It’s all about imagining the ‘aspirational lifestyle,’ says an academic who studies the psychology behind home staging.
By Carmen
In 1972, Barb Schwarz, a former decorator-turned-realtor in Bellevue, Wash., felt she could sell properties faster and for more money if they looked better. She told clients to think of their houses like a “set” on the stage of a play or movie.
Sellers were the lead actors. Schwarz billed herself as the director. They’d audition furniture pieces, adding and removing items until everything seemed poised for a “sellout” performance. They didn’t just want to pack the house, they needed good reviews from buyers, whom Schwarz positioned as both audience members and critics.
And so, the concept of “home staging” was born, says Schwarz, who took out a trademark on the phrase and toured the world teaching the “Barbisms” she expounded on in books and videos. She often boiled down her advice into snappy mottos like, “Clutter eats equity” and “If you can smell it, you can’t sell it!”
The average homebuyer visits seven propertiesbefore making an offer
A half-century later and north of the border, home staging is thriving in Toronto despite a real estate downturn as agents and home sellers use every trick they can to compete in a sluggish market. Pulling back the curtain (floor-to-ceiling, white linen, of course), what is it about a staged home that draws buyers in and their wallets out?
The average homebuyer visits seven properties before making an offer, according to an American Consumer Housing Trends Report, published in 2017.
“They give nicknames to the properties so they can remember the houses more easily … positive and negative,” writes Schwarz in her book Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money, first published in 2006.
Nobody wants to be known as The Cat Pee House.
Nearly 80 per cent of buyers reported that a home tour was more importantthan price in making their purchase decision. Nearly one third of those surveyed paid more than budgeted for the home they ultimately bought.
Nobody wants to be known as The Cat Pee House
In a 2008 study called “The Emotional Economy of Housing,” researchers at the universities of Edinburgh, Durham and Glasgow in the United Kingdom found homebuyers weren’t looking for the best deal but the “right” home — a “feeling” many struggled to define.
Kelcie Vercel, a cultural and economic sociologist at Augustana University in South Dakota, knows exactly what they’re looking for. She calls it a “middle-class aesthetic.”
“A middle-class life is not chaotic. It’s neat and it’s pretty,” says Vercel, whose study on staging tactics was published in 2021 in the journal Consumption Markets and Culture.
“Emotion and cultural meaning are so fundamental to the evaluation process,” she says. “There isn’t some sort of objective, neutral, absolute house value. There are all these other factors that shape how valuable we perceive things to be.”
A clean home is reassuring, it sends the message that it’s been well cared for.
“A staged home is staged to help you imagine yourself into an aspirational lifestyle,” says Vercel.
I’ve worked in every style of home over the past two decades as a Toronto-based stager and owner of Stage Right Home and Stage Right Rentals. While the furniture and décor I use change, my goal for every project is the same: to make the space look bigger, brighter and newer.
When realtors and home sellers tell me to leave a room empty because it’s too small to furnish, I always explain the opposite is true. Unfurnished, a room looks smaller because the room offers no context for scale.
The house gets listed as a four-bedroom, but buyers walking in see only three plus maybe a den. They’re not happy.
Unfurnished, a room looks smaller because the room offers no context for scale
So we go back. Sure enough, I can get a single bed, an end table, and a small dresser in there. And the agent would say: “I can’t believe you got all that furniture in there.” It’s because the room just appears small without the introduction of perspective.
I make sure every house gets some form of greenery—whether it’s a house plant, orchid, or fresh cut flowers. It adds life, especially in the winter. If it’s artificial, it has to be good quality.
I keep accessories to a minimum. A lot of people over-accessorize; they add too much stuff everywhere. It’s overwhelming. Your eye goes to the stuff rather than the room.
The first sense that’s triggered when walking into a home for the first time is your sense of smell. Smoke and mould smells need to be addressed immediately—they’ll turn off buyers.
As Barb Schwarz made very clear, if you have a scent, even if it’s a pleasant plug-in fragrance, people go, “What’s it hiding? What’s it trying to mask? Now I have to investigate.” Even if there’s nothing there.
Large scale art tops my list of enhancements
Odours aside, there are many enhancements sellers can use to improve the value of their home, but one tops my list: art. Specifically, large-scale pieces make the biggest difference. It's something you don’t see in many homes. But when you do it right, it creates a “wow” moment that leaves a lasting impression.
Large-scale art is not just about filling a wall – it’s about shaping how people feel the moment they walk in:
Large-scale art creates a strong focal point
Dominates the visual field, guiding the viewer’s eye and anchoring the room’s design.
Helps organize the space by giving it a clear center of attention.
Makes the room feel curated and intentional, rather than random or cluttered.
Large-scale art enhances perception of space
Surprisingly, large art can make a room feel bigger by unifying the wall and reducing visual noise.
It provides scale and proportion, especially in rooms with high ceilings or expansive walls.
Large-scale art adds a sense of luxury and sophistication
Oversized pieces are often associated with gallery-level aesthetics and upscale living.
They signal that the space has been thoughtfully styled, which can elevate perceived property value.
Large-scale art evokes emotional responses
Art is inherently emotional, and larger canvases amplify that effect.
A serene landscape can make a room feel calm and inviting, while bold abstracts inject energy and drama.
But before buyers make an offer on that sparkling clean house with the amazing art and gorgeous furniture, you need to pause for a quick reality check.
Think about how the home feels. Does it feel clean? That's good. But does the home make it easy to picture yourself living there in an appealing, aspirational style?
A clean home is a start, but the finished, staged home needs to move potential buyers in a way that inspires them to nickname it: That Perfect Home.•
Of green plants and big art
It’s all about imagining the ‘aspirational lifestyle,’ says an academic who studies the psychology behind home staging.
By Carmen
In 1972, Barb Schwarz, a former decorator-turned-realtor in Bellevue, Wash., felt she could sell properties faster and for more money if they looked better. She told clients to think of their houses like a “set” on the stage of a play or movie.
Sellers were the lead actors. Schwarz billed herself as the director. They’d audition furniture pieces, adding and removing items until everything seemed poised for a “sellout” performance. They didn’t just want to pack the house, they needed good reviews from buyers, whom Schwarz positioned as both audience members and critics.
And so, the concept of “home staging” was born, says Schwarz, who took out a trademark on the phrase and toured the world teaching the “Barbisms” she expounded on in books and videos. She often boiled down her advice into snappy mottos like, “Clutter eats equity” and “If you can smell it, you can’t sell it!”
A half-century later and north of the border, home staging is thriving in Toronto despite a real estate downturn as agents and home sellers use every trick they can to compete in a sluggish market. Pulling back the curtain (floor-to-ceiling, white linen, of course), what is it about a staged home that draws buyers in and their wallets out?
The average homebuyer visits seven properties before making an offer, according to an American Consumer Housing Trends Report, published in 2017.
“They give nicknames to the properties so they can remember the houses more easily … positive and negative,” writes Schwarz in her book Home Staging: The Winning Way to Sell Your House for More Money, first published in 2006.
Nobody wants to be known as The Cat Pee House.
Nearly 80 per cent of buyers reported that a home tour was more important than price in making their purchase decision. Nearly one third of those surveyed paid more than budgeted for the home they ultimately bought.
In a 2008 study called “The Emotional Economy of Housing,” researchers at the universities of Edinburgh, Durham and Glasgow in the United Kingdom found homebuyers weren’t looking for the best deal but the “right” home — a “feeling” many struggled to define.
Kelcie Vercel, a cultural and economic sociologist at Augustana University in South Dakota, knows exactly what they’re looking for. She calls it a “middle-class aesthetic.”
“A middle-class life is not chaotic. It’s neat and it’s pretty,” says Vercel, whose study on staging tactics was published in 2021 in the journal Consumption Markets and Culture.
“Emotion and cultural meaning are so fundamental to the evaluation process,” she says. “There isn’t some sort of objective, neutral, absolute house value. There are all these other factors that shape how valuable we perceive things to be.”
A clean home is reassuring, it sends the message that it’s been well cared for.
“A staged home is staged to help you imagine yourself into an aspirational lifestyle,” says Vercel.
I’ve worked in every style of home over the past two decades as a Toronto-based stager and owner of Stage Right Home and Stage Right Rentals. While the furniture and décor I use change, my goal for every project is the same: to make the space look bigger, brighter and newer.
When realtors and home sellers tell me to leave a room empty because it’s too small to furnish, I always explain the opposite is true. Unfurnished, a room looks smaller because the room offers no context for scale.
The house gets listed as a four-bedroom, but buyers walking in see only three plus maybe a den. They’re not happy.
So we go back. Sure enough, I can get a single bed, an end table, and a small dresser in there. And the agent would say: “I can’t believe you got all that furniture in there.” It’s because the room just appears small without the introduction of perspective.
I make sure every house gets some form of greenery—whether it’s a house plant, orchid, or fresh cut flowers. It adds life, especially in the winter. If it’s artificial, it has to be good quality.
I keep accessories to a minimum. A lot of people over-accessorize; they add too much stuff everywhere. It’s overwhelming. Your eye goes to the stuff rather than the room.
The first sense that’s triggered when walking into a home for the first time is your sense of smell. Smoke and mould smells need to be addressed immediately—they’ll turn off buyers.
As Barb Schwarz made very clear, if you have a scent, even if it’s a pleasant plug-in fragrance, people go, “What’s it hiding? What’s it trying to mask? Now I have to investigate.” Even if there’s nothing there.
Odours aside, there are many enhancements sellers can use to improve the value of their home, but one tops my list: art. Specifically, large-scale pieces make the biggest difference. It's something you don’t see in many homes. But when you do it right, it creates a “wow” moment that leaves a lasting impression.
Large-scale art is not just about filling a wall – it’s about shaping how people feel the moment they walk in:
Large-scale art creates a strong focal point
Large-scale art enhances perception of space
Large-scale art adds a sense of luxury and sophistication
Large-scale art evokes emotional responses
But before buyers make an offer on that sparkling clean house with the amazing art and gorgeous furniture, you need to pause for a quick reality check.
Think about how the home feels. Does it feel clean? That's good. But does the home make it easy to picture yourself living there in an appealing, aspirational style?
A clean home is a start, but the finished, staged home needs to move potential buyers in a way that inspires them to nickname it: That Perfect Home.•
Furnishings found in the images above
Feature Livingroom furnishings
"After" bedroom furnishings
Den furnishings
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