Ready to sell your home? Here are a few staging tips to get your home prepared for the market. When listing a home, you want to make sure that it is being presented in the best light.
- Say Bye to Clutter
The best thing you can do for your soon-to-be listed home is remove the clutter. Clutter can consist of too much furniture, too many décor items and things that just need organization. In professional staging situations, half the home owner’s furniture is usually removed to make the house look bigger and more functional. Look around your house and see what you can organize and pack away out of sight. If you must, consider a temporary storage unit to house extra furnishings and belongings.
- Furniture Groupings
It is a misconception that furniture pushed against the walls of a room makes the room look bigger. In fact, furniture that is “floating” in the room away from the walls makes the room look larger and more functional. Position sofas and chairs in cozy conversational groupings. Be sure that you place furniture strategically to make the room’s traffic flow more obvious. This makes the room look more user-friendly.
- Transform Rooms
If you have a room that is used to store items and collect junk, you will want to convert this room into a functional space. Repurpose this room into an extra bedroom, a reading nook, a game room or an additional family area. This adds value to the home and eliminates clutter.
- Home Lighting
Great lighting is the key to making a staged home look warm and inviting. Most homes are improperly lit, which makes rooms look dark and dreary. Increase wattage in fixtures and lamps. Aim for about 100 watts per 50 square feet for optimal lighting. Add three different types of lighting to each room: ambient (overhead), task (under cabinets or pendants) and accent lighting (table lamps or wall accents).
- Go Neutral
When targeting a wide range of potential buyers, a neutral color-scheme is best! Avoid stark white. Choose neutral shades of grey or beige instead. This can also consist of warm honey tones or soft blues and greens. If you love bold colors, try to limit it to an accent wall or a few pops of color in your home décor.
- Make it Look Bigger
If you are struggling to make small rooms look bigger, try painting adjacent rooms the same color. This gives the illusion that two spaces are actually one seamless space. This opens up the floorplan and creates a better flow. For an additional room-enlarging trick, try using draperies that match the wall color to emphasize the size of the room.
- Use Your Garden
Staged homes tend to emphasize pricey floral arrangements to make the space bright and cheery. For a more cost-effective solution, go to your own garden and select a few blooms and some greenery. Create your own arrangements to place in the home. Another option is to go to your local grocery store and purchase some inexpensive flowers to dress up the space.
- Get a Facelift
Some areas in the home benefit from a facelift when trying to sell. The kitchen is a huge selling point for many homes and it’s one of the spaces that buyers tend to focus on. If you can’t afford new kitchen cabinetry, replace cabinet doors and hardware instead. Instead of replacing a dishwasher that still functions well but doesn’t look appealing, replace the front panel and choose stainless steel when possible. These are just a couple options to spruce up the look of one of the most important spaces in your home.
- Make Necessary Repairs
Unfinished home projects can scare off potential buyers. You’ll want to make sure to complete necessary repairs in a timely manner. Pay attention to small repairs as well: such as nail holes in drywall, chipped paint, scratched doors and gaps in wood flooring.
- Clean Your Home
Aside from de-cluttering, the most important step in staging your home is to clean it. Clean it WELL. A dirty home is a very quick turn-off for any potential home buyer. Most homes, especially those with pets and smokers, have a smell that may go undetected by home owners. Unfortunately, buyers may pick up on this smell and find it to be off-putting. Be sure you have your home professionally cleaned prior to staging.