Lighting a Staged Home

Whether we’re staging an owner-occupied property or an empty one, the art of lighting a staged home is one of those pro-level details that often get missed.

And that’s too bad, because believe me, the right lighting makes a big difference to the finished look in both your listing photos and showings!

Lighting helps you achieve a few important goals:

• Your rooms will look larger, and happier;
• You can draw attention toward areas you want people to notice (and away from other areas);
• You can set the mood to match the story your staged home is telling: from sophisticated to homey and anything in between.

Factors that influence your lighting choices

While strategies will vary based on the home’s style, size, layout, and natural lighting, these tips will help you understand many of the factors we’re taking into account, and how to work with your staging pro and photographer to achieve the best results possible for your sale!

Exterior Lighting: Outdoor lighting not only adds visual interest, but can help your home feel safer. (You’d be surprised at home many prospective buyers cruise neighborhoods in the evening to check out the area!)

• Install or clean path lighting that shines down, as well as upward-shining floodlights that highlight the beautiful shape of trees and/or the front of your home.

Natural light levels, room-by-room: Meaning, how much natural light is available from windows, doors, and/or skylights.

• You’ll want to take into account their direction (south-facing windows tend to let in the most light), whether the home is heavily shaded by tree cover, and what the space will look like on rainy days, or in the evening.

Ensure overall brightness fits each room’s purpose: kitchens, bathrooms, and basements need the most light; living, dining and work rooms next; bedrooms least.

• Balancing overall amount of light with task-specific lighting. Under cabinet lights in the kitchen or workbenches, or reading lamps positioned near chairs.
• If there are dark spots in the room, whether created by furniture or architectural details, add a small lamp that brightens it up.

Strategically accentuate high ceilings: Some beautiful trim or other ceiling details beg for attention; but other times high ceilings are just… high.

• When that’s the case, an attractive fixture hanging down may perfectly accentuate the long drop.

Build light using layers: whenever possible, we suggest using different types of lights, in roughly similar hues.

• First create an overall level of brightness appropriate to each room, and then select highlight specific areas with task or localized lighting. This can make the room look larger, while still subtly suggesting a level of coziness that tells a homey story to prospective buyers.

What bulbs and how many?

• We recommend classic incandescent light bulbs, if you can, or any “soft white” bulbs (2700-3000k, or “kelvin” if you want to be precise).
• Halogen bulbs are the closest to natural daylight. You can’t put them in just any old lamp, of course, but if you have fixtures or lamps that take them, they’ll help brighten a space without looking harsh.
• Aim for 100 watts of light total for every 50 square feet of space. So, in a typical bedroom you can expect to use at least two lamps with a minimum of 60-to-75 watts each.
• If you happen to have Philips Hue lights, or a similar “smart” bulb set up, you’ll be able to adjust the color as needed for photos.

When it comes time to plan out lighting a staged home, it’s generally better to err on the side of “more,” avoiding any positioning that leads to dark gaps (particularly in your photos, where they’ll stick out like a sore thumb!). And if you’d like a pro on your side to ensure you’re making smart investments that will help you get the best possible offers, just give us a call!