5 No-Fail Home Staging Tips
With 15 years of experience staging homes, we’ve encountered some memorable DONT’S along the way! If you’re wondering if it’s a good idea to: put a creepy doll on your bookshelf; have your reflection in the mirror of the listing’s bathroom photo; trot in your prize winning stallion for high impact; or stage your coffee table with a wine glass containing fake red plastic at the bottom — our answer is NO!
Don’t be this person! (photo source)
Worse than an elephant in the room! (photo source)
HOME STAGING FOR SUCCESS
The good news is, there are many success tips for home staging that can take your listing to the next level. All efforts put toward staging should help your home feel:
spacious
organized
clean
coherent in style and color palette
pleasing, but non personal
updated
Here are 5 no-fail strategies to help:
If you look around your room and see multiple small tables and stools, and extra chairs, remove the majority of them! Our goal for your space is to feel like it is well designed and simple to understand. Over-abundant, satellite furniture doesn’t photograph well, impedes walkways and makes your room feel small.
Seating for the next board meeting! (photo source)
2. Conversely, don’t present a room with an oddly sparse sprinkling of items. A solo lamp, a sad bare mattress, a lonely naughty chair in the corner… these aren’t the way to go. A room should have a clearly defined function, inviting look and pleasing sense of space.
Just depressing! (photo source)
3. Be ruthless in assessing the smells of your home. Your cats ARE adorable, but their litter box is likely to turn away buyers. If possible, try to relocate pet items from primary living areas, or have your listing period while your family can be away from the property. Don’t forget to thoroughly clean carpets, bathrooms and kitchen cooking areas. These also can harbor unwelcome odors!
Even these kittens know their litter box needs to be moved! (photo source)
4. Uncover your windows. As expensive and beloved as some window treatments are, most often they are blocking natural light critical to your listing. We routinely suggest taking down window treatments, which is definitely a departure from how people live in their homes. During the listing period, your priority is showcasing your beautiful windows and the natural light they bring in. Pull up the shades all the way, push the curtains completely off the window, or even better: take them down for home staging!
Definite home staging NO! (photo source)
5. Invite your shoppers in from the curb! Take a few minutes to assess the exterior of your house. Stand in the road, or drive by, and take a look to see what your shoppers are seeing. If the grass looks half dead, bushes are overgrown, paint is peeling, mold is growing on the siding—take care of these things! A clean, updated exterior with nice landscaping is always a plus, and it can get your potential buyer in the door, which is where they need to be to fall in love with your property.
One too many friends out front! (photo source)
Selling your home can be stressful, and it’s good to laugh about the process when you can. But these few, simple home staging concepts taken seriously will help you show your house in its best light during the listing period. Good luck, and as always, let us know if we can help!
Red Door Design + Staging is an interiors and home staging company based in the Greater Boston area. We have been providing assistance to homeowners, contractors, realtors, developers and business owners for almost two decades. We specialize in modern midcentury and luxury home staging, renovation consultation and interior decorating.