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How to Find or Create the Focal Point in a Room...

By
Home Stager

How to Find or Create the Focal Point in a Room…

 

Try this exercise...go outside and come in through your front door.

What’s the first thing you see?   What catches your eye?

 

don't block the view

 

If you are placing your home on the market then you should perform this exercise for every room.

 

You’ve heard the expression that you have just 10 seconds to make a first impression. This is true in all walks of life but especially when trying to sell your home.

 

Getting back to your front door...What was the first thing that caught your eye?

More importantly...did you like what you saw??

 

Every room has or needs a focal point. It’s what keeps our eyes from bouncing all over the room and seeing a lot of little things but never fully appreciating the whole picture.

 

First Step…

Stand before each room in your home and look at the first thing you see.

What is it that draws your eyes in?

Take a picture.

 

Next…

Evaluate what you see.  Is this what you want your buyers to see?

 

staged bathroom



Entries...

For example, if you live in Florida, many of the homes have views of the pool or deck area as soon as you walk in the door.

Don’t block these views with heavy window coverings or large pieces of furniture because if you do, you’ll be blocking a major and very important part of your investment.

 

entry before and after

 

Living/Family Rooms…

The fireplace is a natural focal point to a room so don’t hide it. You can place a large painting over it to help draw the eyes to it.

No fireplace? Create a focal point. Anchor a sitting area with a rug and add some color to it to draw the eye there.

 

A focal point does not have to center around a piece of architecture. You can create it using color, art, a large floral arrangement, or a grouping of objects.

 

The point is to draw the viewer’s eye to one point in the room and allow that point to draw them in. And, ask any agent, if the buyer just peeks in the room, they’re not buying your house.

 

Remember...you don’t want their eyes bouncing all over the room.



Posted by

Kathy Streib
Retired Home Stager
and Interior Redesign

In Person Consultations in Texas
for Houston & Harris Counties
and
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for all states


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Comments(53)

Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Sham Reddy Thank you and always appreciate your stopping by. 

Matthew Klinowski, PA you are so right...small changes make a difference. 

William Feela space is always a premium.

Jan 08, 2019 09:54 AM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

thank you Donald Urschalitz Presentation and condition are so important. 

Nina Hollander sometimes it's hard to figure out where it should be. 

 

Jan 08, 2019 10:04 AM
Ron and Alexandra Seigel
Napa Consultants - Carpinteria, CA
Luxury Real Estate Branding, Marketing & Strategy

Kathy,

A very important point to remember, it applies not only to staging but to so much more. A

Jan 08, 2019 12:40 PM
George Souto
George Souto NMLS #65149 FHA, CHFA, VA Mortgages - Middletown, CT
Your Connecticut Mortgage Expert

Kathy I never would have thought of that.  Great advise to share.

Jan 08, 2019 03:00 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Thank you, Wayne Martin I hope this helps sellers. 

Hi Maria Gilda Racelis please feel free to share it, and how did your test turn out???

Jan 08, 2019 04:08 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Sally K. & David L. Hanson exactly...no reruns.

Myrl Jeffcoat That's what I thought as soon as I saw this room!  Thank you for the feature in your group. 

Gabe Sanders I look at what catches my eye first and that's what buyers will see. 

Jan 08, 2019 04:15 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Brian England it's having that third eye that helps!

Michael Jacobs that's the first thing that sellers should remember...their home now becomes a product to market. 

Hi Will Hamm I'll bet there are some stagers in your area!!

Jan 08, 2019 04:18 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Thank you Joan Cox I think the concept of marketing and styling your home when you sell it has finally spread!

Hi Beth Atalay and thank you for the feature in my favorite group!!!  I wonder how many will try the exercise of walking in through their front door!!

Jan 08, 2019 04:25 PM
Kathy Streib
Cypress, TX
Home Stager/Redesign

Ron and Alexandra Seigel this is so true!!!! Hope you are having a wonderful week. 

Hi George Souto very happy to share it with you!!! Give it a try in your home!

Jan 08, 2019 04:27 PM
Francine Viola
Coldwell Banker Evergreen Olympic Realty, Olympia WA - Olympia, WA
REALTOR®, In Tune with your Real Estate Needs

It can be really hard to look at your home this way since you see these rooms every day but sometimes I ask my sellers to take a photo and then they can really see the eye bounce issues!

Jan 08, 2019 06:30 PM
Endre Barath, Jr.
Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties - Beverly Hills, CA
Realtor - Los Angeles Home Sales 310.486.1002

Kathy love the wisdom... I used to tell my clients that the first thing the eyes go to is something that is out of place, or needs fixing, Endre

Jan 08, 2019 10:41 PM
James Dray
Fathom Realty - Bentonville, AR

Morning Kathy.

You sound like someone who knows what they are talking about, LOL.  Who knew, I did.  Have a great day

Jan 09, 2019 12:29 AM
Anna "Banana" Kruchten
HomeSmart Real Estate - Phoenix, AZ
602-380-4886

Kathy earlier this morning while looking at a lot of listings for a buyer I was once again, not surprised to see such poor pictures and poorly staged homes. It makes all the difference in the world to have homes staged to show off their finest details and have professional photos taken as well.

Jan 09, 2019 08:48 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

In discussion of focal points, I have to say my dead brother takes the cake. As you probably know, every tiling job and wallpaper job start from the focal point. My brother tiled my sister's bathroom in the oddest manner. When I asked her why he chose the spot he did as the focal point, she said he was sitting on the toilet at the time he chose it!!!!!!

Jan 09, 2019 09:05 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Excellent advice Kathy.

If a potential buyer is just peeking in the rooms and not stepping inside them, it's not a good sign. 

Focal points are so important!

Jan 10, 2019 06:36 AM
Debe Maxwell, CRS
Savvy + Company (704) 491-3310 - Charlotte, NC
The RIGHT CHARLOTTE REALTOR!

Oh, I love this, Kathy - SO true! And, if something is out of place, it really does jump out at the buyes touring the home (and in the photos).

You know, I tell sellers to stand at the front door, then the door of each and every room. Imagine that this entry or room is going to be a featured picture in a magazine...now, what would YOU like to see? 

Jan 10, 2019 06:55 AM
Freda Berg

This thread is very informative. I like reading the comments ans it really helps me a lot. It give me new ideas on this particular topic. I will apply all that I learn form this one. Keep on posting.  Visit also crazy games

Jan 11, 2019 01:23 PM
Wendy Rulnick
Rulnick Realty, Inc. - Destin, FL
"It's Wendy... It's Sold!"

 Kathy -  You are enunciating well what many people subconsciously feel.  Great points, thank you.  I'm going home to do this today.

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