We staged an absolutely charming house in Arlington, Virginia.  It's on the "quite" part of North Glebe Road, and sits up and back a bit from the street.  It looks like many other homes in the area, but looks can be deceiving.  This house is about 3,000 square feet, with 4 good sized bedrooms, a finished family room in the basement, and 2 fireplaces.  The screened porch leads to a large fenced backyard.

The front entrance has a bit of a hall, but then opens up to an absolutely huge living room with beautiful hardwood floors and a large bay window.  The challenge to staging such a large space was to make the room feel welcoming and intimate, but to put all of the furniture around the focal point (the fireplace) would have easily left half of the room empty.  Traffic patterns would also have to be kept clear. 

The solution was to stage the living room in zones.  The fireplace was still the focal point, but there are 3 different seating areas that gently overlap, allowing each space to interact with each other, but yet each can stand on its own.  The first zone is a large upholstered chair between the fireplace and the entry to the dining room.  The second is a grouping of 2 chairs and a chest, and the third is the sofa by the window. 

 A similar layout exists in the basement family room, but there is a wall which divides the space.  The family room is a bit smaller, and the focus is still on the fireplace.  But the wall creates an unusual space between the family room and the entry to the garage.  One of the family members who grew up in the house told me that they never quite knew what to do with that space.  For staging, I wanted to utilize the space and brighten it up, so I placed a bookcase console against the back wall with a table lamp and a complimentary print on the wall.  Now the space had a purpose, and when the family member saw how it was staged, suddenly the ideas started to come.  It could be a reading nook, or a niche for Mom's computer, or a crafting space.  The ideas are endless. 

This is one of the primary functions of staging - to provide viable ideas for how various spaces in the house can be utilized.  If that unusual space had been left empty, potential buyers would have thought the same as the owners - what are we going to do with that space?  But once the space had a purpose, the space is no longer an issue but a bonus space. 

All the best-
Monica