9 Ways To Stage Your Home The Right Way

Once you make the decision to sell your home you need to think of what it would feel like for a prospective buyer to walk through your home.  

We are often asked the questions, “What should we do to get our home ready to sell?”

The best way to think about staging your home is to think like a home builder 

Their home is a product, and they stage it to perfection.  

That’s why it’s so much fun to tour model homes.  You can see yourself living there!  

You may need to cull all those family photos, prized collections lining your bookshelves and brightly colored walls.

Clean Clean Clean, and then clean again 

Make your home sparkle and shine.  Make your bathrooms and kitchen shine like they have never shined before.  

Bleach the grout, polish your fixtures and sinks, and scrub everything you see.  Don’t forget to polish the outside of all your cabinets.  

Dust, sweep and vacuum every room.

Dust the fan blades, baseboards, all doors and light fixtures.  Wash the windows inside and out.  

Have your carpets and upholstery professionally cleaned.  Change the filters in your air conditioning system.  

This will give your whole house a fresh clean smell.

Clear out the clutter 

Clutter is a big distraction for buyers and it makes it hard for buyers to envision how awesome your home can look.  

So now is the time to go from room to room and decide what needs to be put away and what needs to be given away.  

Open space is a good thing.

 If your shelves are packed full chances are you need to remove half of what’s there.  

Clearing out the clutter includes closets, kitchen cabinets, garages and play rooms.

Neutral is your friend

There is nothing wrong with color in your home.  

But when your selling your home it’s best to keep the color in your accents, i.e. pillows, vases, chairs, etc.  

That’s not to say it needs to be boring…but if you have a room with all 4 walls painted chartreuse, it’s probably a good idea to repaint three wall neutrals and leave the chartreuse to just one wall. 

Make every room look big  

Now is the time to evaluate the furniture in each of your rooms.  

Your furniture should fit the scale of your room, and many times folks just have way too much furniture.  

You should be able to freely walk through the space without having to walk around furniture.  

And you don’t need something against every wall or every corner.  Another common mistake is hanging pictures too high.  Artwork should hang at eye level.  

Make all necessary repairs  

You know all those little things you have been meaning to fix for the longest time?  

Well, now is the time to fix ALL of them, and then some.  

A buyer is quickly turned off when he notices something that needs repair.  This can greatly affect the value of your home.

Bring in the light 

Make sure you have plenty of light in each room.  

You may need to add additional table lamps or floor lamps.  Open the drapes and blinds.  A bright sunny room looks bigger and more inviting.  

Turn your master bath into a welcoming spa 

Remove all of your personal items from your vanity tops.  

Keep your shampoos and conditioners to a minimum in your shower.  Hide your bath matt and trash can.  

This will make your floor space look bigger.  

And if your toilet cleaner and plunger is sitting by your toilet, put it away.  

These same rules apply to all bathrooms in your home.

Make the most of your curb appeal  

First impressions mean a lot to a buyer.  

Power wash the exterior of your house, the roof, the driveway, the front entrance and your lanai.  

Sweep the front walkway leading to your front door as well as your lanai before every showing.