Staging Tips for Every Part of the Home
Proper staging can make your home more appealing to home buyers. In a competitive market, staging can make your home stand out among other homes in your area. If you’re thinking about putting your home up for sale, these tips will help you stage your home prior to listing your property.
General Staging Tips
As you get started with the staging process, keep in mind these basic principles of staging your home.
- De-clutter everything
- Make each room lighter and brighter
- Keep each room spotless
Living Room and Dining Room Staging Tips
The living room and dining room are the most public rooms of your home. Spaciousness and comfort are important features to home buyers who wish to entertain guests in these rooms. Clear off tables and shelves to reduce clutter and make both rooms look bigger.
To allow light to enter, take down heavy curtains and replace them with sheers. Arrange furniture symmetrically to make each room seem tidy and orderly. Create a natural focal point, like a large bouquet on the dining room table or a sizeable piece of art over the mantel, to create visual interest.
Bedrooms
Privacy and intimacy are the most important features of many bedrooms. Use an excess of pillows on each bed to stage each bedroom to look like a nice space to take a nap. Soft, attractive blankets placed at the foot of each bed will contribute to feelings of coziness.
Clear off dressers and clean out the closets to accentuate your home’s storage capacity. For a child’s bedroom, sort toys into organized bins. Clean carpet and touch up scuff marks on the walls to erase any evidence of rough-housing.
Bathrooms
Clean each bathroom until the walls gleam, and remove hard water stains from all fixtures. Collect all extra shampoo bottles, soaps and personal hygiene items, and store them in attractive bins or in a nearby closet or cabinet.
To make the decorating scheme in the bathroom seem more organized, buy matching towels and put them on display. If your bathroom lacks decorative touches, purchase a few matching candles, potpourri or a decorative vase to place on the sink. If necessary, re-grout between the tiles on the counters, floors or walls to make your bathroom’s tiles look new and clean.
Kitchen
Functionality and efficiency are important qualities that homebuyers like in kitchens. To stage your kitchen, start by cleaning all surfaces until they gleam. Remove any grease stains from surfaces like the walls, counters, cabinets and floors. Clear off unnecessary appliances from the countertops. If the walls aren’t looking their best, painting may be the answer you need.
Place a bowl of fruit or a vase with flowers on the table or counters. Buy matching dish towels and put them in sensible places in the kitchen where they can be seen. Clear out the cabinets and pantry to eliminate clutter, placing what you don’t need to have on hand in storage.
Landscaping
Keep the grass trim, watered and healthy while the house is on the market, and remove any debris from the yard. Keep flowers and shrubs pruned, deadheaded and mulched to make your garden appear tidy and healthy. If there’s space on your front porch, set out a potted plant, a rocking chair or any decorative item that will add visual interest and draw attention to the front door.
Consult With a Real Estate Agent
An experienced real estate agent will know exactly what needs to be done to make your home more attractive for potential buyers. Before putting your home on the market, work with your real estate agent to decide what needs to be done to help speed along the sale and entice buyers.
