Getting your home ready to sell is about eliminating any distractions of the homes challenges as accentuate the best features of your home. We’ve included some of our favorite Staging Tips! We’ve included a link to our Amazon Staging Shopping list created just for the DIY Stager!
Minimizing (otherwise known as decluttering!)
De-cluttering will be the number one request (after cleaning!) that your agent will request of you. It’s also important to note that visual clutter is NOT just piles of papers and toys. Small fussy accessories and random and small art feel like clutter as well. It’s always best to keep things larger scale and bold.
What to do with the stuff you’re removing? Read this article about our logic for donation over other options!
In general, if it’s big and bold it can stay. If it’s small and fussy it should go.
…pamela
Staging Tip: Lighting Upgrades
- Exchange yellow light bulbs for brighter white LED options (avoid fluorescent bulbs!).
- Consider replacing your ceiling cans with LED can kits. We buy these on Amazon. They are an easy update!
- A favorite upgrade for our projects is to replace chandeliers when they’re dated or ADD a chandelier or interesting light fixture where none exists. This is not expensive but nets a huge benefit and perceived value.
Staging Tip: Cohesion is key
- Cohesive outlet covers and switches, preferably in a clean white
- Cohesive paint palette. Soft white is currently on trend but a the least a palette the flows between spaces. Single color option for the trim works best. Crisp, fresh white is recommended.
- Cohesive door hardware. Same color, same look from space to space makes the home look well thought out.
Staging Tip: A clean home is a welcome home.
Invest in a deep cleaning. You might be a fantastic housekeeper or you might have a weekly cleaner that handles this for you. But selling your home is DIFFERENT. When prepping your house to sell, you’ll want to:
- Wash the windows, inside and out. This includes the screens and the tracks.
- Clean the heater vent covers throughout the home, including the intake
- Steam clean carpets
- Refresh the finish on hardwoods
- Deep, steam clean all grout (floors and counters)
- Polish your solid surface until it gleams
- Clean both the outside AND the inside of your appliances
- Power wash the exterior
Staging Tip: Styling to Sell
We use staging to “Style” the home into looking and feeling current. In addition to the fix ups around the house, staging sets the tone and mood for your buyers once the question marks have been negated. Here’s a few of our favorite tips and suggestions.
Staging tips would not be complete without a few basics:
- White towels and shower curtains can make even an old bath feel newer.
- Decorative lighting. This is often overlooked but we can’t say enough about adding lighting to EVERY ROOM. Bedside lamps, lamps next to sofas, buffet lamps in the dining rooms, even a lamp on the entry table. This low-level lighting imbues the home with a certain warmth and ambiance you simply cannot get in overhead cans.
- Soft goods: throw blankets, accent pillows, fresh and tidy bed sheets can freshen old furniture and lend a coziness to your rooms
- Bold art pieces and accessories and modernize a space
- If the floors are in questionable condition, an area rug can brighten the space and distract from less-than-wonderful flooring.
Check out this article on some other awesome Amazon finds! These are some great items we’ve used for staging and for our design clients!
Other staging tips include the use of neutral bedding, towels and lighting to freshen up. We’ve created a list of items (from Amazon, for your convenience!) that you check out.
