If you’re hosting potential home buyers, you want to showcase the best qualities your home has to offer. Successful staging allows home buyers to see potential rather than a snapshot of the current resident’s lifestyle. Staging a house doesn’t have to be overwhelming! With some clear direction, you can freshen the look of your home fairly easily. Follow these 6 effective home staging tips and tricks, and you’ll be on the right path to selling your home in no time!
1. Create a welcoming outdoor space.
The sale of a house comes with its property, too! According to Corey Tyner of Tyner Phoenix Home Buyers and Austin Home Fast Sell Home Buyers potential home buyers are interested in much more than the home itself. The land a home is situated on can be a huge deal maker or breaker, so it’s worth it to make your outdoor space welcoming and comfortable. Whether you’re working with ideal conditions or you’re stuck with rocky, hilly and awkwardly shaped land, there are a few ways to make it attractive to home buyers. First, clear out rusty, outdated or broken furniture. Integrate a new lounge area. Even a small bistro-style table with two chairs can make a bland lawn suddenly look like a place to relax. Also, add a welcome mat at the entrance of each door. This can bridge the outdoor space with the indoors. Finally, spruce up the outdoor space is with some natural greenery. Plant flowers near the house and stage potted plants in patio areas.
2. Get the house squeaky clean!
A busy lifestyle often leads to overwhelmed coat hooks, blankets strewn across sofas, kitchen appliances on counters, and the inevitable pile of sports equipment. Clutter can turn off potential home buyers, preventing them from seeing the underlying beauty of the house. Successful home staging requires serious decluttering. However, home cleaning requires more than organizing—the house and everything in it needs to be clean! Dusty items and dirty dishes can steer potential home buyers in the opposite direction. If you’re overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning or your skills aren’t fit for the task, consider hiring a professional home cleaning service. There are many home cleaning teams that work quickly and diligently to get your home in tiptop shape. Either way, don’t skimp on this portion of your home staging prep—if there’s a single dusty frame in the house, visitors will spot it!
3. Highlight an eye-catching feature.
Each room should have an interesting feature that serves as a focal point. This can either be an architectural design or an arrangement of décor. Take inventory of the unique features of your home and highlight them. For example, if your home has a man cave space, brainstorm how you can showcase that feature in its best light (check out these man cave ideas for inspiration). Replace outdated finishes and details with a fresh look. One of the biggest trends is to add stone veneer panels to the border of a fireplace and mantel. This creates a beautiful and cozy look that leaves visitors dreaming about a cozy winter night bundled up next to the stone veneer fireplace. This is a sure bet they’ll be thinking about the house long after they’ve left.
4. Include fresh décor.
Another staging tip for homeowners is to reassess home décor. Designs should be charming and simple. Steer away from niche-specific and edgy paintings, and opt for natural scenery or abstract designs. Another tip is to integrate fresh décor that is lightweight and easy to move. Big canvas prints are an excellent way to achieve a chic look without breaking the bank. Also, canvas prints are fairly lightweight, so you can easily rearrange them if necessary. From abstract compositions to meadow landscapes, canvas prints offer a huge variety of subject matter and color schemes.
5. Stage your furniture too!
One of the things that many home buyers look at is the quality of home furnishings a house has. If the furniture looks worn out and broken, it does affect a potential home buyer's willingness to buy a home. Adding some really nice home furniture like a classy chandelier, unique handcrafted art pieces and furniture that can last a long time like an amish kitchen furniture is a huge plus since it will create an impression that the previous owner really took care of the house.
6. Don’t forget the floors!
With so much focus on staging the home, it’s easy to forget about one of the most important features in your house—the floors! Make sure floors are squeaky clean and free of stains or scratches. While rugs can definitely help create a cozy vibe, be sure they are spotless and free of fading. Also, don’t cover up scratches in the floor with a throw rug. Home buyers are generally inquisitive and like to see everything a house has to offer. If they uncover scratches beneath a rug, they are likely to wonder what else you are hiding about the house. Luckily, scratches can easily be addressed with wood filler, buffing or even wood stain marker. Take the time to make sure the floor is in great shape, and the whole house will shine a bit brighter.
With these 6 staging tips, homeowners will be on the right path to showcasing all the great features their home has to offer!
