A staged home should be one that is easier to live in and maintain since one of the objects is to declutter and depersonalize and clean - I recently wrote a blog to treat selling your home as if "company were coming everyday" - there are also some good blogs about quick tips before a showing.  Fresh flowers are nice as are towels, but they aren't the key points in staging - that's the "icing" on the house cake! Emphasize the major points of staging and if they can manage the icing great - but I wouldn't force the issue.

I always give a brief refresher course on the importance of "squeaky clean, lighting, and quick bed time pick up".  Although they get showing instructions and tips from their Realtor, reinforcement of those things never hurt.  Wiping down the sinks, stove top, fridge, and a quick pick up time before they retire at night will relieve stress in the AM.  Especially if they get a call at 8:00 am and an agent wants to show at 9:00 am.  Also I review the importance of having blinds open, letting day time light in and the importance of exterior views for showings and all room lights on!

The icing never seems hard to sell when the finished project looks so great! Keeping it that way is always easier once the stagin is complete. To make it even easier, I always leave a printout called a sellers checklist that covers everything a seller needs to do to keep their house ready 24/7.

Some home stagings can be dramatic which means many pieces of furniture have been removed, or moved to a new place in the home and their favorite collectibles have been packed away etc.  It can be very overwhelming to a homeowner to suddenly be living in a home that no longer feels like their own and that they are afraid to mess up!  This is made even more challenging if children live in the home too! 

I think that if the homeowner gets to participate a little, and help decide where certain important items are to be stored, it will make them feel better.  Also, if you can reassure them that nothing has been moved too far away and their take- out menus are in the drawer next to the fridge instead of under magnets on the fridge, they can start to see the changes are not as dramatic as they thought.

It has been my experience that once they have made the committment to have someone stage their home--they ARE committed.  They are usually anxious to keep it looking that way for two reasons: 1) they have worked hard themselves and paid someone else to get it that way and 2) They LOVE it!!

Thanks for the feedback.  Kim, I think you nailed it:  once they are committed, they're committed!  I'm going to add a checklist, too.

Julia - I have a checklist that I provide to my clients once the staging is completed.  As Kim points out though once the client is committed to staging, then they are much more likely to keep it looking great.

Julia,

Like so many others here, I, too, provide the seller a 'checklist' of 'quick and easy' chores to be done on a daily basis so that the house is always in 'showing condition'.  Staying on top of the cleaning is key.

VAL

I find a quick list of routines works great. Both for Bedtime and in the morning before leaving the house. the kids like to feel part of it too.