Home staging can help you sell your property faster and for more money.
Seriously – look at the statistics:
- Home staging can increase a property’s sale price by up to 20% (National Association of Realtors)
- 95% of staged homes sell within 11 days on the market (International Association of Home Staging)
- Viewers are 46% more likely to visit a home they viewed online (UpNest)
- When the seller spends 1% of the property’s value on home staging, they see an ROI of 1000% (Home Staging Resource)
- The median cost to stage a home is just €675 (National Association of Realtors)
Whether you’re a real estate agent selling a house, a property owner looking for home staging services, or a seller looking to DIY your home staging, it’s worth knowing the basics.
We’re lucky to offer in-house home staging services in Barcelona at Lasose Properties & Investments.
Below, we’ll go over the 10 commandments of home staging techniques to help your sell you property for more, after fewer visits and in less time.
The 10 commandments of home staging
1. Keep things neutral
The purpose of a home staging is to let the viewer dream of living in your property.
This is true whether they’re browsing photographs online or viewing in person, whether they’re buying or renting, and whether they’ve buying a residential or commercial property.
If you don’t know where to start, first make sure your wall paint, carpets, big furniture and any other appliances or objects have neutral colours. This way the viewer can easily visualise how they’re own decorations will bring their dream to life.
2. Don’t get personal
If you have any personal pictures, you’ll need to take them down when staging your home for photographs or visits.
Viewers are only interested in how their lives will look in your property. They’re not coming to meet your family, they’re coming to move their own family in.
This same principle applies to any quirky ornaments, artworks, clothing, bold curtains, pets, soaps and shower gels in the bathroom and more.
3. Hire furniture
If you’re staging your own property – or a client’s fully-furnished property – there might be furniture that’s not helping.
If you’re staging an empty property, then it’s obvious you’re going to need to hire some furniture in.
Many professional home stagers will have access to neutral-coloured furniture for hire. You can hire furniture for yourself, or even rent good-looking furniture made from cardboard – it just needs to look the part.

4. If in doubt, go with white
If you’re not sure what colour to paint a wall, hang a curtain or install furniture – go with white.
White, cream, beige and light grey are some of the most neutral colours possible. White also helps to make a space look lighter and brighter.
5. Bring the light in
Ample lighting is an absolute home staging must.
If you have dark, heavy curtains in place then either drop them altogether or go with neutral-coloured curtains which stay open the whole time.
Natural lighting makes a property look more spacious, more calming, cleaner and more luxurious. Turn the electric lights on when a photographer is over, and keep them on during a property viewing.
6. Let the base features talk
Your aim when home staging is to emphasise the existing features of a property.
These features are ones a buyer can’t change, and will need to fall in love with. It means that rather than a personal work of art or colour scheme commanding attention, you want a viewer’s eyes to go immediately to a view out the window, the space on offer, or how two rooms connect with one another.
Neutral colours help to emphasise these base features.

7. Connect features with lifestyle
While you want to make a space less personal, you still want to encourage a viewer to dream of the life they can live in your property.
There are subtle ways you can organise, arrange and decorate spaces:
- If there’s a stunning view from the windows, then keep them open (if the weather permits).
- If your entrance is bright and there’s an elegant bannister running up the stairs then make sure nothing obstructs the view.
- If there’s a built-in wardrobe, then open it up (and maybe don’t have your own clothes in there).
- If there’s a fireplace, put a log on.
- If there’s a large south-facing window, put some vibrant green potted plants there.
- If you have a large dining table in a well-lit room, lay the table.
- If you have a terrace or patio area, then put some elegant outdoor furniture out there.
- If your bathroom has a large bath, then light a candle.
8. Deep clean
Before letting any photographer in, or bring anyone round for a viewing, give your property a deep clean.
Cobwebs on the ceiling or black marks on the walls will affect a buyer’s thoughts about your property. Even though they can clean these things themselves, it’s all about the impression your property makes.
9. Don’t let them see the cracks
If any part of your property has obvious signs of humidity, cracks, holes, stains or any other blemish then you should fix these before staging your home.
Get any cables or wiring out of sight.
If there’s a room that really needs renovations, it’s wise to be up front about it and then make sure that space is seen in the middle of the photographs, or in the middle of a viewing, so it doesn’t affect the first and last impressions.
10. Keep things smelling fresh
This last one is more for personal viewing, but can help all the same.
Smell is an important sense to conquer when conducting a property viewing. Any smells of dampness or rot or any other unpleasant fragrance will quickly put a buyer off.
Instead, make sure you can keep the windows open before anyone turns up. Light a scented candle if you need, or bring in some cut flowers.
There you have it! We hope you had many ‘aha’ moments with our 10 commandments.
Home staging techniques are more of an art than a science. If you get stuck, just think about the kind of people who’d be interested in your property. Think of their tastes, their personalities, they luxuries – and stage your home in a way that will inspire this kind of person.
If you need any home staging services in Barcelona, don’t hesitate to get in touch with Lasose Properties & Investments.