I confess: I’m a sucker for a well-staged house or condo.
But if you’re looking to buy, make sure you don’t fall in love with a bad condo or house because of the furnishings and designer touches – trust me, it won’t look the same once you move in all your IKEA stuff. Here’s how to spot a staged property:
- There’s at least one Barcelona chair, and if space permits, the matching stool. I love the old-school school Barcelona chairs too, but do they have to be in every loft?
- The fake bed. Just because it’s covered in dozens of pillows doesn’t mean it’s real. One of the biggest telltale signs of staging: the blow up mattress.
- The laptop computer or TV look perfect and ready for use. Except there usually isn’t a power source in sight. This is a great strategy to fool Buyers in all those condos that don’t actually have a TV wall.
- Home design magazines are perfectly fanned out on the coffee table (though have clearly never been cracked open – whose magazines are in perfect condition?)
- Fake apples. Look for them – they’re somewhere, and usually in the perfect shade of green.
- There’s always a cowhide rug. Always. Bonus points if it’s under a fake Noguchi table.
- While the dining room table may make it seem like dinner is about to be served, there’s not actually any food in the refrigerator. And likely nothing in the cupboards either.
- Silk flowers that look real. Lots of big vases. Perfect accessories grouped in 3’s and 5’s.
- The blackboard painted wall with a fake grocery list written in near-calligraphy writing.
- It sells faster and for more money than it’s non-staged neighbours!
