Staging a home is a valuable practice used in Real Estate and can be one of the most effective ways to sell your home. It allows the sellers to truly accentuate the best features or assets of the home, to show buyers exactly what they could be coming home to. Staging a home also decreases the amount of time a home will spend on the market, and can often aid in bumping up the sold price. The key to staging a home correctly is ensuring the home appeals to buyers in every way possible. Professional stagers willow ant to highlight the potential of the home with simple and stylish decor trends. This takes a lot of planning and thought, but fortunately, it doesn’t always have to cost a lot of money, and anything you do spend will likely be offset once the home sells. Here are some ways that you can use staging in your home to help your listing stand out above others, and get the most out of your investment when you sell.

Stage What Matters Most

When it comes to spending your money on staging, ensure you put the work in where it counts. The living room, master bedroom, and kitchen are the areas that have the most potential to influence buyers.

Declutter and De-personalize

For home staging to be effective, you want to be able to help the buyers imagine themselves moving in and living in this space. The best way to do this is by removing all clutter, and as many personal items as you can.

The amount of clutter that people accumulate over the years is surprising. It takes up space in the home, and when space is what you are selling - the clutter needs to go. Take a run through everything in your home to decide if it is something you want to pack and move to your new house. If there is no desire to bring it along with you, sell it, recycle it, or toss it. The less clutter taking up your space, the more appealing your home will be to prospective buyers.

You will also want to remove any personal items that remind the buyer that you currently reside in the home. Pack away personal photos, keep clothes stored away and out of sight, and clear bathroom countertops of personal belongings such as toothbrushes, combs, or medication. This is an extremely important tip that stagers recommend to help buyers imagine the house as one that they could be coming home to.

The Big Deep Clean

Cleaning to stage your home means that you want to scrub until every corner and crevice of your home is shining. This tactic displays pride in ownership and instills a sense of confidence in potential buyers that the home is in good condition.

Hit Refresh

When we live in a home for so many years, it’s often hard to see the damage, dust, nicks, and chips that build up over time. Fortunately, an inexpensive way to help stage your home for sale is by repairing any damage to the walls and give a good refresh with a neutral coloured coat of paint, such as grey, white or taupe throughout the home. This repair will make your home sparkle and show potential buyers the effort that has gone into maintaining the property and ensuring it looks nice.

Let there be light

Brighten up your space by allowing as much light in the home as you possibly can. Keep blinds and windows open, curtains pulled back, and add lamps to darker corners. Ensuring your home is well lit will make your space not only look more welcoming but also make it appear much bigger in pictures and for any open houses or tours that you may be hosting.

Furniture Placement

To stage your home effectively, you will want there to be as much open space as possible. Do not over-saturate your home with unnecessary furniture if possible. Buyers need to be able to visualize their own furniture in each room, while easily walking through and navigating the space in your home. If possible, tuck away any extraneous furniture into storage to make your home feel as bright, open, and airy as it possibly can.

Focal Points and Art

Choosing the right art for your home can be tricky if you do not trust your eye for design. Luckily, this is what stagers do! If you are looking for ways to add a little bit of spice to your living space with art, talk to your REALTOR ® or a professional stager for some tips. If this is something you would like to venture on your own, see my blog Finding Art That Fits Your Space for some tips and tricks to ensure your art adds to the aesthetic and helps to accentuate your home for staging purposes.