See How a Stager Made a Bare Bedroom Look So Much “Brighter and Larger”

House hacking, which is when a homeowner rents out part of their primary home, is a smart way to earn additional income as an investor. But when one Philadelphia homeowner couldn’t rent out her spare bedroom as quickly as she hoped, she resorted to making an even smarter move — she called in a home stager for assistance.

Ana Cvetkovic, principal of Rowhome Design, a Philadelphia-based home staging and interior design firm, pulled it off in no time and, even better, with practically no budget. “You’re not supposed to fully design a room,” she says of home staging. “You’re kind of just suggesting how a space can be used.”

Cvetkovic’s work was obviously on point, because the room got snapped up within a week of posting the new photos. Here’s what she did to capture the interest of renters.

Furniture placement is key to showing how a bedroom can flow, even if there are other options that are also practical. Originally, Cvetkovic placed the bed’s headboard against the same wall as the door. “I think the room looks bigger when you can enter the bed from two sides,” she says. It’s a good move to show that a couple could share the room comfortably, but Cvetkovic’s client happened to be looking for a single person as a roommate. Pushing the side of the bed up against the wall instead was an alternative option that still maximized the space. 

While large staging budgets might warrant furniture rentals, Cvetkovic used what was already in the house to stage the room — which shows that you don’t need to shell out the big bucks to help stage your home for sale or for rent. A small, awkward corner of the bedroom was transformed when Cvetkovic added a chair, a small rug, and a mirror, which was a find that her client picked up at a flea market. “That’s kind of all it took to help illustrate how the room could be used,” she says.

Decluttering is called “prepacking” in staging, Cvetkovic says. And here’s her pro tip: “Just get rid of everything.” If that’s a bridge too far, she says to focus on removing/packing up anything that’s smaller than a basketball, which will just look like clutter in photos. 

Aside from the bathroom, the bedroom is one of the more private and personal spaces in a home. But staging a bedroom should encourage would-be renters to think about it as their personal space, not that of the person currently living there. 

It’s easier said than done, but for starters, Cvetkovic says to remove family photos. While she likes wall art, she also recommends taking down anything that might be deemed controversial — think religious or nude imagery — so that the room is more universally appealing.

Normally, decor should be kept to a minimum, but plants always add life to a space, quite literally. However, not everyone has the green thumb needed to maintain house plants. Fake plants are the way to go, Cvetkovic says. Orchids and succulents are especially good choices because “you can’t really tell which is real and which is fake,” she explains.

Heavy window treatments are often replaced with sheer curtains during staging, but Cvetkovic’s staging project shows that even less is more. She opted for no curtains with the shades rolled up for the staging photos to let in the most sunlight possible. The room looks brighter and even larger as a result. 

After the staging, the room quickly rented to a tenant — so that Philadelphia homeowner was able to “house hack” as planned.