So you’re selling your home, and hoping for top dollar without a lot of time on the market. What should you do???
Stage your home!
We met up with local stager, Carol Troy of Stoneridge Staging, and asked her for tips anyone can do to help get their home ready for sale. Carol is an expert stager in the area, but also a part time organic farmer, part time ski instructor, and passionate renovator.
7 Home Staging Tips:
1) De-personalize. Remove family photos and clear off the refrigerator.
2) Remove window treatments. If you need them for privacy or to mask a view, use white sheer curtains and open all the window shades for showings.
3) Declutter. Clean off your surfaces and leave only 1-2 items per surface, and remove dresser scarves if you have them.
4) Make your bathroom spa like. Remove all products from the vanity, except hand soap and add fluffy white towels.
5) CLEAN
6) Upgrade lighting. If any bulbs are burned out, replace them. Switch bulbs for LEDs with a warm white color. Upgrade lamps, or at least replace your lamp shades with new white shades.
7) Neutralize bedding. Switch to solid, light colored, bedding and crisp white pillows.
Here’s an example of Carol’s, note there only a couple items on each table. Also the bedding is a soft white with neutral color.
6 Inexpensive Home Staging Ideas
1) Fresh, new doormat. First impressions count and the front door is where they are made.
2) Repaint the front door and remove the storm door if you have it. If you do repaint, keep your work neat and tidy to avoid paint splatter. (especially on that new doormat!)
3) Paint dated kitchen or bathroom cabinets white or light grey.
4) Replace cabinet hardware with simple nickel or wood knobs painted to match cabinets.
5) Replace dated light fixtures with simple updated fixtures such as an iron lantern or white drum shade for a dining room.
6) Remove any window treatments and curtain rods, then patch and paint holes from the rod anchors.
Here’s a great example of removing the window treatments, decluttering surfaces, and depersonalizing the artwork. Now a potential buyer can walk the property and visualize their future home.
If you try on the perspective of a potential buyer, you might catch other details that will be helpful. Remember the house you are selling is your home where so many memories were made, and is uniquely yours. However, a buyer is looking at houses, to call their next home. Help them be comfortable in your house with Carol’s home staging tips, and you’ll have a great selling experience!
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