trend, and for reasons unbeknownst to me, it’s starting to make a comeback. Just — why? The entire purpose of staging a listing for market is to draw the buyer’s attention to the features of the space — not create a feature simply to get their attention.
A contrasting wall color is a design statement. It visually chops up the room and commands attention whether that wall deserves it or not. If you want buyers to notice the fireplace, the view, architectural details or simply how spacious the room feels, a feature wall will compete with everything you’re trying to showcase.
Reinventing formal living and dining rooms
Formal living and dining rooms are supposedly falling out of favor with today’s buyers — and apparently that means we need to find something else for them to do, right? Not so fast.
If a home has a formal living room or dining room, that’s what buyers expect to see. Don’t leave them feeling short-changed by turning the living room into a playroom or the dining room into a home office.
Flex space is a great marketing tool, but not when it requires sacrificing a main living area. Instead, make those spaces a little less formal and a lot more livable. A home office, playroom or workout space should feel like a bonus — not a trade-off.
If you have an extra bedroom or out-of-the-way area, great! Flex away. But don’t take a formal dining room off the table just because dining rooms aren’t currently trending.
Setting the table
Anyone who’s ever taken a class with me already knows this is my biggest pet peeve. Think about it: You’ve just spent hours, days, weeks — maybe even months — boxing up all that clutter, only to add it right back to the top of the table. It totally defeats the purpose.
I understand the thinking behind it: Buyers walking through the listing will now be able to imagine themselves enjoying dinner in this lovely space.
But I don’t recommend setting the table or adding place settings to kitchen islands for the same reason I don’t recommend homeowners remain in bed during showings — buyers already understand the purpose of the dining room and kitchen island just like they understand the purpose of the primary bedroom. You don’t need to be so obvious to get the point across.
Contrived vignettes
This practice walks hand-in-hand with setting the table but takes it to a whole other level by scattering these little scenes all over the home. The cozy corner nook with a big comfy chair, casually tossed throw and open book topped with a pair of reading glasses. The breakfast tray on the bed with a faux rose, neatly folded newspaper, and a teacup and saucer. The list goes on and on.
The truth is that these vignettes look exactly like what they are — contrived. Worse yet, they draw attention to all the stuff you’ve added instead of the positive features you’re trying to showcase. Buyers don’t need you to create a storyline for every corner of the house. Let the space tell its own story.
At the end of the day, this is home staging, not styling or set design. I vote we finally retire these staging practices in 2027 and get back to showcasing the home instead of the staging.
