STAGING TIPS FOR SELLING (OR JUST SIMPLIFYING) YOUR HOME – ON A BUDGET

We were on a tight budget when we listed our home for sale. However, we knew staging would play an important part in selling our home at our desired price-point. Being resourceful and using our talents we realized there were so many little changes we could make to create a better feel and attract more buyers without overspending.

We also knew statistically that staging a home helps it sell for more money and faster than non-staged homes. Our awesome real-estate agent, Ashley Newell, of Royal Arch Homes who is a real estate agent in Boulder and Denver, Colorado, confirmed that! (She also just so happens to be Anna’s sister-in-law, too! Pretty cool!)

Since I’ve always loved interior design and had done some staging in the past professionally and also for friends, I decided to stage our house myself! We were on a tight budget and sold our house for more than the asking price so Anna and I wanted to pass on these tips to you so you can make top dollar on your home too!

The process of staging is very fulfilling to me! So, getting to stage our home myself checked off the box from our realtor, Ashley, to stage our home for the best outcome, and it’s also opened up a great second career for me!

In staging my home and others, I found some things that work well and make a big impact. I’ll share those tips with you so that if you find yourself needing to stage your home or just want to update and renew your space you can apply these tips right away.

Here are the top 10 things that I did in staging my own home that made the biggest difference.

1. DECLUTTER

Less stuff in your home will make it appear bigger. You may feel it looks empty but to a prospective buyer it will feel open and airy. Take out as much as possible, and then remove even more. Do it a few times. It’s amazing how much you can eliminate each time. Place it in a pod or storage unit. You could also just get rid of it and save your money from storing/and or moving it. That can be hard for people and for me personally the moving and selling was stressful enough so I just stored it and dealt with it when I was better equipped to deal with it all mentally. Like I said, you may feel like your house feels a bit empty or bare for your liking but remember you want it to feel open and airy which gives the appearance that it’s larger. Too much stuff in a room makes the room shrink visually.

2. REMOVE PERSONAL ITEMS

Take all personal items out (pictures of family, sports team items, framed degrees or awards, etc). Hang a few neutral pieces of art in the empty spaces. Check Pinterest, furniture store idea rooms or magazines like Architectural Digest if you need ideas.

3. DRESS THE FURNITURE

Buy a nice, textured throw blanket to drape over your couch, or on the foot of your bed so it looks pretty. It will make the rooms look cozy and inviting.

4. SPRUCE UP THE ENTRANCE

Pay attention to curb appeal. Clean up your yard. Get a new front door mat. Clean your front porch including your door. First impressions matter! Consider purchasing new address numbers that pop. Also if you live inside a condo or building you can add a plant outside your door to set it apart from the other units. A nice tasteful wreath that’s seasonally appropriate with simple greenery from your local nursery can make a dated front door look more upscale.

5. NEW LAYOUT

Rearrange your furniture to create more conversational seating. For example; don’t face all the chairs and couches just pointing directly at the TV. Arrange them to face one another instead. Again check social media and magazines for ideas. Clean dirty furniture and remove really large or bulky pieces if possible.

6. LIGHTEN UP

Think “Light and Bright”. Even if you LOVE bold jewel tones, not everyone does and it can be distracting and even off-putting to prospective buyers. While it might not be your style, paint dark walls a light neutral shade. Open up all your drapes and turn on your lights. The lighter and brighter a house is, the larger the rooms will appear. (Are you noticing a theme here?:))

7. PLAY TO THE HOUSE’S STRENGTHS

Play up your homes best features. Because we have pets, we made the decision to have our home’s wood floors sanded and polished. That made a huge difference and really got prospective buyers attention! If something like that isn’t in the budget then a really good cleaning and polish can make the floors look new.

8. TOTAL TRANSPARENCY

Make sure all the windows are sparkling clean, inside and out. You can buy a special glass cleaner that attaches to your water hose to spray any high windows you can’t reach for the outside of the windows. This is a great trick if hiring professional window cleaner is cost-prohibitive. The special glass cleaner dries streak-free and lets a lot of light shine through.

9. CLEAN THE SLATE

Take all appliances off your kitchen counters. For the Open House if you won’t be there for the weekend consider even removing your coffee pot. Not everyone drinks coffee and even if they did they may find a different spot more functional, so they don’t need to see how you placed yours.

10. BRING IN HOUSEPLANTS

Decorate with a few tidy and tasteful plants and fresh flowers and if possible air out your house prior to each showing. Open a window (even during winter) for just a little while to clear the space of any stuffy smells.