How to dress a home for viewings: a room-by-room list
For sellers, landlords and agents. Staged photographs get people through the door; the real room has to hold up when they arrive. Ten things that make an empty or tired room feel looked after.
A staged photograph does its job when someone books a viewing. Then they are standing in the actual room, and if it is empty or tired, the gap between the listing and the room is what they remember. You do not need to furnish the place. You need it to look looked after, and ten things do most of that work.
Start with the floor and the walls
A rug and a mirror change a room more than any single piece of furniture. The rug gives an empty room edges and stops it echoing; the mirror throws the window light back in and makes a small room read larger, in person and in photographs.
- Wool blend rug, natural, 160 × 230cm
Big enough to sit under the front legs of a sofa in most living rooms.
- Round oak wall mirror, 100cm
Hang it opposite or beside the window, not facing a blank wall.
Soften what is already there
Cushions and a throw on an existing sofa or bed hide wear and pull a room into one colour. Stay neutral — oatmeal, cream, soft grey — so the room agrees with the listing rather than arguing with it.
- Two cushion covers, natural
Covers only, so reuse the pads you already have.
- Knitted throw, natural, 235 × 235cm
Big enough to cover the arm and seat of a tired sofa.
Fix the light
Plenty of viewings happen at five o’clock in November. A ceiling light makes a room flat; a lamp with a fabric shade makes it warm. Put one in the living room and switch it on before anyone arrives.
- Ceramic table lamp with a linen drum shade
The shade softens the light rather than brightening the room.
Make the bedroom and bathroom hotel-plain
White bedding and white towels are the cheapest way to make both rooms look clean. Fold the towels, hang them matched, and put everything else away.
- Plain white duvet cover and pillowcase set
Buy it for the viewings; it does not need to last years.
- White cotton towels
Two bath towels and a hand towel is plenty.
- Textured cotton bath mat, grey
Covers the worst of a tired bathroom floor.
The first thing and the empty corner
A new doormat is the first thing anyone sees, and it costs very little. Inside, one tall plant fills the corner that would otherwise show how empty the room is. Artificial is fine — nobody will water it between viewings.
- Plain coir doormat
Measure the doorway first; it comes in two sizes.
- Artificial olive tree in a pot, 210cm
The biggest single spend here, and it fills the most space.
Match the room to the photographs
If the listing uses staged images, dress the real room in the same palette. Someone who booked on the strength of a pale Scandinavian lounge should walk into something that reads the same, even if it is a rug and two cushions rather than a sofa. It is the same rule as keeping one style across a listing, carried into the room itself.
Common questions
Is it worth dressing an empty home before viewings?
Usually. An empty room gives a buyer nothing to judge scale by and often reads smaller and colder than it is. A few soft furnishings fix most of that for far less than hiring furniture.
Do I need to buy furniture?
Rarely. If the room has a sofa or a bed, soften it. If it is completely empty, a rug, a lamp and a plant give it enough to read as a room, and labelled staged photographs can show the rest.
What should I take out?
Personal photographs, busy patterns and strong colours — anything that makes a buyer picture the current owner rather than themselves.