A Staging Technique That Neutralizes Those Personal Photos: No More Distracted Buyers!

I wrote last week about how distracting personal photos can be when it comes to selling your home: Old School Thinking: Personal Photos do NOT Make Your Home Feel More Like HOME While You Are Selling"

I'm in a lot of homes as I consult with Sellers and I do see many beautiful and artfully displayed photos on the wall. Wall Words are very popular right now as well as frames with meaningful sayings that celebrate the family displayed and what is important to them. I see gorgeous black and white photography of families and children. And let's not forget those baby shots that just melt your heart!

But when you are SELLING....as stunning as these pictures and wall displays are, they are DISTRACTING to your Buyers. If you haven't read my last post about this, stop and click the above link to read. It's alright...I'll wait. (whistling...looking around...)

Okay...you're back. You got that now, right?


So... now the BIG question. What do we do with these beautiful photo displays on the walls?

• Do we take them all down, patch the wall/re-paint and stare at a blank boring wall?
• Do we add a piece of artwork instead?
• What if we have A LOT of walls with photos?

Don't despair! There is a "Staging Technique" that works quite well.


One of the easiest and cheapest ways to "neutralize" those family photos is to replace the photos inside.

Here's how in 3 Easy Steps:

1. I tell my clients to go to Google.com and then to "Images". Do a search for "Black and White landscaping/nature/trees/flowers....." whatever you prefer or works in that particular room. And it can be in "color" too if it works better for that space.
2. Once you find what you're looking for, print it off in the appropriate size.
3. Put it over the existing photo in the frame and Ta-Dah!....you have a nice, neutral photo.

Here's an example of a past client's homes. The pictures to the right were of their children but temporary replaced with neutral B&W photos.

Remember that there is also a "balance" that needs to be achieved throughout the house when it comes to all those personal photos.

To achieve this balance, follow these guidelines:

• There may be some walls that everything will need to come down and you'll patch and re-paint.
• There may be a wall that will need a piece of artwork in place of the photos. The photo below is a perfect example. DO NOT attempt adding 11 pictures of "trees" to this collage and calling it a keeper.

• If you have a display of photos with mis-matched frames, they DEFINITELY need to come down. DO NOT attempt to replace the photos with the staging technique above using all those different frames. It just won't work.

• Which brings me to the last guideline: Be sure that all the frames in your display are the same. This creates a nice, clean simplistic presentation that does not distract from the selling features of the room. The example below is a good one. Now, don't start thinking that the photos in those frames would be fine for selling either. Can you just see the Buyer's getting sucked into how sweet those babies are? Are they looking at your fabulous fireplace and large windows right now? A good replacement photo would be a landscape. You'll see in the far top left hand side the photo looks to be a far off shot of a hillside and trees. If people ARE in it and you can barely make them out...it's fine to keep that one. Landscape of a beautiful hillside, mountain, river etc. go well with the wording too.

Still unsure about creating that balance?

Consider hiring a Home Stager. Stagers offer a Staging Consultation that is a very cost effective solution. The professional House Stager can assist you with creating that balance as well as an overall plan to get your house ready for the market. This takes all the second guessing and stress out of it as you prepare your home.

Happy Staging!

Teresa Meyer is the Owner and Lead Staging Designer at Stage a Star, Cincinnati's Premiere Real Estate Staging company located in Cincinnati, Ohio. Teresa is an ASP, Accredited Staging Professional and CSPE, Certified Staging Professional Elite and Ohio Certified CSPE Trainer to real estate professionals in Cincinnati. She is a member of RESA, Real Estate Staging Association and currently is the State of Ohio RESA President.   Teresa can be reached at 513-379-5488 or by email: teresameyer@fuse.net to answer your questions about the staging process and looks forward to assisting you in preparing and staging your house for the Cincinnati real estate market.

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Stage A Star provides home staging services to Hamilton county Ohio, Butler county Ohio, Warren County, Ohio, Clermont county Ohio, West Chester, OH., Liberty Twp, OH., Mason, OH., Fairfield Twp., OH., Monroe, OH., Hyde Park, OH., Loveland, OH., Maineville, OH., Morrow, OH., Deer Park, OH., Indian Hill, OH., and surrounding Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky areas.