Fighting Stage Fright
Posted June 19th, 2008 by MaryTo stage or not to stage?
To hire a professional home stager, or do it yourself?
These are just some of the questions that plague the minds of individuals in the market to sell their homes. Just how worth it is home staging though? Before you spend the money, it would be nice to know if you could count on a return on your investment, right?
The trouble is, home staging is a loosely defined art at best. There are some common sense tips floating around out there, but what kind of measurable result will forking over the cash for the professional contribute towards your home’s resale value? The answer to this question is subject to debate naturally, but if you ask this blogger, if you’ve got even a bit of the do-it-yourself-ing spirit, this is one area where you can save yourself some money.
Photo Credit: The Home Stager
Where should you start to stage it yourself? Think in terms of marketability: what colors, patterns, features etc. are going to appeal to the widest possible audience while still making your place seem ‘homey?’
You don’t have to be afraid anymore, here are some tips to get you started:
• Get curb appeal: clean up the yard, put down new sod, new house numbers, welcome mat etc.
• Fresh Color: Paint to make your home feel newer and more open and inviting
• Purge: 86 anything old or worn out, this includes carpeting, furniture, tile etc. This also applies to anything that personalizes your house. For example, family photos and fridge magnets should be out in hurry. Potential buyers won’t be able to visualize themselves living in your home if you’re still there.
• Naked Windows: get rid of window treatments. All of them. You want your home to seem bigger and more open. Nothing shrinks a room more than giant valances and heavy drapery.
• Smell the sell: Seriously, bake some chocolate chip cookies and let the warm fuzzies do the selling for you. Ok, so maybe your place dosen’t have to smell like freshly baking cookies, but it couldn’t hurt, and it certainly shouldn’t smell bad. Double check that everything is clean and fresh, and keep Fido outside. As much as we may love our furry friends, buyers may not dig the dander, or the odor that comes along with them.
• Size matters: The furniture you use should appropriately fit the space without overwhelming it.
• Lighten up: Never underestimate the power of good lighting. This might bring out the warm fuzzies even more than the cookies. For a really simple way to apply this tip, just turn on all the lights, even if you’re showing your house during the day.
Tags: home improvement, home improvement ideas, home remodeling, home staging
Loading ...
June 20th, 2008 at 11:07 am
Great staging tips, Mary! I recommend these myself. Here are a couple of thoughts to play off of yours:
* Clean and uncluttered is the most important thing, since it is free to do! Put away most of your personal items & photos, and take down animal trophies and artifacts that might offend a buyer. You may be proud of the 5-point buck
trophy and taxidermic mountain lion in your living room,
but many buyers will be put off by it.
* Walk around the house. Do you have a lot of spider webs in the eaves? If so, consider power-washing the outside walls & eaves for spiders and dirt, and repaint the eaves and trim if necessary. The more clean, clear, and open you can present your home, the better. (In fact, you should try to enjoy occasional trips to the local landfill. My husband just loves taking loads to the dump–I think it gives him a cleansing feeling.)
* Brighten & enlarge living spaces using sunlight,
lighting, and paint. If you have dark walls or loud wallpaper, I suggest painting over it all with a light, neutral tone. And if you have acoustic (”popcorn”) ceilings, it would do wonders to scrape it off, retexture smooth, and paint. Also, if you have a small dark interior room, such as a bathroom, a Solatube is an inexpensive alternative to a skylight.
* The easiest way to stage a home for dramatic
transformation is with furniture, so find or borrow
brighter, newer, more size-appropriate furniture if need
be. And be sure to remove obstructions to vision and movement.
Clean, purge, brighten, neutralize…that’s the ticket!