Depersonalisation in Home Staging

Selling your home can be an emotional experience, whatever your reason for selling your home is. It’s tough to let strangers in and allow them to judge the home worthy or not. It’s even harder still when the time comes that you and your family would have to vacate this place that’s filled with so much memories and anything that reminds you of them the moment that you start preparing it for a home staging.

But one thing you need to remember when you’re selling your home is that, in a sense, it already doesn’t belong to you the way it had. Depersonalisation is a part of the whole home staging process because it helps make your home become more appealing to a wide range of potential buyers.

What is depersonalisation?

Simply put, depersonalisation means removing all of those items that define who you are as a person and as a family. Before opening the home to potential buyers, you must remove all family photos, souvenirs from vacations or events, trophies, plaques and medals, and any other assorted memorabilia from your life in that home.

In the bathrooms, store all but a few basic toiletries in an attractive receptacle, and be careful not to leave evidence on the counters of having shaved, applied makeup or brushed your teeth. And always empty the trash before potential buyers walk through. In the bedrooms, make sure that laundry is hidden in a closed hamper and all clothes are properly hung. That also means that no laundry should be left in process in the laundry room, and if possible, no clothes should be left hanging on the line when buyers come through.

Importance of depersonalisation in home staging

Depersonalising is key because buyers need to feel removed from the current residents if they are to imagine living there themselves. It’s actually just as uncomfortable for buyers to poke into every corner of a highly personalised home as it is for the sellers to invite their presence.

Rationally, potential buyers know that someone lives in the home, and obviously everyone needs clothes and toiletries, and produces trash. Everyone likes to personalise their space to feel happy and comfortable at home. That’s life! But the decision to make a big purchase is actually way more emotional than rational.

Buyers who get caught up in the personal effects of the current residents will have a hard time imagining themselves in the home. A neutral canvas really helps them see the potential for bringing in their own personalities. If they spend any time thinking about you and where you might go next, it’ll be that much harder to feel comfortable making an offer.

So while it may be painful to remove or conceal all of your home’s personal effects, think of it as protecting your private life and keeping it private. There’s no getting around the fact that selling your home is stressful and emotional, but depersonalising the space before putting it on the market keeps you on an even footing with your buyer.