Ten Staging Tips

Staging for Success

Ever wonder if empty houses sell better than full ones? Wonder no more, good readers. Experience has shown that a well staged home will sell better than either one. Sellers want some furniture that hints at a room's purpose but not so much that it's hard to navigate. Neutral colors will always work better than harder ones because they go with most furniture. Here are some tips to help you.

1. Freshen up that paint.   Cover up rough spots on the walls or redo them all in neutral colors.
2. No empty rooms.   Leave something in there that hints at the room's purpose.
3. Use that expensive TV.   Make it the focal point of the living room. Hook up a laptop and run a slide show of nature scenes or turn it to the music channel to softly play music.
4. Add something to the walls.   Take down the personal pictures and put up pics of nature, pets, etc. Since you're going to be packing up those photos anyway, cut out some nice pictures from magazines and put them in front of the photographs, inside the frames.
5. Add window treatments.   Window treatments spice up a house and frame the window.
6. Maintain that yard.   Make sure it's cut, watered and trimmed. Add some flowers and consider lining the driveway with some paving stones to make a nice transition from concrete to grass.
7. Add some flowers to the house.   Flowers add a natural fragrance to the home without being overpowering. They also add some color.
8. Straighten the books.   Straighten them and add some bookends. Take off dust covers so the bare books add some atmosphere.
9. Keep the bedrooms neutral.   Avoid gender-specific elements in the master bedroom. Use white bedding to keep the rom feeling and looking fresh.
10. Declutter the house.   Kitchens are the worst for this. Keep most things off the counters to make the room feel bigger. Tidy up the closets so they don't look so small.

Staged homes sell for more money in less time. Professional home stagers will charge a fee but you can this yourself. If you decide you want a stager, your real estate agent can send you to a trusted one. The original article can be found here.