Offering occupied home staging consultations can be a great source of income for home stagers. Plus, it’s a way to stage homes without buying any furniture!

In this blog, we'll walk you step-by-step through how to conduct an occupied home staging consultation.

What Is an Occupied Home Staging Consultation?

Occupied staging (sometimes called redesign) is when you use a homeowner's existing furniture and decor to stage their home for the real estate market. 

This is different from vacant home staging, where the home is empty and the stager brings in furnishings.

There are different ways to offer occupied consultations. The benefit of starting your own home staging business is that you get to design the business that works for you!

In our business, we offer three levels of occupied consultations:

1. Walk-and-Talk

The stager will walk through the home with the seller and/or listing agent, giving recommendations on how to maximize the positives of the home and minimize any perceived negatives. For this option, the seller, or their agent, is responsible for taking notes and implementing recommendations.

2. Hands-On

For this type of consultation, the stager does the same thing as she would in a walk-and-talk, but instead of suggesting a different arrangement of the living room, she will move the coffee table herself. This can be done with the use of sliders, but often the agent or homeowner is expected to help with this process. Heavy furniture is not expected to be moved. Stagers might also re-hang art, arrange accessories, and de-clutter bookshelves. 

3. Report

This type of consultation is very similar to the walk-and-talk, but stagers will take lots of photos and write up a report with their recommendations, so that the homeowner has a thorough plan to best prepare their home for sale.

The 3 Steps of An Occupied Home Staging Consultation

To ensure every consultation in your business is smooth and professional, follow these three steps.

1. Pre-Consultation

Prep and Research

• Review any notes on the project.
• Research the house through MLS, Realtor.com, or Zillow to view photos and understand the layout and selling features.

MLS also allows you to search the “Listing History,” which can show if the home was recently listed, if it’s having trouble selling, how long the owner has lived there, and more.

The Day Before

• Call the real estate agent at least a day before to introduce yourself or touch base.
• Confirm any details you need to know prior to arriving—this gives the agent a chance to inform you of anything specific the homeowner needs.

Bag Prep

Be sure you have the following items ready to take with you:

• Leave-Behind Folder (like checklists and instructions for the homeowner… get access to our ready-made Leave-Behind Folder when you enroll in our Staging Design Professional® Course!)
• Tape Measure
• Paint Deck
• Roll of Blue Painter's Tape

For a full list of what we include in our staging consultation bag, go to our amazon store.

2. Consultation Day

Arrival & Professionalism

• Text appointment confirmation that morning.
• For hands-on consultations, wear shoes suitable for moving lightweight furniture, climbing step stools, reorganizing bookshelves, and being outdoors.

Start the Consultation

• Ask the homeowner about any goals they have for the sale of the home. Is the main goal for it to sell quickly or for top dollar? Is there a budget and/or openness to recommendations that might include paint, new light fixtures, etc?

Provide the Consultation

• Walk through the home with the client and identify steps they need to take to prepare their home for sale.
• Use home staging design principles to guide your recommendations.

Pro Tip: You can learn all about occupied home staging design in our home stager training program! You can sample the training—and learn some basic design principles—with these free videos.

Consultation Photos

• Take pictures at every consultation, covering at least the living room, dining room, and primary bedroom.
• Even if you aren’t providing a report, photos are important in case the consultation turns into a vacant or supplemental staging project.
• For written reports, include a front-of-house photo for the first page.
• Take photos from multiple angles to help communicate your recommendations clearly.

Pro Tips:

1. Add a personal touch by closing your report with a photo of any pets, adding a friendly note like, “Say hi to Fido for us!”
2. We provide an occupied home staging consultation report template in the Staging Design Professional® Course!).

3. Post-Consultation

Organize Photos

• Upload photos to Dropbox (or your preferred system) and organize them by address for easy reference.
• Example: Main folder “Occupied 2025,” subfolders like “Main Street 123,” with the street number last to sort alphabetically.

Prepare Your Report

• Use a customizable template in PowerPoint, Keynote, Word, or HoneyBook.
• HoneyBook allows you to create a custom report quickly and send it directly to the client.

Follow Up

• Once the project is complete and the client is happy, request a 5-Star Google review.

And voilà – you’ve completed an occupied consultation!

Grow Your Business with Occupied Consultations

Occupied home staging consultations are one of the most flexible and profitable services you can offer as a stager. They allow you to use a homeowner’s existing furniture and décor, deliver immediate value, and showcase your expertise—without the overhead of purchasing or storing inventory.

By following the three simple steps—pre-consultation, consultation day, and post-consultation—you’ll create a professional, repeatable process that delivers a great client experience and helps homes sell faster.

If you’re ready to sharpen your skills and confidently offer occupied consultations, join us at the Staging Studio Master Class!. You’ll get hands-on training, real-world practice, and proven tools to grow your staging business.

Schedule a call today to learn more and take the next step toward building a thriving staging career!