Home staging refers to the process of improving the look of your home and decorating to make it more appealing to interested buyers. This is a highly recommended move if you’re selling your home.
When you stage your home before putting it on the market, you can highlight its best areas, downplay the problematic ones, and help potential buyers visualize themselves as the new owners – things that can all enable you to sell your property faster, and even at a higher price.
Home Staging Tips and Tricks
Home staging professionals and storage service providers share below some tips and tricks that will help you have a clean, spacious, and inviting property – one that buyers will have a hard time turning their back on.
#1. De-clutter your home
One of the important home improvement goals you need to achieve when staging your house for sale is to make it look spacious. You can effectively make rooms look bigger by getting rid of your clutter.
Start by getting rid of items that do not hold value such as old newspapers, magazines, and other pieces of junk. Hide other items that you still use from time to time inside drawers and cabinets, but be careful not to overstuff them. Make sure you clear your countertops of everything but things you still use every day.
Don’t forget to de-clutter your all closets and the garage as well, since many home buyers check them. If you have any unused furnishings or bulky items in your home that are just eating up space, get rid of these pieces temporarily (or permanently).
#2. De-personalize your home
Aside from getting rid of your junk and bulky possessions, remove all personal items from each room as well. This means hiding or storing family portraits, children’s drawings, or trophies.
Personal items make it hard for interested buyers to imagine themselves living in your home, and they may fail to become interested in what you have to offer.
#3. Rent a self-storage unit
In case you don’t want to sell or throw away your unused stuff, including your bulky pieces of furniture, consider renting a self-storage unit. With this option, you will have a place where you can securely store your possessions. You will have access to these items when you need them and bring them out once you’re ready to move to your new home.
You can then proudly show off your clean and spacious rooms and garage, and encourage interested buyers to imagine how they would fill your home with their own possessions.
When renting a storage unit, follow these helpful tips:
- Determine which among your possessions need to be stored and consider the sizes of these items. This is because storage units vary in size and costs, and to avoid paying too much for a unit, you must determine the correct storage unit size you need for your things.
- Make sure you pack items carefully so they don’t get damaged. Use cardboard boxes, bubble wrap and packing peanuts to protect art frames, mirrors, and other breakables when storing them.
- Cover pieces of furniture with a drop cloth or canvas to keep dust and debris off.
- Whenever possible, disassemble tables, chairs, and beds before storing them to save space. Keep mattresses and sofas upright or on end as well so that they won’t eat up too much space.
- Label the boxes so you know what they contain.
#4. Make sure you showcase a clean house
Interested home buyers want a property that looks well cared for. You can achieve this look by having a clean home. You can do this by:
- Cleaning the house yourself, or getting a professional cleaning company in. Make sure there are no signs of dust, cobwebs, molds, and toilet rings.
- Ensure that the important features of each room sparkle. These include kitchen and bathroom countertops, sinks, toilets, showers, and all tables.
- Make sure the rooms smell clean by adding some fresh flowers or using eco-friendly air fresheners or home sprays.
- Place only the essential necessities in each room. For instance, put only a lamp, TV, clock, dresser, chair, and a bed in bedrooms and nothing more.
#5. Allow natural light in
A well-lit home always has that warm, friendly ambience. This helps it always appear inviting – something that will boost the interest of potential buyers. As such, when showing your home, pull up the blinds or open the curtains and let the sunlight in during the day.
#6. Place some artwork and mirrors around your home
Mirrors help make rooms feel and look more spacious. Well-selected artworks, on the other hand, can make the home feel inviting. If you will be buying some new artwork for home staging, choose pieces that you would like to see in your next home.
#7. Neutralize your interior’s color
Lastly, you can bolster a buyer’s imagination by replacing patterned wall coverings with neutral paint or installing low-grade tan wall-to-wall carpets and light-colored window coverings. This may be a time-consuming and expensive project; if you don’t have the time and money to have your whole house repainted or carpeted, consider having these works done only in the bedroom and living room. When these rooms have neutral colors, you encourage buyers to envision their dream bedroom and living room right there in that spot with minimal distraction.
If you want to have an easier and faster time selling your house, stage your home properly. When you store your important personal belongings in a storage unit and get help from professional movers, when the time comes for you to move, you will also have a smoother, problem-free relocation experience.