Do it Yourself Staging for Home Sellers

Will Staging Help Sell My Home?

There’s no question that staging can lend a hand when you’re selling your home. It’s the degree of staging that’s debatable. A home that looks lived in may be fine but if a potential buyer might get the idea that you just had a party last night… not so much.

Whether or not a home makes a better impression furnished is also subject to a lot of debate. In a smaller home for instance, overstuffed furnishings can make rooms look cramped and disordered. If the home is open and spacious, the absence of furniture can leave a home buyer with the feeling they’re entering a cavernous, cold and impersonal space.

Staging need not be expensive or intrusive, but it may require a bit of elbow grease. Often a home seller can accomplish a buyer-friendly atmosphere on their own, using their own belongings.

The very first thing I suggest to homeowners thinking of selling their home is to snap a few photos, because of course your Realtor will be doing just that. It’s surprising what appears in a photograph that you didn’t notice before; the hodgepodge of refrigerator art, smudged or streaky windows and mirrors, a jumble of small appliances covering the countertops, worn, grimy traffic patterns on carpeting. Examine your home as though you’re thinking of buying it.

Get Showing-Ready – Generally the absence of ‘things’ gives a potential home buyer license to imagine their own personal possessions fitting right in. So the best advice I can give you is to pay attention to the age-old cliché always at the top of every staging agenda… declutter, depersonalize and neutralize. In a vacant home, sometimes just a simple touch of color can produce similar results.

How to Stage Your Home On a Budget

Getting your home into prime showing condition is essential to helping it sell in the shortest amount of time for the best possible price. But while a professional home stager can work wonders, it just might not be in your budget. Don’t despair – here are some great ways to inexpensively stage your home all on your own:

Get rid of the excess. The first thing every home stager will do is get rid of the clutter. And that is something anyone can do on your own without spending a dime. Get some boxes and storage bins and start removing whatever you can, including: framed photos; anything hanging on the fridge or anywhere else; knick knacks; most books (save a few nice ones for staging); trophies and awards; kitchen gadgets; personal effects, such as glasses, keys, jewelry, etc. The golden rule? You can’t remove too much.

Rearrange the furniture. Go from room to room and make sure the furniture is arranged in a way that makes the room look as open and spacious as possible. If this means removing chairs or tables to open the flow, go for it.

Brighten things up. Replace heavy drapery with sheer panels, raise blinds and shades, and place higher wattage bulbs in lighting fixtures, adding a lamp or two where necessary. Maximizing natural and artificial light are essential to making your home look as bright and appealing as possible.

Paint where necessary. A small investment of paint in key areas will be worth it. Change any dark or oddly painted rooms to a light, neutral color, and prioritize any walls and rooms where the paint is dirty or showing signs of aging. Paint can also be a good option for updating kitchen cabinets that are otherwise too expensive to replace.

Add new accessories. A trip to your nearest discount store can send you home with a bundle of new accent pillows, throws, bathroom and kitchen accessories and a nice vase or two for the dining room and coffee tables. These decorative accessories will add a fresh feel and pops of color where necessary throughout your home. Just remember: less is more.