- Incorporate your annual spring cleaning into the staging process. Get rid of that clutter! Put away out-of-season items and tidy up the most cluttered spaces in your home, such as the den, office or kids rooms. Get everyone in on it and have them make tidiness a habit until your home sells (making it a permanent habit would be even better).
- Update your decor for spring and think neutral for a more inviting look. Prospective buyers like to be able to imagine their own furniture and decor in a space. Too much color and highly themed design hinders the buyer’s connection with the home.
- Neutral doesn’t mean boring. Add pops of color to keep prospects’ attention. Consider adding fresh flowers to a vase to minimally decorate tables. Or perhaps purchase inexpensive but beautiful artwork to dress up walls. Experiment with different ways to hang wall paintings, such as diagonally or in collage form.
- Get a buyer’s perspective on your curb appeal. With a smartphone or camera in hand, go across the street and assess your home. Make a list of the things that may turn buyers away and the things you believe they may find attractive. Of course, making a list isn’t the end; correct eye sores like signs of neglect, clutter or weeds.
- It may seem drastic, but if you really do want to sell your home, rearranging and even removing furniture will have to be a part of the staging process. Too much furniture in a room can make it feel cluttered and stuffy. Bad furniture arrangement can take away from the size of a room. Consider selling, throwing away or putting into storage furniture that does not really have a place in the room. Arrange your furniture to offer the best traffic flow which will highlight the size of the space.
- Play up the unique selling points of your home. Details really do count and add up to dollars. For example, beautiful but empty glass cabinet faces or unused small spaces hide the added value of these features in your home. That small empty area in front of your kitchen bar may work well as a breakfast nook. Highlight it by adding a small table in the area.
- Smells add to the ambience of a home and can make or break a sale. Weird pet smells are an instant turnoff. On the other hand, using subtle room fresheners, nothing too loud or heavy, can be appealing. On the day of an open house, have cookies baking in the oven; no one can resist the smell of freshly baked cookies!
- Don’t neglect the bathroom. Even if your bathroom is small, it can still be appealing if it is neat, clean, and updated. Go ahead and spend the extra money on professional tiling, replace broken toilet seats, update cabinetry and repaint as necessary. Add minimal decor and you’ve got a major selling point.
- Laundry rooms are another great feature, but no one wants to see your dirty laundry and cleaning supplies all over the area. Be sure to pay just as much attention to the laundry room as the rest of the house; it could make or break a sale.
- Remember that to sell a home, the buyer has to like it. Even if neutrals aren’t your thing, or if you love the detailed wall border in your bathroom, buyers may have a different perspective, and it is better to err on the side of neutrality.
This spring the market can be in your favor if you keep these home staging ideas in mind. I’m here to offer you help through the process. Whether you’re a tourist looking to move permanently to the Keys, or just someone who likes the beauty of nature, the great variety of amenities in the homes in our area are just more reason to want to live in beautiful Key West. If you’re interested in real estate in this attractive area contact me, Jimmy Lane, at Key West Real Estate: 305-766-0585.
HGTV - Staging Basics from the Pros