Staging a home has been a popular practice in real estate, particularly in luxury real estate, for many years. By now many people know the basics: keep the house clean, pare down the knickknacks, put away family photos. Yet so many of the homes I see are not styled to advantage and there is no excuse for that!
If you are trying to sell your home, think about it in terms of making an excellent first impression. When you go on a first date you make sure your outfit is clean, neat and flattering. You put some extra effort into your hair and make-up or maybe buy a new cologne. You think of some interesting things to say about yourself so the person will want to see you again. The same goes for your home. Below are my tips for staging your home yourself.
1. Always keep it clean and ready to be shown.
2. Put away your personal photos.
3. If you are a collector, put away your collections. It will be a lot of work to do but you'll have to do it anyway when you move. I just took clients to see a home owned by an antiques dealer- there was stuff everywhere! And my clients left the home with the impression that it lacked storage space and didn't have a good flow. That wasn't true, it had a lot of closets and a good flow, but not with all of those antiques laying around.
4. Many homes in Florida lack a first floor coat closet (Why??? We have jackets and umbrellas, too. Where are we supposed to put them?). Avoid pointing that out to potential buyers by not leaving your jackets, umbrellas, purses, briefcase and shoes laying around. Remember the old adage: out of sight, out of mind.
5. If you have a pet, please take her or him with you while the house is being shown. If that is not possible, crate them. It is not acceptable to leave them in the kitchen or the laundry room. Buyers are going to want to see those rooms and any buyer who doesn't feel comfortable around animals is not going to go into the room if your pet is in it. I was once in a house with clients in which a rambunctious dog had been left in the kitchen. None of us felt comfortable enough around the strange dog to look in the kitchen.
6. When I think about a well staged home, I think about a good hotel room. It is clean, decorated in a subtle way and makes you feel welcome. Aim to make your house feel that way.
7. Be willing to move your furniture around. Now that you are trying to sell, go for form over function. Put the furniture where it looks best, not where it is most useful.
8. If you have a small nook somewhere (like the top of a landing), turn it into an office by adding a small desk, a chair, a lamp and a few office supplies.
9. Got an empty room you don't use? Make it into a yoga room. Add a few yoga mats, some yoga props, some battery-operated candles and some diaphanous curtains. You've suddenly turned an unused room into a luxurious amenity.
10. If you have a pool that has seen better days, you can distract from the dated tile by placing some large hurricane lanterns around the pool, adding some flowering potted plants and cleaning your outdoor furniture. Want to even make it look more luxurious? Take a cue from a hotel. Place neatly rolled towels in a wicker basket and leave out a tray of sunscreen. If you want to take it even further, leave out a tray on a lounge chair with a newspaper or book, a carafe of water and a small vase with some flowers.
Below is an article on staging that shows some great before and after photos.
Staged
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