9 Pet Peeves Home Stagers Have About the Way You Make Your Bed

Though it can play second fiddle to the kitchen and living room at showings, staging a bedroom shouldn’t be overlooked during a home sale.

“It is the most personal room in the house,” says Holly DeGoey of ALT Design Studio in Des Moines. “We spend a lot of our time there, and we don’t want it to get overlooked in photos because that can really distract a buyer from visualizing where they’re going to spend their time sleeping.”

To make your bed look pristine in photos and IRL, avoid these pet peeves shared by six home stagers across the country — and follow their tips for crisp, cozy-looking bedding.

When styling a bed, you should start at the bottom, DeGoey says. A messy bedskirt is her number one pet peeve, especially if it’s off kilter or if you can see the legs of the bed. “Making sure that it’s steamed, not wrinkled, and in its correct place will set the correct tone for the rest of the bed,” she says. 

Similarly, Brooklyn-based stager and designer Tara Benet dislikes wrinkly sheets, and she has a solution for anyone who’s not a home stager and isn’t planning to iron their linens: “We often recommend sateen linens as they resist wrinkling for a flatter appearance,” she says.

One of Kansas City-based stager Helen Bartlett’s pet peeves is when linens are not tucked in neatly. In addition to making sure your linens are wrinkle-free, you’ll want to make sure they’re pulled taut to the corners. This is a good tip whether you’re moving or not, Bartlett explains, as she’s a firm believer in making the bed every day. “This is your first accomplishment of the day, and it sets the mental attitude of being able to be productive and accomplishing your goals for the day,” she says.

Bartlett also recommends getting rid of slouchy, worn pillows before showing your home to a potential buyer. “Some pillows tend to lose their shape and look flat and tired,” she says. She suggests replacing old pillows with something down-filled and shapely. Plus, Bartlett adds, you’ll get a better night’s sleep with a new, clean pillow.

Staging isn’t just about accessorizing. For instance, too many throw pillows on a bed can be overwhelming. Ty Karges, a home stager and designer in San Jose, California; Minol Shamreen, the founder and creative director of the Texas-based staging and design firm Studio M Designs, and DeGoey all say that you should have two to four standard, supportive white pillows at max behind decorative shams. If your pillows extend halfway down the bed, the bed might look too short or too small.

Shamreen says her biggest gripe about the way non-stagers make their beds is that their pillowcases often face the wrong way. “For sleeping pillows, the open end should be facing the inside, not the outside,” she says. “On the outside, you want a crisp, clean edge.”

Karges says everything in a bedroom should be to scale, from the size of the bed and artwork above it, to the blankets and pillows. 

Shamreen says for a queen-sized bed, a good rule of thumb is to keep your accent pillows 22 to 24 inches wide. For a king-sized bed, she says, you can go all the way up to 26 inches, but no smaller than 22. 

“The throw blanket shouldn’t look like a floor mat on the bed,” Karges says. “I think the blanket should wrap around the edges of the bed. You should probably add 12 inches to the length of your mattress, at least, to size it properly.” 

Benet says opting for oversized throws or full-width folded blankets over smaller ones will give a more luxurious aesthetic.

If your blanket is too short, Karges suggests just putting it on one corner of the bed. (It’s called a throw, after all!) “It should be kind of effortlessly thrown lightly on the edge of the bed,” DeGoey adds. The goal is to create a layered, cozy look. 

And finally, home stager Thora Tam, of 365 Staging in Santa Clara, California, drives home the importance of all of these details with her main complaint:

“My biggest pet peeve is that most of my design and staging clients leave the master bedroom as their lowest priority,” she says. “It’s almost like an afterthought, with plain sheets and comforter, no art, and decorative pillows… It seems to me that most people will decorate and furnish the common areas and their kid’s bedrooms, and by the time they’re done with those spaces, they have run out of steam and creativity for their master bedroom.” 

So consider this a little energy boost to style your bedroom. By paying attention to details like sheets, comforters, and pillows, your bedroom might just go the extra mile for a potential buyer — and in the meantime, you’ll get a more restful night’s sleep while your house is on the market. 

Correction: An earlier version of this post mistakenly said Ty Karges was based in San Diego. Karges is actually based in San Jose. We’ve updated it to be more accurate.