What exactly is Home Staging and what are the benefits of doing it? Home Staging is basically setting your home apart from the competition on the home sales market so you receive the best offer, possibly even above your asking price, in as little time as possible.
Gold, Silver, Bronze or “Participant”
Think of your home being on the market like entering it into an Olympic competition. Highly tuned athletes are at their peak performance during the week or two of the Olympic Games. They get plenty of sleep, they aren’t out drinking and partying the night before they perform, they eat high quality food and they practice their sport or skill for many hours a day, day after day until they have perfected it. This is the mindset that you will need to have to stage your home properly, as all other homes on the market in your price range are your competition. So, with that in mind, you will not leave one stone unturned in your quest for perfection when it comes to staging your home. This includes furniture arrangement, cleanliness, decor and organization as well as the special finishing touches that truly take your home to the next level. The next level home will receive a gold, silver or bronze medal, in other words, a generous offer to buy your home, and not the dreaded “Participant” ribbon! Everyone is NOT a winner at the Olympics! I once toured a home for sale and there was actually underwear out in plain view in the bedroom as well as half-empty toiletry bottles scattered about in the bathroom, not to mention all the clutter that was absolutely everywhere. To this day, the thing I remember most about that house was the underwear flung out for all to see! Needless to say, we moved on to the next house!
Furniture Arrangement-The “High Quality Food” of Your Home
One of the main things we want to convey to a potential buyer is an abundance of space. Even in a small home, there are ways to make the home feel much larger due to how the furniture is arranged. Study every room in your home. Is there a good circulation path? Does a piece of furniture impede an easy flow throughout the space? If so, take some furniture out and store it temporarily. It is better to have less furniture in a room that feels spacious rather than cramming a bunch of pieces in a room until it feels like you are lost in a corn maze! Each room wants to have a particular function which is determined by the use of furnishings. For example, In this room, we eat dinner, in that room, we sleep or relax, in another room, we watch television, play games or have quality family time. Avoid the urge to make one room that has 10 different functions in it, as that can be confusing to a buyer. I saw a bonus room in a home for sale that had a sewing machine, a piano keyboard, a bed, a television and a computer desk all in the same room! It was simply overwhelming and most people didn’t understand the function of the room. It is best to choose one function and stage the room that way. The room would have been much better staged as a child’s playroom, or a teen gaming room.
Cleanliness-The “Plenty of Sleep” of Your Home
No matter what type or price or quality of home you own, your home MUST be clean in order to sell it for the best price. No one is going to place an offer on a home that has crumbs on the kitchen counters, soap scum in the shower and smells like dirty gym socks! The best part about cleaning is that it is relatively low cost. For the price of a few cleaning products and tools, your home can be sparkling and shiny new with just a bit of elbow grease and some rags! Look at surfaces from every angle. Really get down to eye level to see past what is just on the surface. Look all the way up to the ceiling and all the way down to the ground and notice every single spec of dust, grime or dirt and get rid of it. Once I spent hours cleaning my house for entertaining guests and after everyone left, to my horror, I discovered a gigantic cobweb hanging from one of the ceiling corners! Clearly, I didn’t look up while I was cleaning that room!
Style-The “Hours of Practice” of Your Home
I know that decor in a home can be subjective. Some people prefer Traditional styles, some Mid-Century modern, some prefer Farmhouse chic, and others lean toward Industrial designs. The idea here is to maintain consistency throughout the home. Let’s say your home’s basic look is a Mid-Century modern with very clean lines and minimal detail, but you have an ornate traditional curio cabinet given to you by long-lost Aunt Gertrude. Well, that ornate traditional cabinet is possibly going to visually detract from all of your clean, modern lines, sticking out like a sore thumb, so in this case, you may want to store that piece. The home needs to flow visually from one space to another by keeping your style as consistent as possible. Another way to flow through the home with consistency is with neutral paint colors. I’m not saying that every room has to be the exact same color, but we don’t want to be seeing any loud, obnoxious colors such as Barney Purple, Brick Red or School Bus Yellow. With these types of colors, your potential buyer will be focusing on the color and not the space and function of your home.
Decor and Finishing Touches-The “Athletic Uniform” of Your Home
When Olympic athletes compete, they show up for their match or meet wearing the proper uniform. The Gymnasts have their sparkly leotards on while the Equestrian Riders are geared with their riding boots and helmets. No athlete goes to their competition in a ratty tee shirt and worn out shoes. So too, your home must put on its “uniform” in the form of decor. Decor is all the beautiful touches that make a house a home. Nice pillow arrangements on beds or sofas show care and attention to detail as does a stunning vase of fresh flowers on a dining table or a big bowl of lemons on a kitchen counter. These types of touches set a home apart and set you on your way to a great offer on your home.
Will You Medal Today, Or Just Be a Participant?
Anyone can be a participant, but it takes hard work and perseverance to earn an Olympic medal. The same is true with staging your home for sale. You can just stick a “For Sale” sign in the yard and hope for the best, or you can use a critical eye to arrange, clean, neutralize and decorate to create a pleasing, inviting space that will be the envy of the neighborhood. I hope you will go for the gold!
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