Home staging is the latest trend in real estate. It is the process of highlighting the positive aspects of a property and minimizing the negatives as much as possible.
This is achieved by strategically placing furniture and decor within the house to showcase the aspirational lifestyle of living there and paves the way for potential buyers to fall in love with your home.
A staged home sells quicker and for a higher price than a vacant home, so is well worth the investment.
While virtual home staging is a more affordable option – as only the images of a property are styled – this is not much help once potential buyers come to view the house.
If your budget is tight and you want to try to stage your home by yourself, try these home staging tips.
Staging the Entryway
This is the first room a buyer will see so it is imperative to create the lasting impression you want to make. Decluttering should be your main priority.
Are you tripping over shoes or seeing a tangle of keys and dog leashes hanging on the wall? Simplify and reduce.
It is best to stick to a neutral colour scheme on walls and floors to enhance the feeling of light and space, then inject colour with artwork, flowers and decorative ornaments, add a mat or rug for people to wipe their feet on.
Another trick is to position a mirror on the wall to bounce the light around and help the space to feel larger
Staging the Living Room
The living room is one of the most used rooms in a home, so staging it correctly will go a long way to convincing buyers this is their dream home.
When arranging furniture and accessorizing, you should be aware of function, flow and focal points. Balancing the furniture is critical for successful staging in all living room designs.
Keep traffic areas open for good flow. A traffic pattern is the natural flow of people traveling through a space, the paths in and out of a room and the areas where you walk the most, this could simply mean rearranging your furniture. Symmetrical arrangements usually work well in a living space.
We tend to push furniture against walls – especially sofas. Pull your furniture off the walls to create space and clear pathways, try repositioning furniture into cosy groups and creating traffic flow between pieces. This helps open up a room and makes it seem larger.
Staging the Bedrooms
First, clean the bedroom methodically from the top down, remembering to wash and dust the blades on the ceiling fan early in the process. Wash the blinds, windows and draperies. Clear any cobwebs that may have accumulated in the room. Toss out rubbish, and vacuum, sweep and clean the floor last.
There’s nothing more inviting than clean, crisp never-been-slept-in bedding, so investing in fresh new bed linen is always a good idea. To make the bed look even more inviting, make sure you have a few euro pillows, normal pillows, extra cushions and at least one throw to give it that sink-in-comfort appeal. Also adding a new pair of bedside tables to either side of a master bed will help create balance to the room.
Evaluate any artwork on display in the room. Remove any artwork or other items that look outdated, pack up family portraits and photographs in boxes and move them to your new residence if possible, people do not want to imagine your life in this home – they want to image theirs.
Aim to remove items from the closet until it is at least 1/3 empty. Your goal is to get it looking like a display home closet – neat and tidy.
Staging the Kitchen
Nothing kills a sale quicker than dirt and grease in the kitchen.
Deep cleaning a kitchen is a chore but because it works, it’s worth the effort.
Declutter! put away all appliances, dishes, bottles, cookbook etc. buyers like to see lots of clear workspace.
As with the rest of the house, a light neutral paint job is the safest and most effective option, if you already have wall tiles and they need replacing, don’t hesitate just because it looks like a tricky job – 9/10 times new tiles are easy to apply straight over the old ones.
Consider re-painting cabinet doors made of dark wood as it can make a room feel small and oppressive, also, consider removing some cabinets or converting them to an open shelve concept to avoid a cramped and boxy feeling.
Artfully place a few objects such as leafy green plants in a modern vase or pot, designer kettle & toaster, stylish bowl filled with fresh fruits, a display of designer Italian olive oil bottles, contemporary glass pasta jars, a thick wooden chopping board, or basically anything with a "designery" look
The bottom line
When putting your house on the market, it pays to stage it correctly. This not only helps a home sell quicker but can also increase the selling price. So whether your home is currently vacant or occupied, hiring a professional home stager is usually worth considering.
The small investment in the short-term can mean a higher return on investment once the house is sold.
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