The art of home staging
Home staging is both an art and a science. Prospective buyers should be able to envision how they would personalize their new home. Therefore, the staging should feel neutral but personal. Visualization is an important concept in home staging. Buyers will feel more comfortable investing in a home if they can visualize themselves living there.
It takes a lot of work to buy a house. Buyers can look through a lot of listings before making a decision. For your home to stand out, it must feel like a home to potential buyers. While all the practical aspects are important, it is equally important to allow a potential buyer to feel a connection to the home.
What are your options for home staging?
You have three options. However, you can also choose to do all three. You can stage your house yourself, have a good real estate agent do it, or hire a professional. Depending on your situation and budget, which type of staging works best for you will depend on what you need.
Where to begin?
Are you unsure where to begin? These are some general tips that will help you make your home more appealing to buyers.
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Stage where it counts
Home staging is not a one-size-fits-all approach. It is important to concentrate your efforts on those rooms that are most likely to have an impact on buyers’ decisions and to spend less time in rooms that don’t matter.
The living room, master bedroom, and kitchen have the greatest impact. When staging a home, these are the most important rooms. You don’t need to worry about rooms with less influence like guest bedrooms or bathrooms.
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Depersonalize your house
Home staging helps prospective buyers envision their space as theirs. This is easiest to do by creating a blank canvas. The home should have charm and style, but not too many personal touches that make it seem like it belongs to the seller.
Begin by taking down any personal photos. Make sure you take down any framed photos that are on surfaces or walls, as well as anything hanging on your fridge. You should keep your clothes out of reach and get rid of any personal items like toothbrushes. Although it may seem odd to live in a home that has been depersonalized, it can be extremely helpful for buyers to better understand the property.
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Remove all your clutter
You can make your home appear bigger and more appealing by reducing clutter to the essentials. While you don’t need to throw away everything, it is important that you pack them up and get them out of your home.
Your closets will be open to buyers who will want to see the storage potential. Take your time and get rid of as many unnecessary items as possible. You can make your space look bigger and more appealing to buyers if you remove as much clutter as possible.
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Do a deep cleaning
Don’t settle for just doing a spring cleaning if you are selling your house. Every square inch of your home should shine from the baseboards to corners of your ceilings, and everything in between. A clean home will show buyers that the current tenants have taken good care of it.
This goes beyond the kitchen countertops and extends to the whole house. It’s time to get on top of certain chores like dusting the window blinds or cleaning your fridge. 
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Make the house look well maintained
It’s a great time to address the small nicks, scratches, and other imperfections that can signal neglect to buyers when staging your home. Begin by using a melamine foam eraser to go from room to room, removing any wall scuffs.
If necessary, you can then caulk and spackle them. You may need to touch up areas where the paint was applied previously. As with cleaning, it’s about showing potential buyers you care about the property and making it look good.
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Go with neutral colors
Although this staging tip can be more time-consuming and costly, it can make a big difference in your sales price and time on the market. While bright colors can help homeowners express themselves in their homes, they can also be a turnoff to potential buyers.
If you are staging your home for sale, it is a good idea to paint over garish colors with neutrals like taupe, gray, and white. Bold colors can be distracting from the room’s assets. Bright colors may appeal to buyers, but neutral homes allow them the freedom to choose from a range of options.
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Keep it simple but welcoming
Your front entrance is what buyers will see first when they come to view your house. So get rid of any seasonal decorations. Power wash your front stoop or scrub off dirt. Add a simple doormat or a few potted plants. Keep it simple but welcoming.
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Bring some life to the house
A home with too many unnecessary items can make it less valuable. However, adding a few plants and flowers to the interior space can bring life and beauty. You should space them so that they don’t clutter in one area. However, you should have at least a few fresh items in the areas that are most important.
A vase with large, bright flowers could be placed in the middle of your kitchen table. You can also place a small potted or succulent plant in the living area. If you don’t have the green thumb or time to care for fresh plants, fake plants can create the same atmosphere, with less effort.
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Make sure your house is well lit
Let as much natural light as possible into your home to brighten it up. You can make your rooms appear larger by opening the blinds to all windows. For showings, turn on all lights in the house including closet lights and lamps. This will make your home feel more inviting.
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Rearrange your furniture
It is important to have as much space as possible for people to walk around. This allows buyers to better understand the space and helps them visualize their furniture in each room. To get rid of excess furniture, you can put it in storage. Make sure to eliminate any damaged or oversized pieces and items that don’t fit the rest of your house. Each room should have a clear and defined purpose. This will show buyers how to maximize square footage.
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Enhance the curb appeal of your house
The entryway and exterior will be the first thing buyers see, so it is important to make a good impression. Consider washing windows, pressure-washing exteriors, repainting or fixing hardware, cleaning, and decluttering outside areas such as a patio, deck, or pool.
Consider adding lighting fixtures and potted flowers to your garden. Clear the area of debris and trim the hedges. Mow your lawn. If necessary, replace your mailbox. It will make your house more attractive if the outdoor spaces are well-maintained and appealing.
So is home staging worth it?
Home staging can have a significant impact on your home’s selling price. You can get a better offer for your home faster by staging it. Is it worth it for you? Take a look at these factors before you make a decision:
These are the three main benefits of staging a house:
- Staging allows prospective buyers to visualize their life in the house.
- Staging can help increase the value of an offer
- Staging can reduce the time a house is on the market
Fortunately, most of the best home staging tips don’t cost a lot. Whether you are looking to sell your home or trying to improve the value of an existing listing, staging can make your home more appealing to potential buyers.