6 Staging Tips to Add Value to Your Listing
Ready to list your home for sale? Getting staging right may feel low-stakes, but it’s the first step to cashing in for the maximum value.
Whether you’re moving on to a new city or leveling up and building your own custom home, earning maximum value on the sale of your current home will get you that much closer to the house of your dreams! Even the most advanced interior design guru will need to make a few small changes in order to stage their home.
Focus on First Impressions
What do people see when they first drive up to your home? Is the lawn manicured and clean? Is there cozy furniture on the porch? Do updated light fixtures illuminate your front door? Taking these small steps to spruce up what potential buyers see first is a great way to optimize your staging efforts. A front yard in disarray puts a damper on all the hard work you’ve done to get your home ready to show.
Inside the house, focus on more than just looks. As a potential buyer enters, they’re just as likely to form quick opinions based on smell as they are on appearance. Popping cookies in the oven before an open house, ensuring the home is clean and aired out, and burning a natural-smelling candle all go a long way to creating the feel of a well-kept, clean home.
Kitchens and bathrooms sell homes. Switch to brighter light bulbs and let in as much natural light as possible to give a bright and airy feel to these key spaces.
Remove Personal Touches, But Accentuate Character
Buyers want to picture themselves living in the home as they walk through on their tour. Imagining how they’d make the space their own, how to use each room, and where their belongings might fit is half the fun of house hunting and can help home shoppers understand what might be the best fit for them.
Making those connections gets tougher when there are too many personal effects left during staging. Family portraits or photos, religious items, and even decorative and functional items like shower curtains are generally best removed.
That said, features of the home that make it unique are great spots to accentuate! Exposed interior brick, classic fireplaces, wooden beams, arched doorways and the like are tougher to find in brand new homes and can bring out the beauty and rarity of the house. Show them off!
Minimize Furniture
Less furniture makes a room feel bigger. Ideally, there’s a large difference between the way we stage our homes and the way we live in them. While illustrating a room’s best use and making a house feel cozy require some furniture in each room, there’s no need for most of the functional pieces we generally have in our homes.
Clearing out side tables, excessive shelving, extra seating, and storage features will make your rooms look and feel more spacious and bright. Keep bedrooms to a simple bed and nightstand, living areas to one couch and a coffee table, and tidy up office spaces.
Of course, if you’re continuing to live in the home as you show it, this is easier said than done! We rely on those furnishings; they were there for a reason! Get creative with your garage space and closets and consider a short-term rental of a storage unit if needed.
Avoid Clutter
Similar to the logic behind clearing out furniture, getting rid of clutter opens up surfaces to make rooms appear clean, and allows attention to remain on the home itself. Clear off refrigerator magnets, busy wall hangings, and extra rugs.
On every surface, leave just one or two items: a candle or a book on the coffee table, a teapot on the counter, a soap dish near the sink. In the office, stash your supplies and extra notebooks or whiteboards. Leave just enough for potential buyers to feel at home, but hide away any extras that would distract from the space or make a surface appear crowded.
Go Neutral
When touching up paint or picking out staging furniture or decorations, keep things solid and neutral. Greys, off-white, and navy are generally all safe bets. Choose colors that will complement the light and purpose of the room: the home office or a bedroom might be well suited to a dark grey or navy, while you’ll aim to keep the kitchen feeling light and bright.
Ready to leave your current home and build the house of your dreams? Atmos is here to connect you with the best builders and designers to start your home building journey.
