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You Might Not Need a Dining Room But Buyers Expect to See One

I’ve staged hundreds of homes and discovered that many people don’t use their dining rooms as such. For some families it’s a big empty space filled with toys, for others, especially when the dining room and living room are one, it becomes one big living room with the family eating in the kitchen.



A distinct living room and dining room were created with rental furnishings and accessories provided by Six Elements. The original mismatched items were used in other ways throughout the house or put in storage. This house was featured in a TV news show about home staging.

Not having a dining room is fine for how you might choose to live in your home. But when it’s time to sell you need to re-think how you’re showing the use or purpose of each room.



Once I suggested turning the “play room” back into a dining room, the client was able to borrow this set from her mother while the house was on the market.

Prospective buyers have a startling lack of imagination and if you don’t show a dining room as such, they’ll be thinking there isn’t one. Part of the problem is that most buyers see 6 or 8 homes in a day and whip through them pretty fast. In fact, I compared house hunting to speed dating [1] in a recent article.

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With a minimum two hour consultation in your home, we will tell you everything that needs to be done in your home (room by room and outside too) before you put your house on the real estate market. Contact us to learn more [2].

If you’re outside the Toronto area, I can still help you personally by phone working from photos you email me. Learn more about this virtual staging service [3].

Home staging expert [4] Debra Gould is president of Six Elements Inc. She has staged millions of dollars worth of real estate, including seven of her own homes. Debra has gained international recognition and has been featured in major media in the US and Canada [5] including: HGTV, CNN Money, CBC National News, CBS Radio, GlobalTV, CityTV, The Wall Street Journal, Woman’s Day, Reader’s Digest and more.