Home Staging on a Budget
You don't need granite countertops and state-of-the-art appliances to sell your house. A few home-staging concepts put into practice can help your home sale get off the ground.
While home staging won't always sell a house overnight, inexpensive home-staging concepts that worked for others will work for you, too.
Follow theses tips from the home staging pros to get started on your own transformation:
While home staging won't always sell a house overnight, inexpensive home-staging concepts that worked for others will work for you, too.
Follow theses tips from the home staging pros to get started on your own transformation:
Watch these home staging videos for some helpful advice and tips for staging your home to Sell.
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Let the Home Staging Begin
With ideas in hand, it's time to get to work. When getting started, we always tell our clients not to spend money staging their homes unless it's really necessary. Instead, we recommends using what you already own or borrowing items from friends and family. Keep this in mind as you work through the four steps below.
1. Declutter
To get decluttering right, we suggests removing all items that are smaller than a breadbasket (and of course, personal photos, too). Be aware that clutter may also come from crowding larger items, too. Look for clutter on floors, walls and even in closets. You want to make homebuyers envious of your organized home -- and you can't do that if it's filled with clutter.
2. Arrange for space and flow
Once all the rooms are cleared out, focus on arranging what's left. "Remember, you're selling space, not furniture." To make rooms feel bigger, remember the "Rule of Three." "You only need three pieces of furniture to stage a room and three decorative items (of varying size) to stage a surface, such as a mantel or dresser." Apply the rule of three with flexibility. For example, in the living room, the rule of three applies separately to soft and hard furniture.
When you're done staging furniture and décor, there should be ample space to move into, out of and around furniture in each room. Also, the pieces you've selected should illustrate a purpose for each room (i.e. don't blend office furniture into your living room).
3. Add warmth and comfort
With the clutter gone and the space opened up, the next phase of staging turns the house into a home. We advise sellers to focus on making it warm, bright and clean. Most of the warmth in a room comes from painted walls and lighting, as well as fabrics such as window treatments. Most buyers go for walls that are neutral or painted in soft palettes.
Portable lighting such as floor or table lamps enhance both warmth and brightness. "Lighting is so important." "just putting a table lamp in a room immediately makes it feel cozier." Also, colored bulbs are an inexpensive tool to perk up dull, dark or small rooms. Use blue daylight bulbs to brighten and pink bulbs to warm and flatter.
4. Clean and freshen
The last major home staging element is cleaning. When you are showing your house, it can never be clean enough.
Home staging might feel like a lot of work, but the effort pays. You might be signing that contract in no time.
Did home staging help you sell your house? Got tips and advice to share? We want to hear from you! Add your comments in the box below.
With ideas in hand, it's time to get to work. When getting started, we always tell our clients not to spend money staging their homes unless it's really necessary. Instead, we recommends using what you already own or borrowing items from friends and family. Keep this in mind as you work through the four steps below.
1. Declutter
To get decluttering right, we suggests removing all items that are smaller than a breadbasket (and of course, personal photos, too). Be aware that clutter may also come from crowding larger items, too. Look for clutter on floors, walls and even in closets. You want to make homebuyers envious of your organized home -- and you can't do that if it's filled with clutter.
2. Arrange for space and flow
Once all the rooms are cleared out, focus on arranging what's left. "Remember, you're selling space, not furniture." To make rooms feel bigger, remember the "Rule of Three." "You only need three pieces of furniture to stage a room and three decorative items (of varying size) to stage a surface, such as a mantel or dresser." Apply the rule of three with flexibility. For example, in the living room, the rule of three applies separately to soft and hard furniture.
When you're done staging furniture and décor, there should be ample space to move into, out of and around furniture in each room. Also, the pieces you've selected should illustrate a purpose for each room (i.e. don't blend office furniture into your living room).
3. Add warmth and comfort
With the clutter gone and the space opened up, the next phase of staging turns the house into a home. We advise sellers to focus on making it warm, bright and clean. Most of the warmth in a room comes from painted walls and lighting, as well as fabrics such as window treatments. Most buyers go for walls that are neutral or painted in soft palettes.
Portable lighting such as floor or table lamps enhance both warmth and brightness. "Lighting is so important." "just putting a table lamp in a room immediately makes it feel cozier." Also, colored bulbs are an inexpensive tool to perk up dull, dark or small rooms. Use blue daylight bulbs to brighten and pink bulbs to warm and flatter.
4. Clean and freshen
The last major home staging element is cleaning. When you are showing your house, it can never be clean enough.
Home staging might feel like a lot of work, but the effort pays. You might be signing that contract in no time.
Did home staging help you sell your house? Got tips and advice to share? We want to hear from you! Add your comments in the box below.
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Want tips on what to do and where to begin? We've got creative ideas to guide you through the home staging process, whether you're doing it yourself or hiring a pro. Best of all, successful home staging doesn't have to cost a lot to help you get the biggest returns.
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