O, and this; I especially don't like sitting in church or another large gathering and have a tall person sit right in front of me. Really? There should be rules that those (fortunate) taller people must sit in the back! I'm barely 5 feet tall on a good day!
And I really really don't care much for clutter!
Sometimes I will be just strolling through my own home when I stumble on someone's shoes left helter-skelter in the way. Now I must admit, I've been known to assume those shoes were left by someone else (insert "husband") only to look down and notice the shoes are mine! (Sorry honey!)
But when I am going from point A to point B...don't slow me down. I'm usually scrambling to get out the door and hope to leave my home neat and tidy.
I like coming home to a spiffy house. It makes me feel good. Cozy in fact! I find it restful and pleasing!
So when we are hired to assist a homeowner with a staging consultation, one of the many things we look for is 'stuff'. Is there stuff blocking our way through the house? How is the flow of traffic? Can we get from the entry easily to the main living room, flowing through to the kitchen? Or do we trip over mulitple area rugs, a basket of shoes and the dog bed to find the charm of a home.
Sometimes we understandably become so comfortable in our own home that it is difficult to see the forest through the trees, ya know? We can all be a little lax in picking up everything unless we have guests coming. Goodness gracious~ then I go into high gear to make sure things are neaty all hidden in their place. (I blame my mother for this but that is another blog!)
Flow of traffic is vital in staging a home. As homeowners we get used to things being cozy that basics are overlooked. The minor things that make us comfortable can make for some lousy online photos.
When someone enters your home, is the first thing they see the back of a couch? Does someone have to weave and dodge just to get through to the next room? Take a minute to walk through your traffic pattern and see if moving something over, or switching a chair with the sofa might make the flow better. If you have to turn sideways to squeeze between your dresser and your bed, it is might be time to rethink the layout.
Often times it just takes a little tweaking to open up a space.
No one likes to be stuck in traffic.
