And that's why Joanne stages the houses. LOL

She has great taste. You also notice the "old" pictures are taken at night while the updated pictures are taken during the day where there is more light.

I'd actually rather see it empty than the homeowners' furniture.

But I am probably one of the rare people who'd rather see it empty than staged, too. I know most people can't tell how big rooms are or what fits without a few pieces of standard furniture. I pretty much can, and would rather not be distracted.

I'm with you palimpsest, although my first home I bought because it was so stuffed with furniture, no one could really tell how nice the rooms really were.

Like palimpsest, I prefer viewing empty houses so I can visualize the arrangement of my furniture in the rooms. Unlike palimpsest, I am not particularly skilled with judging size by memory. But empty, at least nothing obstructs my tape measure!

I'm fine with empty houses if I'm the buyer. But if I'm selling, I'm staging. No question about that, to me.

Actually, just realized that I should have posted pic in reverse order (but you all got it).

I own a small studio and have been told by the second tenant now that they only realized how much bigger it was than they thought when they first looked at once they started putting furniture in. So, I guess not everybody can accurately visualize.

The real truth: life in most American living rooms revolves around having comfortable seating pointed at the TV. :-)

Ummmm so the big dorky brown stuff is the homeowners' furniture? Honestl, I dont care for eithe rof them . But dont mind me, Im an old curmudgeon who is heading back to the Old House forum now. Carry on.

I know people love them, but they belong in frat houses and basements.

My ex had big real black leather ones in his den when I first met him. It took two house moves before I could finally get him to give it up.

Meh... I don't think brown leather couches belong only in frat houses. I love mine and so does everyone that sits on them. They always tell me how comfy they are and they want to take a nap on them. LOL! But I will say this, those leather couches don't fit the design ecstatic of that room.

In our next build we will be purchasing a new larger brown leather sectional but our design will be a rustic country/ranch house. So they will fit the design.

There are some absolutely gorgeous brown leather sofas. Think chesterfields for example.