As Boston-area professional home stagers, one of the things we often encounter is clients who leave behind a little bit of their furniture after moving out of their house. 

There are various reasons for this—some people believe a new owner will want the items (almost always No!), some people can’t find someone to move a heavy piece (professional movers are the answer), or they don’t have space to store it (Facebook marketplace posts are great to get rid of unwanted items). Still other people feel that having some furniture in the house is preferable to it being empty.

In our experience, it really is best to remove all items at the time of moving out. Here’s why:a small assortment of furniture always feels forlorn—and that’s not the emotional effect you want to have on your potential buyers!

Ideally, buyers enter a home and feel overwhelmed with a positive enthusiasm and desire to move right in. This is most effectively created with a cohesive, beautifully designed furnishing plan that highlights the features of the home and generates a feeling of comfort and wellbeing— whether that is by using homeowners own furniture or furniture rented from a home staging company like ours. 

If this strategy isn’t available, we suggest listing completely empty as preferable to leaving some items behind. Give your shoppers a sparkling clean, empty palette to experience during the walk-through, not a land of left-behinds!