As any real estate agent will tell you, home staging is one of the most critical parts of selling a home. It could mean the difference between someone seeing your home as their future home and someone seeing your home as just another stop in a long line of houses to browse.
To put together the perfect home staging, home décor company Moshells has compiled a list of five golden rules and five specific areas of your home to look at.
Five Golden Rules
- De-personalize. Even though it may be difficult, try to hide any glaring evidence of your personal life. While you’re showing your home, it needs to be all about the buyers, so you’ll have to put away your wedding photos and the kids’ class pictures. (But don’t worry—it’s temporary! You can put them up again in your new home.)
- Maximize. Show your house for what it was when you first bought it, a place of potential, not a place overflowing with clutter. By making your house seem as spacious as possible, it will seem more inviting to prospective buyers.
- Sanitize. Clean, clean, clean! Make sure rooms are spotless, dust in places you’ve never dusted before, even whip out the silver polish for whatever decorations you may have hanging up. If your house shines, it’s more likely to sell.
- Modernize. If your cabinets look like something from a 1940s Better Homes and Gardens magazine, it might be time to upgrade. Your house doesn’t have to be cutting edge, but it should seem as sleek and classy as possible.
- Neutralize. A paint job can make a world of difference to prospective homebuyers. Neutral paint colors are not only easy on the eyes, they allow the imagination to run wild. They will encourage your guests to imagine themselves in the home and they’ll know that they can paint over it easily if they want to.
Six Golden Rooms
- Closets. Closets are notorious for clutter. Clean them out, make sure your hangers aren’t all mismatched, and if you need to, reorganize them completely. Consider stacking boxes or moving a set of drawers into the closet to really maximize space.
- Bedrooms. When you’re showing your home, it’s nice to have bedrooms with gender-neutral color schemes, including everything from walls to bedspreads. Remember, you want your prospective buyers to imagine their own unique uses for these rooms, so it’s important that they have a blank slate to work with.
- Bathrooms. For a lot of people, bathrooms are the selling point. (Okay, maybe not, but everyone appreciates a nice bathroom!) If yours are out of date, spice them up. A new faucet might be worth the investment, but even a little bit of cleaning (or a lot of cleaning) can go a long way.
- Kitchen. Kitchens are great candidates for modernizing. With new cabinets, a new refrigerator, and new countertops, the whole house could feel fresh and different. And don’t forget inside the cupboards when organizing. They will be opening them up to look inside.
- Dining room. Even if it might seem tacky, set the table. Yes, everyone knows it’s just for show, but it will add a nice homey touch that your potential buyers will appreciate.
- Living room. Everyone loves a good living room, so make sure yours looks as comfortable and welcoming as possible. A new coffee table or lamps for the side tables might be a good idea. And definitely make sure that the shades are up so the room is getting as much natural light as possible.
Staging a home can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be a painful process. By following these few simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to a successful and trouble-free home staging.