Staging Your Home for Sale

When staging your home for sale, where do you start? Highlight your home’s strengths, downplay its weaknesses, and appeal to the greatest possible pool of prospective buyers.

Curb Appeal

First impressions matter, so make your home stand out the instant buyers pull up to the curb.

Trim bushes, edge.
Pressure wash
Paint the front door
Use planters and fill them with small evergreen shrubs. If you have window boxes, fill them with fresh greenery, too.
Add chairs on the front porch to expand your outdoor living space.
Reseal the driveway, update mailbox and house numbers, welcome mat and light fixtures.

Give the Kitchen a Facelift

Kitchens sell houses, so any updates you make have the potential to go a long way. And they don’t have to be expensive:

Show off storage. Pack up the seldom-used small appliances and holiday dishware, spices. Don’t have items or food falling out of the cabinets. No cereal boxes on top of the fridge.
Clear off the countertops.
Give cabinets a facelift with paint; go for classic white or try a dark neutral like gray or slate blue.
Change the outdated hardware and faucet
Try peel-and-stick faux tile, tin tile, beadboard paneling or try painting the existing tile.
Brighten lighting, add art

Make Bathrooms Shine

Scrub the bathrooms, then scrub them all again. Nothing will turn off a potential buyer more than a dirty bathroom. Remove hard-water stains from faucets, make sure there is no sign of mold.
Consider reglazing the tile.
If grout is an issue, mix 9 parts water with 1 part bleach in a spray bottle and spray the grout. Or use grout cleaner. Recaulk if needed.
Remove cosmetics and products in the vanity and medicine cabinet.
INVEST in new shower curtains, rugs & bathmats (you can always take them with you when you move). Put out fluffy towels, candles, a few fancy soaps and make it a SPA.

Make the Bedrooms Luxurious

Create an inviting and serene main bedroom with great bedding, but not too fancy – make it GENDER NEUTRAL.
Add extra pillows to the bed, tucking a large comforter into a soft-colored duvet will give your bed that plump and plush look that you see in high-end hotels.
Add color with shams, throw pillows and extra blankets.
Keep nightstands uncluttered and remove personal items.
Add pops of color, REFLECTIVE SURFACES & let the light shine in.

Pare Down Furniture

Too much furniture. When professional stagers descend on a home being prepped for market, they remove HALF of furnishings so the house looks bigger.
You should be able to move around each room without being blocked by furniture.
Make sure buyers can access your home’s best features like the fireplace or built-in bookshelves and see out all the windows.
Avoid a cluttered look by minimizing items on the coffee table and not piling so many pillows on the couch that nobody can sit on it.

It’s a mistake to think that rooms will feel larger if all the furniture is pushed against the walls. Allow 3 feet of clearance for your room’s main thoroughfares, if less traffic, 2 feet will suffice. Float furniture away from walls. Create cozy conversational groups, and place pieces so that the traffic flow in a room is obvious. Not only will this make the space more user-friendly, but it will open up the room and make it seem larger. Don’t focus on the TV!

Add Functional Office Space

These days more people are HOMESCHOOLING & working from home so a workspace may be essential for your potential buyers. If you don’t have an entire room to dedicate to a home office, carve out a nook in a spare bedroom, a corner of the living room or even a closet.

Use Window Coverings to Fool the Eye

Hung the right way, window treatments can help make a room look more spacious. Use drapes that are the same color as your walls so that the continuous hue will make the space look WIDER. Create the illusion of HEIGHT by hanging drapes above the window. They should start at the ceiling and just barely brush the floor. Don’t let them gather or puddle on the floor.

Depersonalize/Declutter

Buyers need to picture themselves in your home, and that’s hard to do if all they see are your personal items. You may love that skull souvenir from Arizona, but not everyone does. Remove too many political and religious items, family photos, your kids’ artwork, framed diplomas and personal collections. Pack these items up to take to your new home and replace them with generic artwork.

Show Off Your Storage

Storage always ranks high on buyers’ priority list.
Decluttering your closets and cabinets. Keep closets neat by stashing items in matching baskets and bins.
Implement shoe racks and under-shelf baskets to demonstrate the versatility of your storage.
Straighten out the linen closet and add a couple bins or baskets. Every single buyer I’ve had asks questions about storage. And YES THEY OPEN YOUR CLOSET DOORS! Don’t think that “hiding things” in the closet is decluttering!

Paint

When in doubt, white it out. The professional decorating websites that were surveyed believe white paint will sell your home because not only does it provide future buyers with a blank slate, but it gives living rooms a fresh, clean, well-kept appearance that appeals to the masses. But try a warm white or off white. You don’t want it to give off a “cold” feel, which a white can do. Our tried-and-true white paint colors include Snowbound or Greek Villa from Sherwin Williams or White Dove and Chantilly Lace from Benjamin Moore. You can buy small cans of sample paints or “Patches” to paste on your walls to help you decide.

Our Beloved Pets

We totally understand how much you love your pets (we do, too), but potential buyers may be turned off by pet odors or be allergic to fur and dander.

Thoroughly clean the areas where your pets spend most of their time and add air fresheners.

When potential buyers come calling, throw the pet beds, crates, toys, food dishes and litter boxes in your car then take Fido or Fluffy for a walk in the park.

If you have other questions about preparing your home for sale, call Karen Daugerdas, Coldwell Banker, 847.494.1102.