17Mar16 – You may think you know the basics when it comes to getting your home ready to sell: remove any clutter or personal effects, fix what’s broken, add a coat of fresh paint, and clean clean, clean!   However there is a new secret:  Home Staging, and it is taking the Real Estate world by storm!

Before your home is shown to any potential buyer, you want to make sure the staging is perfect. Follow these general tips and your home will look much better than the competition…

Secrets to Successful Home Staging

One of the first and most important steps when listing your home for sale is to make it appealing to all potential buyers. Staging will help to downplay the house’s weaknesses, highlight its strengths, and catch the eye (and memory) of house hunters. Are you ready to list? Let’s set the stage for a successful sale!

Rid the Home of Clutter

Clutter is that dirty little secret that everyone has but wants to get rid of. When staging your home, let the buyers know that this will be the house they could potentially live in clutter-free! One main source of a cluttered visual that we may overlook is our furnishings. As a matter of fact, a professional home stager may even remove half of the home’s furnishings to help the space feel larger. Remove whatever you can live without, while still maintaining functionality.

Prune the Yard and Outside Spaces

The curbside view is the first impression that your home gives to homebuyers. Make sure the yard is mowed, shrubs are trimmed, the mailbox and driveway are in good repair, and the home is not needing a paint job. If you have a porch, set it up just like you would an indoor room, adding seating and splashes of color to give off the “relax here” vibe.

Light Up The Space

You want to make your home warm and welcoming from the moment that someone steps inside. A great way to do that is through proper lighting. HGTV suggests increasing the wattage of all of your lamps and fixtures to about 100 watts per 50 square feet. Also, have three types of lighting per room: Ambient, task oriented (such as for reading), and accent lighting.

Furniture Rearranged

Often we push furniture as far to the wall as possible in order to maximize living space in the center of the room, but for staging purposes, the opposite is true. Create cozy, intentionally purposed spaces by grouping furniture together. Traffic flow of a room can be controlled by furniture placement too, which will help potential buyers flow through the home in a way navigated by you.

Pretty But Not Too Pretty

Yes, it’s often nice to have a home deemed worthy of a spot in any “perfect living” magazine, but not necessarily realistic. Staging involves having the home more minimalist than your conventional state of things, but the normal splashes of life will make the house feel like a home, instead of an untouchable picturesque piece.

Bigger is Always Better

It’s possible for nice things to come in small packages, but not when it comes to houses. Buyers are looking for a space that is usable and affordable. Use paint colors to achieve the larger look. Brighter and lighter rooms seem bigger. Connect the flow of two small rooms by painting them the same color. Achieve a seamless look by making the drapery and the wall match.

Repurpose and Redefine

When staging, we are making suggestions to potential buyers about what a room could be used for. If there is a free-for-all room in the home, now is the time to redefine it carefully. Some ideas include a workout space, craft area, reading nooks, play spaces, music room, or entertainment area. Any of the spaces are subliminally suggested by decor and items in the room, but keep it simple enough for a person to project their own ideas too.

It may feel odd to come home to such a redefined place, but keep it mind it’s all for a good cause.  Your home has now become a commodity and good staging could be the make or break to a quick sale.