It goes without saying that the number one advantage when selling your home is location, location, location. But right up there with a great location is staging, staging, staging!
If you are putting your home on the market, you most likely want a quick sale and for your asking price. Home staging is definitely a sure way to get you to that goal.
What is home staging?
Home staging is all about illusions. It is the art of creating moods. Staging goes beyond cleaning, preparing and decorating a home for sale. It is all about making a home appealing to all potential buyers. A home that is successfully staged will appeal to all senses of the home buyer so that they can imagine themselves and their stuff in the home.
How do you achieve that when every homebuyer is different?
Staging a home seems simple enough, but it is not just about cleaning and organizing and re-arranging furniture. It takes careful thought that will result in a dramatic scenery that will appeal to all senses.
A professional Home Stager or an Interior Decorator will possess the skills to show off your home in its best possible light and reach its fullest potential. For us, it is like painting a blank canvas. It requires some masterful skills like arranging sparse pieces of furniture in pleasing and eye-catching groupings or vignettes, The use of color that anyone can live with and will love, showcasing architectural details and special features, arranging accessories to add personality without personalizing, and much more
Staging A Home vs. An Empty Home
Selling a house empty is like showing up naked for a job interview! You would definitely not do that (at least I hope not 
), and neither should you try to sell an empty house.
An empty house is soulless and lifeless! It’s hard for a home buyer to see themselves in an empty house. When a room is empty, your eye perceives it as being smaller than it actually is. The idea behind staging is allowing the home to show itself. An empty home will likely remain on the market a lot longer than its staged counterpart. So it’s in your best interest to arrange furniture and carefully chosen accessories to show potential homebuyers the possibilities.
Now that you agree that staging your home equals a quick sale and for top dollar, here are some designer tips to help you get it right.
Boost your curb appeal
Many homebuyers will search for homes for sale online and do drive-bys long before they even call a Realtor. Your curb is the first impression of your home and it sets the tone for what’s about to come on the inside. The goal is to get buyers to fall madly in love with your home before they even step out of the car.
Source: Activerain.com
- Power wash siding and walkways
- Repair any rotting siding and repaint. Sometimes even a fresh coat of paint on the trim and front door is enough to give the façade of your home a fresher look
- Plant and mulch new flower beds. Prune and trim existing plants and shrubs
- Make sure house numbers are visible from the street
- Wash windows
- If you are fortunate enough to have a front porch, make it inviting with a nicely decorated seating area complete with an outdoor area rug, pillows, lighting and potted plants
- Curb appeal is not just for the front of your home, but also the backyard
Make the kitchen inviting
The kitchen is often referred to as the heart of the home, and rightfully so. That is where most families spend a great deal of time. Your kitchen should be clean, organized and inviting with all appliances in good repair and a lot of storage. You want to give buyers the impression of a kitchen that is easy to use
Source: The Decoist
- Apply orange oil to cabinets to bring out their natural luster
- Declutter drawers and cabinets. Showcase storage
- Replace or repair old appliances
- Update lighting
- Add hardware to cabinets – keep them simple
- Place potted herbs on a window sill, fresh flowers or a bowl of fresh fruits on a counter. Don’t get carried away with this tip
- Arrange colorful cook books on shelves
- Clear countertops of clutter and distractions
- Always have a backsplash and make sure it coordinates well with your countertop and cabinetry
Get your home sparkling clean
This is the cheapest and possibly the most important step, so get it right. Bring in the pros if you have to, especially if you have a large home
- Steam clean carpet and even tile floors and grout
- Remove limescale from faucets
- Clean all baseboards and other trim.
- Get rid of cobwebs
- Clean and declutter countertops
Clear your home of all clutter
If you are serious about selling your home and for top dollar, then all clutter must go! It is sometimes not easy separating ourselves from things we have collected, but it is well worth the trouble
- Clear out closets and drawers. This is a great time to be charitable and donate things that you no longer use or need, or even make some extra cash by having a garage sale
- Remove the distraction of overly personal items like family pictures and collectibles. Remember that you want buyers to see themselves living in your home.They cannot do that with your stuff everywhere. Once you list your home for sale, it technically isn’t yours anymore, so take your personality out of it. You can infuse your personality in your new home
- You can utilize an offsite storage, or store smaller items in an organized way in the garage
Paint is your best friend
Painting is another inexpensive way to freshen up your home and make it ready for the market. Paint color choice is very important. You want to choose neutral colors that have sophistication and will appeal to all buyers, but still have some interest and not too boring. Now is not the time to experiment with that lime green you’ve been thinking about. If you are struggling with this, you can hire an Interior Decorator who offers color consultations on an hourly basis to help you make the right choices
This is a home listed by Linse Meadows Real Estate where I was asked to pick out paint colors and draw furniture plans for a few key rooms. It is located at 23210 Willow Canyon Drive in Katy TX. View listing here
Sherwin Williams Misty in Master Bedroom
Sherwin Williams Useful Gray in Dining Room
- Keep colors neutral
- Warm neutrals are great for larger rooms
- Cool neutrals are great to open up a room
- You can go with a darker color in dining rooms, powder rooms or a media room – Sherwin Williams Dorian Gray comes to mind
- Painting cabinetry is a great way to give them a new look – white or a light gray is always a great choice. Sherwin Williams Greek Villa and Benjamin Moore Fieldstone are some recent choices I made for clients
Time to arrange furniture and accessories
Great job if you managed to clear out all the clutter. Now is the time to judiciously bring in only the right pieces that will make your home appealing to buyers
Master Bedroom at 23210 Willow Canyon in Katy TX
In this case, my client did the staging herself using the furniture plans I drew for her and pieces she already owned. All these pieces were leftover pieces from her new home.
Here’s an example of one of the scaled furniture plans. This is great to include with your listing to show potential buyers exactly how to place their furniture pieces.
Casa Vilora Interiors
- Style your dining room table to make the dining room more inviting. Buyers will be able to imagine family gatherings if you show them the possibilities.
- Add area rugs to floors to anchor seating areas and define conversation groupings
- Re-arrange your furniture keeping them as symmetrical as possible. Pull pieces away from walls to create an inviting conversation area. Make sure that there is great traffic flow. The goal is to make the rooms look as spacious as possible
- Create a gender neutral master bedroom suite
- Show off closet spaces as prime real estate
- Give spare rooms a purpose that makes sense for the demographic of potential buyers
- Show buyers how to use awkward areas like under stairs and the landing at the top of the stairs
- Bring the outdoors in by opening up the views with the right window treatments. Add fresh flowers and plants
- Bathrooms should look open and airy. Arrange a basket of spa items to show buyers how relaxing they will have it when they move in
- Entice buyers to explore the entire house by placing pieces that will draw their eye and attention
- We know you love your pets, but pets should be out of the home when it’s being viewed by buyers. Be aware of their odors
- Your home should smell fresh and clean. Wickless candles and air fresheners can help, but be careful not to use strong scented fresheners, just in case you have potential buyers with allergies. Baking a batch of cookies prior to an open house will release some wonderful and delicious smells as visitors walk in, and give them a feeling of hominess and hospitality. Remember you want to appeal to all their senses
- Show off your home with the lifestyle that buyers are looking for, even just adding a hammock or a small barbecue area outdoors can help
- Don’t forget to stage the outdoors too, even if you have just a tiny space
- You want your home to look like it has been cared for and maintained, and of course, loved. Help buyers see your home as their dream home
Source: Homedit.com
Source: Richmond Hill Homes
So if you are reading this and you have a home to sell, hopefully you have found some great tips and ideas to get you started.
If you live in the Houston area, and you are looking to buy or sell or both, contact Linse Meadows, Realtor. She will definitely take good care of you!
If you need help staging your home, please contact me here
Hoping you all have a wonderful Wednesday!
Be Inspired!
Veronica Solomon, Casa Vilora Interiors
VeronicaSolomon.com
Yeah, renovation or decoration make your home more pricey and more salable.
Great advice. I remember, way back, we thought about selling our house and putting it on the market and the Realtor told us the same things.
When we were selling our home in Florida, the real estate agent said if you bake an apple pie when guests are coming, or something similar, it makes them think of homey gatherings, lol. Makes sense, but we skipped that advice. We did, however, stage it nicely so that it held a nice visual appeal.
These are great tips. When looking for a home I would not buy one that looked like it hadn’t been taken care of (which means I expect the siding to be washed). I know I’m a bit nit-picky but a house is a huge investment and not just with money. You’re going to make it your life. Who would want to buy something that was going to suck the life and money out of them? As a buyer, I’m less concerned about the furniture choices as I am the warm feeling of the home, the look that someone else loved it and whether or not I could make myself comfortable there.
Showing up naked to an interview, lol – I needed that laugh. We just put our old house on the market and the realtor helped us hire someone to go in and spruce it up as well as is taking care of renting items to stage it to sell. I agree that it needs to give the new owner some kind of idea of what it will look like when they are living there. Most of us are visual and if we do not see it, we do not imagine it with our stuff either.
My Daughter is very good at staging a home for sale. She has gotten so many compliments when she goes in and gets a house ready to sell.
I’ve staged home more times than I can count, and I’m not even a Realtor, lol. Your tips are excellent, very helpful for the home seller.
Thanks so much for sharing these helpful tips for the home seller. Staging is important and I’ve done this, for friends, several times. Your photos are so beautiful.
Wow. I did not realize so much went into selling a home.
These are some great tips! I’ve never sold a home, in fact I’m currently looking to buy one, but I can definitely see how a lot of this can make a big difference.
I know that as a buyer I would more likely than not purchase a home that I felt comfortable in and one that I could envision what it would be like to live there. Thanks for sharing!
I love the way you phrase things and your incredible talent! The tips you have shared here are keys to success for anyone selling their home. I wish I would have read this when I sold my house a few years ago, I know it would have helped me sell as it proved to be a difficult sell. Thank you!
Thank you for all the helpful tips! Doing some of these simple things wouldn’t even cross a lot of people’s minds, this is an incredible article and you are clearly very talented! Wonderful work!
This is such great advice for when Im looking for a home or when I want to sell my home if I ever get to be that lucky. I love the pictures of your home.
These are great tips to freshen up your home even if you’re not selling it. Each home we sold was always furnished but wish I can some of these tips back then. Thanks for the great post.
A friend of mine is a home stager! I always tell her that she has the best job ever! Your post is full of so many awesome tips, I can’t wait to try some in my own home.
You have some great tips here. Mind if I share your post? I’m a real estate agent and like to give potential or seller’s this great information.
Absolutely Jeff! Feel free to share
Some great tips here. I would like to add the pool. You’d be surprised how many agents call us because the homeowner has neglected to keep the pool clean! When they see it full of debris or algae, they begin to wonder what else the seller has let go around the home.
That is a great point Casey and one I forgot to mention.
This is an amazing list to follow. So many ways one can improve appearance to make a house more saleable. All we ever did was clean, declutter and paint sienna wall white.
These are fantastic ideas! We just bought a house last year – I agree, we liked the staged ones much better than those that weren’t! I’ll keep this post for whenever we decide to sell this house LOL
At that point, I’m not sure I’d even want to move. Maybe I should spiff up my house just for me following your rules!
Great tips! We have a photographer that has staging experience on staff to help people get the full potential out of their sell.
These are some great ideas for those who are selling their homes. A couple years ago we sold our grandfathers house and had to rearrange furniture, add decor and get rid of some. It made it look so much better for those who were potential buyers.
These are great tips for people who are selling their house!
Excellent advice here. And thank you for naming the paint colors; we’re not moving anytime soon, but I think we are repainting!
Those are great colors that are soothing and beautiful
Wow great post Veronica! Great to know! Thank you for sharing
Hey Veronica,
Love the pics of the kitchen! Thanks for sharing!
Veronica, this is a must read for anyone who is putting their home on the market. It’s also a guide for the rest of us, who need to be surrounded by pleasant, uncluttered spaces.
Sometimes, when you live in a house for many years, you stop noticing the things that need to be replaced or renewed. We need to look at our homes with a, slightly, more critical eye. Loved the pics, too.
That is absolutely right. Most of these can be applied to homeowners looking to freshen up and renew their homes to live in. It sometimes takes someone else to come in with that critical eye to point folks in the right direction
Thanks for the great tips. Staging a home well can make all the difference when you want to sell!
Thank you all for your great comments!
These are really great tips for getting ready to sell your house. I anticipate needing to be prepared for this in the near future and I will have to bookmark this page and refer to it. Everything is important but having your home clean and organized really helps.
really great tips on staging your home. I have been tracking your tips on painting rooms and thanks to your tips, I changed my mind about bedroom colors.
Thanks Tom. I am so happy you found some helpful advice from my posts
Your work is absolutely gorgeous!! I can’t believe how you made that empty house look like a magazine! I wish you lived closer so i could hire you to decorate my apartment.
What a pleasant blog this one is.
You are a master of good taste and beauty
Awesome tips. You really do have this sense of beauty in your work both inside and out. When selling a home make sure it’s more convincing and appealing to the home buyers by staging it well.
Ah so inspired! Way to go! I love how it is perfectly place.. This is a great idea. Look forward to more, much more! I
Great post as we are looking to help friend’s move. Curb appeal is everything and was so important when we bought our house!
Veronica, I loved reading through this, slowly, absorbing ideas, and realizing just how much goes into prepping a house for sale. It’s been 12 years since I last sold. I did a bunch of what you listed, didn’t know about a bunch … and then ran out of time. Fortunately my house sold to the first person who walked in on the first day of open house …
I was thinking about going into the staging business. I think it would be fun to do sinceI like to organize.
Whenever I have things to give away, I usually imagine myself as the buyer. If I saw the product myself, would I buy it? I think it reflects with your post here.
I love the idea of the repair, keep and give away bins! I am going to try that with my children’s toys when its time for spring cleaning!
Awesome information. We are fixing to put our house up for sale and I’m so going to use some of this to help move that sale along!
Another wonderful set of tips… You truly are living and using your gifts. TY!
While I know that staging is the way to go if you want to sell quickly, I’d have to move out first! I couldn’t handle living in a house that’s constantly ready for showing, lol. I like my clutter and lived-in look!
I love the idea of staging a home, even if it’s just for yourself. Posts like yours and shows like you see on HGTV provide tons of inspiration. If you don’t have to sell (or don’t want to) why not make your castle as appealing as you can? As always Veronica, wonderful to have your take on things!
You are welcome Dawn!
I would imagine that it is really important for homes to be at their most presentable when trying to feel them. This is great information.
Great tips here. We actually have 2 houses for sale right now. It is difficult to keep them ready for showing and still live in them… will sure be glad when the housing market recovers in our areas.
Fabulous tips, Veronica! We are getting my parents house ready to put on the market, so these are very timely. I read somewhere that the curb appeal of a house is one of the biggest ROI. This is definitely a jewel that I will be re-reading.