🪧 Rule #2 — Avoid placing all furniture along the walls
💬 “Wall-hugging is for anxious guests, not confident rooms.”
🎯 Why This Rule Changes Everything
When all furniture is pushed against the walls, a room loses its shape — and its purpose. It feels like a waiting room, not a home. Floating furniture (even slightly!) defines zones, encourages conversation, and gives buyers a clear sense of how to live in the space — not just look at it. This rule is about anchoring layout with intention.
🛋️ How to Pull Furniture In — and Pull Buyers In Too
Instead of hugging the walls, create islands of function: a lounge area around a rug, a reading chair near a window, a bench near the foot of a bed.
- Leave 10–20 cm between larger furniture and the wall to give it “breathing room.”
- Use a rug to visually contain a sofa + coffee table — this creates an inviting central zone.
- Balance both sides of a room, so one wall isn’t doing all the heavy lifting.
Example: In a Lane Cove apartment, we pulled the sofa 25 cm off the wall and added a round coffee table with a rug — suddenly, the room had shape, and the photos felt editorial.
🧠 What Buyers Really Think
Buyers rarely walk into a room and say, “This layout feels awkward.”
Instead, they say:
“Not sure where the TV would go.”
“Feels kind of empty?”
What they’re picking up on is poor spatial definition. Grouping furniture with intention — even if minimal — gives every area a job. That clarity = confidence.
✨ Mini Makeover Snapshot
Before: Sofa and two armchairs lined up along the walls like a doctor’s waiting room.
After: Sofa + rug + accent chair in triangle formation. A real living space emerged — buyers could imagine the lifestyle.
🗣️ Straight From the Agents
“When we see everything pushed to the edges, we know it won’t photograph well. Buyers just scroll past. You need that central ‘moment’ in every room.” — Jordan M., Ray White Lower North Shore
❌ Mistake to Skip
Don’t be afraid of open space. Fear of clutter leads people to shove everything to the edges. Instead, embrace negative space — it’s what makes good staging feel premium, not desperate.
🧭 Keep Moving
◀ Previous: Rule #1 — Leave at least 60 cm for passageways
▶ Next: Rule #3 — Anchor with a Rug, Not the Floor
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