I am interested in this as well. We are about to list our house for sale and have no furniture in our formal dining room. I don't want to buy something but hate having a bare room. I looked at the aaronrents web page but their dining room choices looked very basic and not what I am looking for.

FWIW, on our really worn furniture we either threw it away or put it in storage. We had a very expensive leather sofa/chair/ottoman (cost $14000 15 years ago!) but the leather was very stained and worn looking. I considered slip covers but finally put it in storage. Slip covers may be an option for some furniture though. For beds, I've bought all new coverlets and sheet sets.

Wonder if you could find something in your city on e-Bay or Craig's list, then resell there later. You may lose some money, but probably not much more than the cost to rent. You may also be able to rent furniture from a private e-Bay seller if you're upfront about it and willing to do the transportation. IMO, the rental furniture I've seen (did that twice in short-term apartment situations) is pretty basic.

No, don't try Craig's and E-Bay. Not only will this be costly, time consuming, and difficult, you won't get what you need, which is an appealing fantasy designed to entice a buyer. Find a designer or decorator in your town and work with this professional to stage your house. A decorator will have contacts with local furniture and rug stores and may be able to arrange rentals for you. Someone with a good eye can also suggest paint colors and the use of inexpensive but effective props like plants, cushions, and lamps. You would be amazed at how powerful the effect of good lighting, green plants, and a few well placed coffee table books can be.

I'm sure it's a contentious subject, but the buyers aren't interested in your furniture. And your taste may not be the same. I like the idea of just getting rid of anything in very poor shape which you'd be throwing out anyway. Better to have fewer furnishings. This 'staging' of homes seems too much to me. I can see decluttering and sprucing things up, but to furnish a home for the sale seems odd. I know a lot on this forum do this, so I apologize, but if it takes furniture to sell a house, something's off there. An empty dining room lets me visualize my own furniture in there, not someone else's rental pieces.

i agree with Cynthia. I rented furniture a long time ago when I got my first place out of state. The furniture at the time was basic and not something suitable for staging a house. People won't buy your house because of the furniture. They will buy it because of the location, because they can see themselves in it or because it has features they like or are looking for.

You are better off decluttering and throwing slipcovers on some really worn pieces of furniture, then renting.

I remember one home we looked at five years ago that was beautifully staged... Emotionally, I really, really wanted that house. (And the fantasy of living in that serene, elegant space.) But my business head prevailed and I went for the larger house in a better location that needed a lot of work. But that staged house was very, very alluring -- and yes, the furniture and accessories played a big part. A savvy buyer knows she isn't getting the furnishings, but emotions play a big part in our home-buying decisions.

Kaleberg - I like your idea of working with a decorator or professional stager. How much do you suppose that might cost? And how would one go about finding such a person?

Sweeby,
Unfortunately, I've never hired a decorator so I don't know how much it might cost. I would suggest talking to the staff at the best furniture store in town and asking for a recommendation. You might also ask for a rec. from an architect who specializes in residential construction.
I rent a vacation cottage and learned a lot about staging from that. I read several books on design and asked an architect I knew for color suggestions. I have found that the following elicit positive emotions in my renters (I charge top dollar, so I welcome those positive emotions):
1. Light should come from at least two directions in every room, and you should pay attention to walls and ceilings as reflective surfaces. Always put some kind of light source at the end of hallways. Hang one or two well made mirrors with beveled edges - not metal strips - where they can reflect light or expand a view, but don't over do it. People don't want to feel that they are being manipulated.
2. Large indoor plants with shiny dark green leaves and white flowers seem to soothe people. Fragrance is a big plus. I keep a large, lush, star jasmine and an osmanthus in the living room of my cottage and position them near a light source so that their leaves cast dancing shadows along a white wall. Dark green plants can also work in the bathroom.
3. Texture counts. I hung a large, jewel toned art quilt along a wall for softness and color. Buy some top quality, bath sheets and hand towels in a rich color and put them in the bathrooms.
4. As Sarah Susanka says, everyone loves window seats. If you can make one out of two tall bookshelves, a window, and a bench you should. You would not believe how much people love window seats. I keep hearing the phrase, "This is awesome!" when renters walk into the cottage and see the living room window seat. Granted, it does float over a beautiful lake, but still.
5. Keep your furniture good but sparse. Rent the poshest couch, lamps, and dining table you can afford, but don't clutter the place. Do place fascinating books and high end, even pretentious, magazines in strategic places.
6. Try for one or two partial views of an interesting bowl, plant, or object d'art. Place something beautiful so that one can catch just a glimpse of it from central vantage points in the living room or the dining room. This works particularly well if you can draw the attention to a diagonal view. False perspective tricks are good, too. Put a large object partly in front of a smaller one to give an impression of distance and depth.
7. If you have a fireplace, light a fire with apple wood or some other fragrant wood, and keep it burning during every showing.
8. Make sure the place is warmly lit at night. Serious buyers will often drive by at night to see what the house looks like. Put a pretty lantern at the front door or at the end of the driveway.
9. Make sure the place is spanking clean and fresh, of course, but do go ahead and bake cookies or pumpkin pie. Yes, it really works; scent triggers powerful emotions in people, and most people buy a house with their hearts as well as their heads.

Some professional home stagers have furniture to lend, or they specialize in staging empty houses.

Here is a link that might be useful: Home staging link

Hi. I am a Designer with JJREGI Interior and Design Center, Inc. and we provide a staging service for FSBOs and Real Estate Agents. Many of clients have found that it is profitable to use us because they are not faced with the expense of purchasing furniture that they may or may not use. Also, our clients feel that we are more in tuned with the trends and such. Our fee is nominal! We home stage around the country. Please feel free to call or email.

Jennifer J. Kemp, Interior Designer
JJREGI Interior and Design Center, Inc.
(770) 655-5774
jenniferjkemp@yahoo.com

Jennifer - do you have a website?

Devorah, where are you located. I know several stagers and may be one is in your area.

I just want to put in that Cynthia and Sweeby are *both* right on this, since it's a frequent argument. No buyer is looking to buy your furniture, but the furniture in a room creates a very real psychological impact about the feeling of the room. Staging isn't intended to persuade people in a rational sense, it's an effort to appeal subconsciously. It can absolutely create a more positive perception of your house. I've found this initial perception tends to persist for the buyer even after you move out.

I have shown a lot of houses as an agent, and I have found that the houses that show best are the ones with very nice, sparse furniture that suggests a story line. (Even if the story is just "People who read high-falutin' magazines lounge here.")

This effect has been especially noticable for me when I've shown the same houses over time- once with well-placed furniture and art and another time when the house is vacant. (The order these states occur in varies.) At the staged showing the house feels luxurious and spacious, or warm and cozy; at the other it usually feels small, dark, and much older.

If you decide not to invest in a professional stager's help, my suggestion is that most houses still look better with a little furniture than nothing at all. People actually have an easier time envisioning their own things in a room that isn't empty, because whatever is there lends a starting point of space and size. And above all go for lots of light. The price of a lamp to brighten up a dark corner will pay for itself.

Good luck!

Since I have been selling my house, we have been holding open houses whenever there is one in the neighborhood. (OK, very small subdivision so it's easy to piggyback). Now being in the house when people come it they first notice the scent of the house and then move on to the overall feel of the house. We don't have any professional stagers in my area but I got tons of good advice from this forum and I implemented it. I also had a stager from out of state review all the photos of the house.

If you are nuts about keeping the house clean, it will naturally smell nice and refreshing. But most people live in their houses, cook meals and have pets or children and so everyday living smells are impossible to avoid. To combat that, on open house day or when I know an agent is bringing someone by, I hide a Lampe Berger somewhere on the first floor. I use an apple or cinnamon or orange scent in the lampe. One lampe will mildly scent the entire two story 3,000 sq. foot house. Don't hide it in a confined room, find a central place. Lite it about 20 minutes before a showing. Be judicious, because it can get a little strong even in a large open house. It's aromatherapy for your house. :)

Great staging suggestions above. I'm gonna take another run through the house and see if I can utilize any of them.

kaleberg: I completely agree about the designer. We traded time equivelent of about $300 for him to spend about 4 hours going thru the home explaining what to do. The guy does million dollar homes but took the time to help us. I highly highly recommend this as it is what ultimately sold our home (buyer loved decor and actually purchased several pieces in the negotiations).

I disagree that it doesnt do any good. I am extremely good visualizing my stuff in a space but maybe even in my mind it's not placed right. The designer can help with that. We had the same guy look at the new house and give a mini consult because we liked how he thought. Well well worth the money.

If you go to the design to sell website on HGTV and look for episodes where they replaced the dining room, there are usually some ideas and brands and where to shop even (or google the manufacturer and model).

If your house requires older traditional furniture then I would hit resale and antique shops and even look for signs at your local supermarket or other place people place ads. Try tag sales too. The table is probably less important than the chairs since you can always stick a tablecloth over the table. I would get something smaller than you normally would for the room but not ridiculously small. A slightly smaller table will make the room look bigger

If it is cheap enough you can toss it or leave it

I've also been wondering about renting to stage. The dining set we have isn't what I'd call nice. It's something DH had, one of the chairs is pretty trashed from my daughter. I also need to buy 1 twin size bed with bedding for my son's room to replace a full sized bed that makes the room look small. My son will die while his bed is in storage & freaked out when I gave him the news. I should also rent 2 dressers for my room; DH & I picked out a new set but never bought it due to our room not being done. I don't want to purchase until we move because one never knows how large the room will be.

Jennifer - do you have a website?

From what I see the website doesn't work. Googling the name brings the web site up, but it's no good.

Devorah, where are you located. I know several stagers and may be one is in your area.

Post is a bit on the old side, they may not need it any more.

Hello,
I run the Home Staging division for AFR furniture rentals. I work with homeowners, realtors, designers and home stagers. If you are looking to sell your home and need to rent furniture to have it staged or want to rent furniture for any reason, please feel free to give me a call. We are a multi-national company with offices in most major cities. You can contact me at 786-518-9039 I am located in Miami!