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Staging the Bedroom

Techniques > Home Staging > Staging the Bedroom

The sense of the room | Staging the room | See also

The sense of the room

A bedroom is a very private space. It is a cave, a place of retreat, where people can go to escape from the world. It is where they can be themself. In the bedroom, they get up to all kinds of activities that might even shock other people. Visually, bedrooms should generally be tranquil and serene, though perhaps with a hint of excitement.

Staging the room 

Make sure the room is neat and tidy. Clean mirrors and other surfaces. Take care to ensure there is a pleasant, clean fragrance.

Particular care should be taken with the master bedroom, as this is where your buyers will be sleeping. Make sure it is light, airy, clean and subtly romantic.

Bed

We spend much of our lives in bed and it is the central piece of the bedroom. The bed should have clean and smooth bedclothes and be made up tidily. Bedclothes should be white or pale colors. It is common to place small cushions around the pillows and have some other partial cover, which are removed at night.

Decorate the bed as per current fashion, for example with matched cushions, foot runners, etc. Put in a dash of red to indicate possible thrills.

The bed is, of course, also a place of romance and very close encounters. It is often best to play this down as people don't like to think of others cavorting in 'their' bedroom (or even house).

Bedside table

Bedside tables should be clear other than a light and perhaps a simple adornment. Clear away any books, magazines, medicines, etc.

Clothes storage

Whilst visitors may not want to see your clothes, they are likely to want to see the space available to put their clothes, so showing them inside cupboards, drawers, wardrobes and closets is a good idea, which means what you have inside these should be neat and tidy.

Line up clothes on hangars to look tidy, for example sorting shirts or dresses by color or length. Ensure all clothes on shelves or in draws are neatly folded.

Avoid having clothes squashed into drawers, on shelves and in hanging spaces, as this implies there will not be enough space for the buyer's clothes. Put a few extra nice clothes hangars in the remaining space.

When there are sloping ceilings, the lower part where you cannot easily walk can be a useful place to put storage.

Dressing table

Ensure the dressing table is clean and largely empty, other than perhaps a few ornaments. If a brush is out, then ensure it is clean and hair-free. If drawers may be opened, then ensure the contents are tidy.

Floor

Vacuum or polish the floor. Pick up any thing left there and put them away. Beware of kicking things under the bed as this may be detected.

Lighting

Have warm, slightly lighting in the bedroom, rather than bright and stark. The result should relax people and maybe make them slightly soporific. Done well and they will conclude that this is a room in which people can sleep well.

Desks

Sometimes bedrooms have working surfaces, particularly if they are children's rooms. Clear the desk, apart from such as a neat pot of pencils that indicates its use. If it is scratched (as mysteriously tends to happen in the kids's quarters) then put something relevant on top, such as a blotter.

Windows

In the evening, draw the curtains to make the room seem safe. In the day, open them fully to make the room light. Ensure the windows are clean, inside and out. Remove ornaments from the window sill.

En-suite

Ensure the en-suite bathroom is spotlessly clean and odour-free. Put away all the plastic bottles that seem to accumulate, perhaps leaving one or two out to show the function. Replace bars of soap with less messy pump tubs of liquid soap.