Staging day goes smoothly when the house is ready for furniture — not when we arrive and spend the first hour moving boxes. This is the checklist we send sellers and agents so install day stays on schedule and the design looks like the proposal you approved.
You do not need the home to be magazine-perfect before we walk in. You do need it empty enough, clean enough, and accessible enough for a crew to work.
“The best staging days feel uneventful. That only happens when the house was prepared the day before.”
Vacant homes: what “empty” actually means
Vacant staging assumes we can place every piece without shuffling your remaining life. Please complete the following before our truck arrives:
- All personal furniture and boxes out of the rooms we are staging
- Closets in staged rooms cleared or edited so doors can open
- Garage or driveway access for unloading (HOA gates: send codes the day before)
- Utilities on — lights, HVAC, and water if we are setting baths
- Floors vacuumed or mopped; we are not a cleaning company
If something has to stay (a piano, a safe, built-ins), tell us before install day so the plan accounts for it.
Occupied homes: edit before we supplement
Occupied staging is a collaboration. We will have already walked the house and agreed what stays. Your job before staging day:
- Remove the items we flagged — family photos, extra chairs, dated accessories
- Clear kitchen and bath counters except two or three daily-use items
- Make beds with clean, neutral bedding or leave them stripped if we are bringing linens
- Secure pets and pet items out of the work path
- Plan to be out, or in one closed room, while we work — decisions were made on the consult
The day-before punch list
- Confirm access: lockbox, gate code, alarm, parking for a box truck
- Walk every staged room and remove leftover clutter
- Open blinds; note any bulbs that are out
- Protect anything fragile you still need in the house
- Text or email our coordinator if something changed (painter delayed, floor not dry)
What we bring vs. what you handle
We bring furniture, art, rugs, lamps, and accessories from our warehouse, plus the crew to place them. You handle cleaning, trash-out, and any repairs that should be done before photos. We can work around a punch-list item. We cannot hide a dirty oven or a lawn that has not been cut.
After install: photos and showings
Leave the rooms as we set them until photography is done. Small “improvements” after we leave — extra throws, personal photos back on the mantel — are how a tight design unravels in the listing photos.
If you need vacant pricing, use the instant quote. If you are still living in the home, start with a consultation so staging day is a continuation of a plan, not a surprise.