With all the time and money involved in selling your home and moving to a new house, no one really wants to dish out even more dough to have their home professional staged. Luckily, this insider staging knowledge isn’t exclusive to the pros. With these tips from professional stagers, you can hook prospective buyers as soon as they walk in your front door:<\/p>\n
Depersonalize walls and table tops<\/strong><\/p>\n Buyers want to picture themselves living in the home, not the previous owners. Remove family pictures or any keepsakes strangers wouldn’t feel a connection with. Once those items are safely stored away<\/u><\/a>, don’t leave your walls bare. Replace personal photos with artwork and photos of scenery.<\/p>\n Replace brass fixtures with stainless steel<\/strong><\/p>\n Brass handles, knobs and faucets can date the appearance of your home. New, modern fixtures are inexpensive and easy to install in bathrooms and the kitchen, and they instantly give cabinets and countertops a facelift.<\/p>\n Reschedule your open house for bad weather<\/strong><\/p>\n While this may not always be possible, try to have your open house or home showing on a sunny day. Not only will rain cause dirt to be tracked in, but it will also make your home feel smaller and less inviting. Since natural light is so important in home design, clouds and rain will work against you.<\/p>\n Determine focal points<\/strong><\/p>\n Every room should have a piece of furniture as the focal point of the room. This means if you have an excessive amount of furniture in your living room, pack away the less visually appealing pieces in your UNITS container<\/u><\/a>. This will declutter the room and also allow you to create a focal point with the remaining furniture pieces.<\/p>\n Go overboard with cleaning<\/strong><\/p>\n It might seem unnecessary to scrub the floors or dust every nook and crany. However, buyers who notice these overlooked areas will wonder if there are other, bigger parts of the home that have been neglected. <\/p>\n Pack as you go<\/strong><\/p>\n You’ll have to pack once you sell your home, so why not do it while you’re in the staging process? Decluttering is key to a properly staged home, and makes the eventual move that much easier. Each room should be only one-third to one-half full of furniture and accessories. Everything else should be organized, packed or thrown out<\/u><\/a>, and then placed in a UNITS container. <\/p>\n Give every room a purpose<\/strong><\/p>\n Do you have a spare room that isn’t really a guest bedroom and isn’t really a home office? Store away that office furniture and sell it as another bedroom to buyers. Extra rooms that don’t seem to have a good use will confuse and potentially turn away buyers.<\/p>\n Don’t shove things in the closet<\/strong><\/p>\n Buyers are going to be opening closets to see what kind of storage space their getting with the home. If they’re greeted with an avalanche of clutter when they open the door, you’ll be embarrassed, and the buyer will be put off. Make sure your closets have a minimal amount of items in them and pack away everything else in a UNITS container. <\/p>\n Invite a friend over to critique<\/strong><\/p>\n A second set of eyes is never a bad idea. After you’ve followed the above tips, have a neighbor or work friend walk through your home and point out anything you may have missed. You may have trained yourself to overlook a water spot on the bathroom ceiling, but your friend and potential homebuyers will notice. Walking through the home with a guest will also help you determine if anything disrupts the flow of the room.<\/p>\n Take pictures of your home after it’s staged<\/strong><\/p>\n Oftentimes, buyers will check out your home online before scheduling a showing or seeing an open house. Before you list your home on the internet, go through these staging tips and photograph the end results. You’ll get twice the results for the same amount of work.<\/p>\n