What Is an Occupied Staging Consultation?
An Occupied Staging Consultation is designed for homes that are still being lived in during the selling process. Rather than starting from scratch, this service builds on the homeowner’s existing furnishings and style to enhance the overall appeal of the space for potential buyers.
At Merrow Staging & Design, we provide a detailed, room-by-room assessment of your home. We offer tailored recommendations to declutter, rearrange furniture, and introduce simple yet impactful styling techniques—all aimed at showcasing the property's best features. Our approach ensures that the home feels warm, welcoming, and market-ready, while still reflecting the homeowner’s personality in a polished and intentional way.
The goal? To help your listing stand out in photos, create a lasting impression during showings, and ultimately support a faster sale—often at a higher price point!
Our Process
Getting your home ready for the market doesn’t have to be overwhelming. At Merrow Staging & Design, our step-by-step Occupied Staging Consultation process is designed to guide both homeowners and real estate professionals through the essential first steps of preparing a property to shine in today’s competitive real estate market.
Step 1: Schedule Your Occupied Staging Consultation
We begin with a 1-on-1 in-home consultation, where Deirdre Dugan will walk through the entire property—top to bottom—to assess its current condition and buyer appeal. This service is ideal for occupied homes, where the seller is still living in the space.
Step 2: Personalized Room-by-Room Assessment
During the consultation, Deirdre provides a thorough evaluation of each room and identifies what can be done to enhance the home’s presentation. This includes decluttering tips, furniture arrangement suggestions, styling strategies, and more—all tailored to your home’s layout and your timeline.
Step 3: Action Plan & Priority Checklist
By the end of the visit, you'll receive a customized room-by-room action plan and checklist of staging priorities. These recommendations are designed to help you create a clean, inviting, and market-ready space that appeals to potential buyers.
Step 4: Choose Your Level of Support
After the consultation, it’s up to you how to move forward. Some homeowners prefer to implement the recommendations themselves, while many choose to have Merrow Staging & Design handle the transformation. We’re flexible—you can take a hands-on role, hand everything over to us, or find a balance between the two.
Step 5: Full-Service Staging & Design (Optional)
If you decide to move forward with full staging support (which most clients do), we offer a comprehensive range of services including:
Furniture and Décor Sourcing
Color and Finish Consultations
Professional Organizing
Decor Shopping
Referrals to Trusted Vendors and Tradespeople
We’re here to make the entire staging process smooth, stylish, and strategic—from consultation to completion.