I just came from Kathy Neilson's blog where she showed us an example of an effective vignette.  She did an incredible job, not only was it beautiful, but very effective considering she did not do a whole staging.  The property sat on the market for a year and she sold it after only doing a partial staging with a higher asking price.  Some stagers had commented that they believed that vacant homes do not need to be fully furnished.

It had me curious - when does a house need to be fully furnished and when can it get by with just doing vignettes?

I understand that vignettes are powerful as well as a full stage.  Vignettes warm up a property and give prospective buyers an illusion of what the space could be, with just enough chairs and plants. 

Then there are those who feel the need to do a full staging with furniture in every room so that the house looks lived-in.  I feel that if the house is empty, it gives the prospective buyer a bargaining chip to play with because they know that the homeowner has already left to their new home and is usually paying 2 mortgages.  Sometimes Realtors say to me, "I want it to look lived-in," for the same reasons.

When I plan to do a vacant, and I haven't done that many, I usually plan on doing the Living room, master bedroom, master bath, powder room, kitchen , kitchen breakfast, office and dining.   If I'm feeling creative and generous, I throw in a girls/boys room in. 

Is there a good rule of thumb when you should only do a vignette as opposed to a whole staging?