I read on your website, with regard to staging a home for sale, that a seller should remove personal family pictures. My realtor agrees with this. I’m enclosing a picture of the wall that we use to display our family memories. I’m wondering if the pictures are excessive or fabulous. Please respond.

Sandra Mariotti
Lewis Center, Ohio

Dear Sandra,

First of all, the term “fabulous” is usually used by stagers and designers exclusively. I have yet to hear a lay person use the word correctly with regard to an aesthetic design issue. That aside, I stand behind my statement that buyers do not want to see your family memories. They will feel that they are in the “Mariotti” house. Buyers are unique characters. If they feel the house belongs to your family exclusively, they will not be able to see themselves living there, which, in turn, will not net an offer on the house.

Bottom line, the pictures are definitely not “fabulous.” They are simply “ordinary.” I’m sure you feel your family memories are special, but others do not share that feeling. To be successful at staging you must remove them. The sheer number is, indeed, excessive. To coin another designer/stager term, “less is more.”