Staging FAQ’s- Why Should I Remove All of My Personal Photos?
Watch any of the cable shows or listen to a Home Stager, Real Estate Agent or a 
friend and one of the Top Three things you’ll hear them suggest to you (besides editing and painting) is to remove all of your personal photos.
I’ve heard people say to “depersonalize” your home, which always sounds cold to me. Unless yours is a vacant home, or you’re a builder with a model home, buyers do know that a person or people live in the home.
And, even builders have a few framed photos around a model home to give it that “homey’ appearance.
So, why do you need to remove your personal photos?
First, I’m not a big believer that every single personal photo needs to be removed. One of my clients had been recently widowed and wanted to have just a few photos of her husband around for emotional security.
I also consulted with sellers who had not one photo and very little art work in the house. They’d recently painted their walls and didn’t want to put holes in for pictures.
As I walked through the house, everything was neat and clean but something seemed missing, it lacked any emotional connection one would feel from some kind of photo or picture.
That said, here is why I believe you need to strongly edit your personal photos when selling your house:
1.Like anything else in staging, too much of anything can be distracting.
It could be a table full of family photos or the same table full of small collectibles. The issue is that it’s distracting to the buyer’s eyes and instead of focusing on the space, they find themselves looking at the items or objects.
“Who is that is the photo?” “Isn’t that a cute family?”
Or “Look at all of the marble eggs on the table!”
2.Security
When a buyer views your home, they know very little about you other than you are selling your house. Let’s keep it that way, especially if you have children in the home.
I also recommend removing any plaques or nameplates that have your children’s names on them.
3.Photos, photos everywhere!
This is similar to #1 but an overabundance of personal photos can backfire by making the buyer feel that they are guests in YOUR home and not view it as a possibility for them.
As you can see there can be a fine line in knowing what is too much or not enough.
If you are selling your home, you’ll be packing soon anyway, so why not get a head start.
And, if you’re not sure what can stay and what to pack, call Room Service Home Staging for our Home Staging Consultation!
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