I was fussing with a particularly difficult shot when i overheard the seller talking to her neighbor about the stager that just left.  "The nerve of her to ask me to put my table in storage! I think it looks fine where it is and it is our favorite family gathering place. Who does she think she is?  I'm not moving my table and look at what she did to my dining room! I guess I can live with it like it is." This was all said after the stager left. I'm sure she left feeling happy with her work and a job well done...except for that table in the den.

I wished the seller would have listened to her because the rooms were beautiful except for this huge drop leaf table behind the sofa in the den. It had an enormous lamp on it. I wished the stager could have convinced her to remove it. I couldn't get a good shot of the room because the furniture was in the foreground of my photo and I had a hard time shooting around it.

Hearing her talk about the stager like that made me realize that sellers get seriously offended when you start redecorating their homes for photos/showings.  This stager is probably one of the best I've encountered in the area.

It must be very difficult for the seller to remove their emotions and listen to the professionals. It's not that the table is hideous where it is but that by removing it, the space opens up which makes the room airy and pleasant rather than small and cramped. This is the goal. To open up the spaces and make the eye move around the room. If upon entering a room, you see the back of a sofa, the sense you get is to stop, stand behind the sofa, do not come any further into this room. In easier terms it's uninviting. :) Also, the depth gets cut off which makes the room seem smaller. 

Another example,

Today i was at a shoot where there was a large round table at the entry. In the center was a beautiful bulky vase and a dried arrangement. You could not see past the table into the family room and this space wasn't designed to have an entry table. It wasn't large enough. The purpose of the table being there was to block the view into the home so the homeowner could walk around in her robe in private. She was paranoid that passersby would see her.
She was home during the photo shoot. This particular agent asked me to help create a wow factor in this home as it was definitely lacking. I quietly suggested removing or relocating the table and explained why.  The agent brought it up to the owner who looked horrified at the suggestion. With that look in mind, we knew that we had to tread softly. A few agents that I have worked with for a long time look to me to do the offending. I'm the photographer and therefore more apt at it i guess. ;) Usually I can suggest staging ideas and the owners most often heed my advice. "Sure! Move whatever you need to!" Do they really mean it? All I can do is offer suggestions if my advice is asked for. Otherwise, if the owner is present, I must let the agent decide if the home is ready.

Eventually, she listened to us both and the table was relocated and looks great! The space was opened up, visitors feel welcomed past the entry and as for the owner, offended? I hope not but she may be talking to the neighbor and will eventually "...learn to live with it."