Marin Home Stager's Guide to Open Floorplans

Many buyers today are looking for homes with open floorplans. That is, fewer walled off spaces in the primary living areas. For example, on its main level a house may have one large room that combines the living room, dining room, kitchen and breakfast area. This is often called a great room.

In homes with open floorplans like this, where there are no full walls between the kitchen, living room and dining room, staging plays an especially important role in getting the house sold. The pictures you see here are of I house I staged this week in the Marin County city of Novato. It's a beautifully rebuilt country home with all new everything! But the quality finishes alone are not enough to sell this house. That's because wide open spaces leave too much to the imagination! If the rooms are left empty, potential buyers have a difficult time figuring out the function of each space and envisioning where the furniture is supposed to go.

As a seller, you want your house to "make sense" to potential buters. If people start to question the layout, they are likely to rule out your house and move on to the next. Keep in mind, too, that empty rooms look a lot smaller than furnished rooms. Also, without furniture, buyers tend to focus on the home's potential drawbacks instead of its positive features.