Seven Tips for Staging Your Home

So, you’re selling your home. To increase the chances of your house selling quickly—and for a great price—stage it well. You want potential buyers to love your home.

Here are some tips on how to stage your home for great results.

Improve the Curb Appeal

One phrase you’ll hear a lot when selling a home is “curb appeal.” This refers to how attractive a place is from the outside. Your real estate agent will put a sign up in your yard, drawing attention, and you want that attention to linger and for people to think of your home as somewhere they may want to live.

So, mow the lawn. If you have to, reseed it and add new sod. Make sure your house numbers are clean and easily readable, even if you have to purchase new numbers at the hardware store. Plant fresh flowers. Wash the walls and windows, clean the walkway, and keep your porch lights on at night. Also, consider adding lights along the walkway. Remove clutter, from weeds to kids’ toys on the lawn.

Spruce Up The Approach

When people come to see your home with their real estate agent, they’ll get their second impression of your place on the approach. The curb appeal items will help, but to improve on that, add a clean, inviting doormat. If you have a wide porch and no porch furniture, get some. If you do, make sure it’s clean and safe.

Clear the Clutter Inside

This may be the biggest step, but it will make a huge impact. The clutter throughout your home has got to go. Don’t simply put it all in a closet, the garage, the basement, or anywhere that visitors may want to look.

We recommend renting a self storage unit, where you can keep all these extras until you move to your new home. For most people, a 5x5 unit should be sufficient, but if you have a large place and a lot of clutter, you may need a unit up to about a 10x10 unit.

You may not consider much of what’s in your place to be clutter. It may be clean and well organized. Go through your home thinking like a guest who doesn’t know you, and think of what might look like clutter to others. You may want to have a trusted friend help you with this.

In a children’s room, this could mean extra toys your child no longer plays with. In the closets, it could mean boxes of photographs or other keepsakes, as well as off-season clothing. In your living room, it could mean that beanbag chair in the corner, or the extra-big teddy bear. Your kitchen table, counters, and floors should be clear of extra items.

In short, if it looks like clutter to others, box it up for now and put it in storage.

Clean Deeply

With the clutter put away, do a thorough and deep cleaning of your home. Mop and shine the floors and clean the counters, including the grout. Do the same for the bathtub or shower walls. Wash the windows and make sure the curtains are clean and free of dust. Steam-clean the rugs. If there’s a ton to do, consider hiring a maid service for the initial cleaning and then keep up with it every day yourself.

Arrange Your Furniture

From bedrooms, to kitchen, to living and family rooms, arrange the furniture in a functional and attractive way. If you have a television set in your living room, the chairs should be arranged not only for TV watching, but so that if people want to sit and talk, they can do that. Have a few interesting and non-controversial books on the coffee table. Consider putting two or three small matching vases, with fresh flowers or without, in a line down the center of the kitchen table. Make the beds every morning.

Aside from the kids’ rooms, make the house as gender-neutral as possible to appeal to men and women. Have the toys put away neatly on shelves, in the closet, and in a toy chest. Make sure the art on the walls is attractive and tasteful.

Take Special Care of the Kitchen and Bathroom

These areas can get a cluttered quickly. In the kitchen, do your dishes after you eat, dry them, and put them away. In the bathroom, clean up soap scum, hang towels, put dirty clothes in a hamper with a lid, and do the laundry every few days. Make sure everything from the toilet plunger to shampoo bottles are arranged neatly. In the kitchen and the bathroom, keep the counters clean. Take out the garbage every night. This will go a long way to keeping your home smelling fresh.

These steps will help make your home especially attractive to potential buyers. Best of luck selling your home, and getting the best price for it, and we also hope you find a wonderful new home!