According to the National Association of Realtors' (NAR) annual report on home staging, the primary bedroom (formerly called the master bedroom) is the second most-important room for home buyers when it comes to what they want to see staged when they view their potential next home. What are they looking for? Space and luxury. Every home buyer is dreaming of a fresh start and an elevated lifestyle that includes a primary bedroom that will serve not only as a place to sleep, but a peaceful and romantic sanctuary where they can unwind at the end of a long day. They always want to see if a king size bed, or at least a queen, will fit in the room. Because of this, I always use the largest size bed that will fit comfortably in the room when I'm staging houses for my Realtor or home seller clients. Without a real bed physically present in the room, most home buyers will perceive the room as smaller than it is and presume that a king size bed will not fit. That alone is reason enough for many buyers to scratch you listing off their list of potential new homes and move on their next showing.
The following should also always be included in every primary bedroom:
- A king or queen size bed frame and mattress. Please take the following under consideration when choosing a bed for staging:
- A platform bed frame with matching upholstered or wooden headboard and side rails will look best for larger bedrooms.
- Smaller bedrooms look best with just the headboard.
- Foot boards are usually too much for medium to small bedrooms, especially on sleigh-style beds. Remove those unless your primary bedroom is larger than average.
- Please take into consideration the architectural style of the home and the rest of your furnishings, as well as the personal tastes of your targeted buyer's demographic, when choosing a bed frame.
- Unless you're selling a castle, please refrain from staging your bedroom with a four-poster bed. These types of beds dominate average-sized or smaller bedrooms and will shrink the perceived size of the room considerably. If you already have one in the room, and replacing it--even if only temporarily--is not an option, I recommend removing and storing the tall posts and the canopy (if there is one). The top half of each post on most four-poster beds will detach from the lower half (usually by simply screwing it off).
- Also, please refrain from using a headboard and/or bed frame that lights up, looks "high-tech", or comes with a lot of other bells and whistles such as visible USB ports and cup holders.
- Trundle drawers that fit under the bed and look like side rails that match the rest of the frame are okay, and a great place to hide stuff.
- Two, large matching nightstands or chest of drawers on either side of the bed. Use the largest that will fit next to either side of the bed. Large nightstands with 3-4 drawers in them will show buyers a way to add more storage space to the room, especially if a dresser won't fit. A basic search online using just the keyword "nightstands" will pull up a lot of pieces that are far too small and cheap-looking, so I already set some search parameters for you in that link above that will bring up a large selection of higher quality, larger nightstands and chest of drawers to choose from.
- Two matching table lamps or the nightstands.
- If the bedroom has hard floors, please place an 8"x10" or 9"x12" area rug under the bed to soften the room and make it feel cozier for buyers.
If the bedroom can fit more furniture without looking overly crowded, that's even better. Just make sure there's a minimum of 36" of walking space between all pieces of furniture, and between the sides and foot of the bed and the walls.
Other furniture that works well in primary bedrooms are:
- A dresser. I prefer low (about waist high) dressers, but if space is restricted, a "tall-boy" (about shoulder height) dresser that is more narrow in width may be a better fit. Do not use the matching, attached mirror that is often sold with dressers. Hang a piece of art over it instead.
- A bench at the foot of the bed (two may be needed to take up the width of the bed, but they should not exceed the width of the bed). Benches are also great for under a window. Add a few accent pillows on top of the bench.
- For massive bedrooms, a small loveseat instead of a bench at the foot of the bed is better. The goal is to make smaller rooms look bigger by not putting too much furniture in the room, and to make really big rooms look cozier by adding more furniture in larger scale.
- One or two accent chairs. If there's space for a chaise lounge or an ottoman that matches the chair, buyers will be able to imagine themselves curling up in that corner to read a good book.
- When I place an accent chair in a bedroom, I also place a floor lamp and a small, round accent table next to it, especially if I've used a large enough chair that would make a comfortable place for reading.
- If your primary bedroom has a retreat large enough for a conversational area the size of a small living room, then you'll want to stage it with a sofa and/or loveseat set (or a small sectional), one or two accent chairs (if space permits), and a coffee table. You'll want 18" of space between the edge of the sofa and the coffee table. Don't forget an area rug here, as well, if you have hard floors in this space.
- Plants. Real is preferable, but faux plants will work, too. You'll definitely want to use faux plants if the house will be vacant, since nobody will be around to water them. I usually put a small plant on one or both of the nightstands next to the bed and a tree or other type of floor plant that's at least waist high in an empty corner.
Items that should not be included in primary bedrooms when staging a home to sell:
- A TV, unless there's an ideal place for it in the room, which usually is not the case. An ideal place for a TV would be in the retreat (if the room has one) or directly across from the head of the bed at a comfortable eye-level. If the only place for a TV is somewhere that will require the occupants to watch it by looking up or by cranking their heads to the side, it's not an ideal room for watching television, is this is not something we want to make obvious to buyers.
- A desk. Buyers do not want to imagine one of them working late at night at the desk while the other is trying to sleep. So unless you're targeting single people that won't be sharing the bedroom with a partner, find a better place in the home to set up a work area.
- Exercise equipment. Remove rowing machines, treadmills, stair masters, etc. from the primary bedroom.
- A crib or other children's furniture. Again, the primary bedroom should be staged as a sanctuary where parents can get away from the children.
Even when there isn't much room for more than a bed and nightstands, buyers still want to imagine themselves surrounded by luxurious, cozy bedding. Lots of fluff and layering is the key to creating a luxurious-looking bed.
I use several layers in light colors on my beds when I'm staging vacant listings. Lighter colors will help the room appear larger.
When I'm providing one my Buyer's Eye Pre-Listing Consultations to home sellers who'll continue living in the house while it's on the market, I often recommend that they replace their bedding in the primary bedroom. Most of the time, the existing bedding in my clients' homes is too dark, too busy with colorful patterns, showing too much wear and tear, or all of the above.
It really doesn't hurt to add fresh bedding in all the bedrooms in the home, but when budgets are tight, the primary bedroom has to be a top priority. The following bedding essentials are what I use when I style the beds in vacant listings, and what I recommend my owner-occupied listing clients purchase to replace their old bedding.
If it's not a platform bed (one with wood or upholstered side rails), it should have a bed skirt to hide the box springs, metal frame and legs, and anything being stored under the bed. Be sure to measure the "drop" before purchasing. The drop is from the top of the box springs or bed frame to the floor.
New sheets only need to be purchased if the coverlet or comforter is going to be folded down to reveal the sheets. For simplicity, and to save money, I advise my clients to simply purchase a solid white coverlet and pull it up all the way to the headboard. This takes the place of a top sheet and will cover the sheets they already own. Then, for a layered look, a comforter can be folded in half or in thirds and placed at the foot of the bed.
Some people like that folded-down-to-get-a-peak-at-the-sheets look, so if my clients want that, and they don't already have solid white sheets, they'll need to purchase those, as well. I recommend cotton, 1,000 thread-count or higher. The higher the thread-count, the more crisp and luxurious the sheets will look. Again, white sheets are optional. If you pull the white coverlet all the way to the top so it covers worn and/or colored sheets, that's enough.
If you have exposed box springs, cover it with an extra fitted sheet.
A fluffy comforter is a must. Fold it in half or in thirds at the foot of the bed, on top of the coverlet or other bedspread. The fluffy, folded comforter adds additional fullness and balances out the visual weight at the head of the bed created by all the pillows.
If the comforter is down-filled, like the one shown above, it should be covered with a duvet. Everything above should be white or off-white, but here the duvet, accents pillows and blanket (further below) are where you can add patterns and colors, if you'd like. Just keep the patterns simple and the colors soft and light. Avoid bright colors like neons, reds, oranges, and yellows. Those colors don't have broad enough appeal to be practical for selling a home. Stick with neutrals like white and shades of light grey or beige. You can use darker colors such as black or brown, or shades of green or blue as your accent colors in your accent pillows and throw blanket.
There should be four bed pillows on the bed in identical sizes and firmness, preferably extra firm so they stand up nicely on their side. Put two of the pillows in crisp, all-white pillow cases and lie them flat or propped against the headboard. The other two should be covered either in white pillow cases or the shams that came with the coverlet or comforter. The pillows should be the appropriate size for the bed. If the mattress is a king size, the bed pillows should also be king, queen mattresses should have queen pillows, and so on. If you want even more layers, add three 26" square Euro pillows covered in shams for the back row, leaning up against the headboard. Choose extra firm so they stand up nicely.
For color and additional texture, several accent pillows should be placed in front of the bed pillows. There is a huge variety of pillow covers available on Amazon. I usually use at least six accent pillows on king size beds. I recommend three 22"x22", two 20"x20", and one 18"x18" or 12"x20" lumbar pillow. Arrange all the pillows on the bed by size with the smallest in front. They don't all have to be the same color or texture or even pattern. In fact, it's better if they're not; but do choose colors and patterns that are compatible with one another. The best colors for staging a house to sell are neutrals like white (although all the other bedding I'm recommending is white, so another color for these pillows would be best), beige, tan, gray, brown, black, or shades of green or blue. Select colors that are in other pieces of decor in the room, such as wall art, to pull together a more cohesive look.
Feather or down-alternative pillow inserts that can be chopped in the middle look the most expensive and luxurious, and anything that looks expensive is going to elevate the perceived value of the whole house in the eyes of potential home buyers. When stuffing accent pillow covers, you always want inserts that are one size larger than the covers for a fuller look. So, for 20"x20" covers, choose 22"x22" inserts. Fold the insert in half and it will be easier to stuff it into the cover.
The final touch is a knit blanket placed at the bottom of the bed, either loosely folded across the foot of the bed on top of the comforter, or "casually" draped on a corner. You're going to be amazed at how hard it is to make "casual" look right. You may have to give it several tries.
If you have an upcoming vacant listing in our service area, call us at 909-256-9411 to get a free estimate for premium staging services using our inventory of furniture, art, and home decor. We will be asking for the full street address and photos, and we will may also ask to preview the home in-person before submitting a firm quote.
If you have a listing that will remain occupied while it's on the market, we offer a Photo Prep service during which we'll style the home by repurposing what the homeowners already have available. We do occasionally rent some of our inventory for occupied listings, as well. We assess what's needed during a mandatory, prelimary consultation. This consultation is two hours and will include instructions for decluttering, depersonalizing, deep cleaning, as well as recommendations for any cosmetic updates we feel will help the sellers get the home sold faster and for a higher percentage of their asking price. I also offer these consultations in an online format for anyone in the US or Canada.
If you have an occupied listing in our service area that you'd like staged, start here by booking the mandatory prelimary consultation.
If you'd like an online consultation for a home outside our service area, book here.