Virtual staging is not just for filling up an empty room. Used cleverly, the technique can also spice up interior shots.

Virtual staging is an incredible real estate marketing service available to real estate photographers, agents, and sellers. By utilizing a virtual staging company, you can add virtually generated furniture, appliances, accent pieces, and other decor into a high-quality image of an empty interior space. This gives real estate photographers a lot of practical advantages, including time savings, costs savings, and the ability to add another great service to their tool belt.

But do you know that virtual staging can also be used to breathe life into an empty room? Check out these simple tips on how to use virtual staging to help homes sell faster.

1. Add art

As a rule of thumb, virtual staging should be devoid of any personal belongings or general clutter. After all, the purpose of virtually staging a room is not to add your own personal touch, but to give a home buyers a glimpse of what their future home might look like.

However, if the room you staging is looking rather dull, you can ask your virtual staging company to include some simple artwork to help liven up the space. A piece or two can make these empty spaces more visually appealing and inviting.

Who knows, that artwork on the wall may be the thing that helps get the potential home buyer to show up to the next open house!

2. Add rugs

The floor is an expansive feature of any room. But unless there is something special about the floor (e.g. a rare type of hardwood flooring, a peculiar tile pattern, etc.), the look is generally lackluster.

Don’t worry! There’s a simple fix. Just tell your virtual staging company to add a rug to the image. By adding a rug, it can help make the room look bigger, or help tie in other colors/patterns found in the room. Add a rug with a splash of color or elaborate pattern to break down the monotonous look of a plain floor. In addition, rugs helps make a room feel more warm and inviting.

3. Put the dining table at the center or at a corner

A spacious dining room is one of the focal points in an interior shot. You can create the illusion of a more spacious dining room by asking your virtual stager to move the dining table to the center of the dining room. By doing so, you free up a lot of visual space along the sides of the room. If the center isn’t viable, you can ask him to put the table on a corner, which frees up space around the table.

Avoid adding too many furnishings such as cupboards, shelves, or china cabinets against the walls on either side of the table as these tend to make the space look small and cramped.

4. Add a TV

Empty walls look—well—empty. A neat trick is to add a TV on the wall. A TV break the monotony of a blank wall and makes the room more livable and realistic.

Your virtual stager can even add an image of a specific program (e.g. movie trailer, sports game, or a nice scenic view) to the TV screen to make it look like the TV is turned on. Here’s are some tips on how to add an image to an empty TV screen.

5. Add trays, vases, or other small accents

You’ve added the right furniture and placed it perfectly, but the room still looks a little bland… Try throwing in a dash of color by adding a tray that contains brightly colored fruit or flowers on the table top or counter. Things like flowers, fruits, and or decorative spheres are a few common items that can help liven up a room and make the space feel more “homey”.

If a tray of objects doesn’t hit tickle fancy, you can substitute it with a vase with bright flowers or even a small pile of books or magazines.

6. Make the bathroom pleasant

The bathroom is among the most intimate places in a property. Your virtual staging company can do a few things to add spice to an empty bathroom. Here are a few examples:

  • add a piece of artwork or a vase with flowers for a spa-like environment
  • put some simple lamps on the vanity
  • place plants to bring additional life to the space
  • add a nice rug in front of the tub or outside of the shower

These are just some virtual staging tips that will surely liven up any real estate photo. Just remember the all-important rule of thumb: don’t overdo it! Keep the room as simple as possible. The small details will go a long way.

If you’re looking for the best virtual staging company, look no further than PhotoUp. We offer professional virtual staging services at 25 credits per rendered image. Simply send your images over to support@photoup.net along with your instructions on how you like the room to be staged. Check out our online virtual staging catalog of over 1000 individual pieces or select from our wide variety of full sets of furniture, perfect for every room in a home.

Sign up for a PhotoUp account and get your first virtually staged image for just $1. Add virtual staging services to your standard real estate photography service to make your business the one-stop shop for real estate marketing.