Home Staging: Is It Worth It?
Updated: Sep 12
When selling a property, sellers often ask whether home staging is genuinely worthwhile or simply an unnecessary decorating expense.
The honest answer is that staging cannot change the location, repair serious faults or rescue a property that is badly overpriced. What it can do is help buyers understand the space, appreciate its strongest features and imagine themselves living there.
What does the evidence say?
The National Association of Realtors’ 2025 survey found that 83% of buyers’ agents said staging made it easier for buyers to imagine a property as their future home.
The same research reported that 29% of agents believed staging resulted in offers between 1% and 10% higher. Almost half of sellers’ agents—49%—said staging reduced the amount of time a property remained on the market.
These figures are encouraging, but they need to be treated honestly. This was an American survey of estate agents and reflects their professional observations rather than a controlled comparison of identical properties.
A 2015 academic study published in the Journal of Housing Research reached a more cautious conclusion. Although homeowners and estate agents expected furnishings and wall colours to affect value, the experiment found that staging did not significantly change how much buyers were willing to pay.
So, staging is not a guaranteed way to increase the selling price. Its clearest benefit is improving how buyers see and respond to the property.
Why presentation still matters
Most buyers first encounter a property through online photographs. They make quick comparisons between several homes in the same price range.
A cluttered room can appear smaller than it is. An empty room can make it difficult to judge scale. Poor furniture placement can disguise how the room is meant to be used, while personal belongings can distract attention from the property itself.
Effective staging addresses these problems through:
Decluttering and removing unnecessary furniture
Improving the layout and flow of each room
Making better use of lighting
Giving unclear spaces a recognisable purpose
Adding carefully chosen colours and accessories
Preparing the property for professional photography
The aim is not to create a false impression or hide defects. It is to show the property clearly and attractively.
When is staging most worthwhile?
Professional staging deserves serious consideration when a property is empty, heavily personalised, cluttered, unusually arranged or struggling to generate viewings despite receiving online attention.
It can also be valuable before photography. Once weak photographs have been published and buyers have dismissed the listing, that first opportunity has already been lost.
Before reducing the asking price by several thousand pounds, consider whether a smaller investment in presentation could improve buyers’ response. Staging cannot correct an unrealistic price, but it can ensure the property is being shown at its best before a reduction is considered.
However, staging must work alongside sensible pricing, good photography and a proper marketing strategy. It should never be used as an excuse to avoid an honest conversation about the asking price.
The verdict: Is Home Staging Worth It?
Home staging is worth considering—not because it guarantees a higher offer, but because it gives your property a better chance of attracting attention and creating an emotional connection.
If you need an experienced eye, Maria at Make Heaven can help you prepare and present your property so buyers see its full potential.
Before reducing your asking price, it is worth asking a simpler question:
Are buyers currently seeing your property at its best?
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