8 Great Tips to Stage Your Dining Room For a Successful Showing

After the home’s front entrance, the dining room is often one of the first things that a potential buyer sees. Thus, properly staging the dining room can give off a wonderful first impression that carries on throughout the rest of the tour. Follow these eight strategies to create a dynamite presentation that has everybody talking. 

1. Customize the Staging to Your Perfect Buyer

Understanding this step makes all of the others on the list much easier. Before you start thinking about how to best arrange everything and stage the dining room, you’ll want to think very hard about who you are arranging everything for. Does your target buyer have a family? If so, then how large is the family? The goal here is to make the dining room feel exactly like “home” to the prospective purchaser that you want to attract.

Don’t be afraid to get as specific as possible about defining your perfect buyer. You’ll still get plenty of interest from other prospects if you do this right, but the key here is to use your staging to build a coherent theme. Here are some other questions to ask before moving on to the second tip:

• What kind of taste in art does the buyer have?
• Does the buyer like light or dark colors?
• Will modern furniture or classic furniture work better for attracting your ideal buyer?
• How large of a dining table will your perfect prospect want?

2. Maximize Natural Lighting

Sunlight makes us feel great, and the best natural lighting setup will highlight the dining room in ways that artificial lighting often isn’t able to. To make the most of any nearby windows, pull the curtains open just enough to brighten up the room but not so much as to create a glare. If there aren’t any windows nearby, then consider using incandescent light bulbs. Unlike the LEDs that are used in many households to save energy, incandescent lights use a larger spectrum of wavelengths and more closely mimic sunlight.

3. Consider the Dining Room’s Context in Your Home

Is your dining room part of an eat-in kitchen? Is the dining room in its own separate space? Is it within an open living room? Keeping the preferences of your target buyer in mind, you’ll need to stage the dining room in a way that works in harmony with any surrounding spaces. What you don’t want to do, for example, is have a dining room table with a color scheme that clashes heavily against the nearby walls. 

4. Be Selective With Furniture

You don’t want to clutter up the dining room with an unnecessary ottoman or rows and rows of chairs. Start with a high-quality table before you even think about adding any accessories. If you still have space after staging the table and the minimum number of chairs that will get your ideal buyer’s attention, then consider adding a console.

5. Give the Walls a Fresh Coat of Paint

The right wall color can work in tandem with a natural or incandescent lighting setup to significantly brighten up the dining room. Before you have the room painted, however, remember that the color of the wall will determine the appropriate colors for any rugs and other accessories. Likewise, make sure you choose a light color that matches the flooring.

6. Jazz Up the Dining Room With Some Artwork

Just one painting or sculpture can dramatically change the feel of the room. If you are able to fit a console inside of your dining room, then consider placing an art piece above it. If you opt for a small sculpture, consider placing it on the dining room table as a centerpiece.

7. Look for Interesting Accessories

Certain accessories, such as a tasteful flower vase or a fruit bowl, can complement the artwork in your dining room to create a richer color scheme. Match the texture of the accessories to the materials of the table, the chairs, and the console. If the dining room table is made of oak, for example, then consider placing an oak fruit bowl on the console.

8. Put on the Finishing Touches With a Great Rug

After settling on the perfect color for the wall and selecting some interesting artwork and accessories, it’s time to choose a rug. The perfect dining room rug will be large enough to make a statement while still leaving the edges of the floor visible. As is the case with the accessories, the rug’s texture should fit right in with the table and the console. You can try to get adventurous with the color scheme if you think your target buyer will appreciate that, but you can also just play it safe by sticking with neutral colors.

As proud members of the International Association of Home Staging Professionals, the team at Five Star Staging has the experience and the creativity required to make your dining room look amazing for your next showing!  To schedule your consultation, contact us today. We’ll make your house staging a success.