Updating + organizing your home | Ready to sell
Some of you may be thinking about updating and organizing your home to get it ready to sell. I’d like to offer up 10 secrets to staging your house!
These tips will help create the environment to lure a new buyer falling in love with your home. One buyer I had, wanted all the furniture in the rental home I staged. The home had been unoccupied! She wanted it all, the linens, the furniture, the tray with the wine ……she wanted that look.
Staging works!!
10 secrets to staging your house
1. Neutral colors for walls – Bright colors are a turn off and dark colors are a definite NO! Neutral and even white walls make a home look brighter and fresher. A new coat of paint does wonders for a home. If you haven’t painted in awhile…..give it some serious thought.
2. Paint your front door. Yup, a bright color on your front door is an invitation to come in and makes the potential buyer feel like your home is well cared for. Red or light blue on a gray or tan house is inviting and says’ “come on in!”
3. Get rid of personal photos….pare it down folks. You want people to look at your house, not your photos.
4. De-clutter your stuff. Pare down and organize. Use plastic bins and label them and pack up seasonal things, label it and store it to move it. Keep spaces open and spare. A crowded room makes the home seem small. People will not see your home, only your stuff.
5. if you can, add a bedroom sitting area. Just move a few things out and replace with a chair, a side table and a lamp. Make it feel cozy and like a place someone would enjoy a good book.
6. Use big mirrors. Using a big mirror strategically helps your home look larger and brings in light. You can lean one against a wall or on the top of a fireplace mantle. If you place it opposite a window it will make a room seem much lighter.
7. Pressure wash your driveway and the walk up to your house. It will make a good impression
8. Set the stage! Prop up a cookbook on a stand, set the table, put fresh flowers out, put a tray with a bottle of wine, a corkscrew and two glasses on the coffee table. Put a book upside down on a bed with a pair of reading glasses beside it, make each room look inviting.
9. Make your bathroom look like a hotel! Clear off the counter surfaces!! No makeup, hair products, or anything on the counters but a folded hand towel, glass jar with cotton balls and a toothbrush holder with your tooth brushes. Use a small faux plant on the back of the toilet. De-clutter all the surfaces and put out fresh folded towels.
10. Clean up the front exterior of your home by trimming the bushes and cleaning out the beds.