Beautifully lit rooms with perfectly placed furniture and elegantly crafted accents aren’t just for the cover of an interior design magazine. They are the key to a well marketed home. Home staging is one of the most important aspects of selling your home quickly. In fact, 83% of real estate agents say that a staged home sells faster than an unstaged home. With home prices still on the rise, now is a great time to sell your home. Here are several tips to help you stage your home in a way that will quickly attract buyers.
Improve your Curb Appeal
First impressions are extremely important when selling a house. If you want to sell your home quickly, you don’t want buyers to immediately second guess buying your home based on an unkempt yard. Depending upon the time of year, you’ll need to first start removing any debris from your yard. If it is summer, pull weeds where as if it is fall or winter, remove dead leaves and branches. Make sure your lawn is mowed and your landscaped areas are completely manicured and free of overgrown plants or bushes. Boosting your curb appeal also means sprucing up your front door with a fresh coat of paint. Vibrant red and bright teal are always a hit with buyers. You can also keep a classic wood door and dress it up with a seasonal wreath. When you’ve freshened up your home with a new coat of paint you can add the finishing touches. A couple of well placed rocking chairs make your front porch warm and inviting. Place a few perfectly manicured topiaries around your front door and add accents of colour with decorative lawn ornaments or hanging lanterns.
Keep Things Neutral
You may adore your bright pink accent wall but interested buyers will most likely see it as a distraction or worse a headache they will need to deal with if they buy your home. Neutral colours are appreciated by the majority of home buyers and they make staging easier since they serve as a basic background rather than an eyesore to decorate around. Soft greys and warm whites are classics as are warm beiges. Neutral paints are also easy to use throughout the whole house. Keeping the same colour palette will add to the natural flow of your home.
Declutter and Deep Clean
Home staging can’t begin until the clutter has been cleared. Remove anything that doesn’t need to be in the room. That means toys, extra furniture, and even decorations. When you have decluttered you do a deep clean. Everything from baseboards to the tiny corners you usually skip over need to be cleaned.
Choose Furniture Wisely
Rooms over-decorated with furniture will look cluttered so it’s important to only keep furniture that lends to the natural flow of a room. So while you may love your overstuffed recliner if it doesn’t match with the rest of the furniture set or if it simply takes up space you’ll need to remove it. Choose furniture that is cozy. This means you should stay away from metal furniture and instead opt for soft fabrics in warm neutral colours. And keep in mind that furniture should add to the flow of a house so that buyers can comfortably walk through without bumping into anything. Simple ways to ensure that your furniture is following a flow is to always point furniture toward the room’s focal point and keep seating at least 30 to 36 inches apart.
Let In the Light
Natural light is the best way to illuminate your newly decluttered and perfectly staged rooms. Keep your windows free of heavy curtains and thick blinds to allow for ample light to flow through windows. If you have a room that does not get much natural light or if you are showing your home in the evening, you will need to use artificial light. Choose soft white light bulbs rather than ultra bright lights. You can also add warm light with candles placed around counter tops, shelves, and even the bathtub.
Remember that home staging is just adding in decor, rearranging furniture, and playing up accents to highlight your home’s best features. Stick to the most important rooms when staging your home. Few buyers are concerned with the staging of a laundry room. But according to the National Association of Realtors, they will be swayed by the staging of the living room (46%), master bedroom (43%), and kitchen (35%). Once your home is staged you should have it professionally photographed for added marketing. Then all that is left to do is wait for the perfect buyer.
Read more: Home Staging Costs and Ways to Avoid Sticker Shock
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