"That's Not Centered!"

Here is a dining room staging to show you.You know how I'm always saying staging is not decorating?

My first step in staging is to stand at the front door and look at the space through "buyer's eyes".  I do a quick scan of the of everything in my immediate vision.  I concentrate on the area that would be around 10 o'clock, if you were looking at a clock face.  This quick look is what your potential buyer sees when they step into your house.

What does the buyer see when they walk in?  In this case, it is the back wall of the dining room. dining room back wall. The wall was previously void of decor. 

Also, it is important to remember we are selling the architecture. We are selling that fabulous chandelier, trey ceiling, inset lights, and transom door.  So, to play up the architecture I used tall, chunky red pillar candlesticks and candles.  This is to draw the eye up towards the features.

Picture is only to illustrate my point.

You will notice that the picture on the back wall facing the front door is not in the middle.  For staging, it was cheated a bit to the right to look best from the front door.  The ficus tree was pulled away from the wall. (Hard to tell from the picture but it is a bit left of center--for the same reason.)
I moved the dining room table a wee bit to the right of center to create space between the chairs and the buffet. Here's the before picture.

The buffet has mirrored shelves.  I selected accessories that wouldn't 'get lost'.  The majority of accessories are shiny gold or brass objects.  I did not put anything on the bottom shelf.  It gives a less cluttered look and can't be seen above the backs of the chairs.

By the way, when the owner came in for the reveal, she unconsciously pushed the chairs as far under the table as possible as we chatted.  When she finished I laughed and said, "I guess you didn't know I had a reason for leaving the chairs out a bit?  It allows breathing space and makes the room look less crowded."

Oooooooooh! replied the seller.
It's those little things....

Keep cool.  We are in a record heat wave.