Tips to Stage your home
.
Curb appeal. Is the lawn mowed? Are
the weeds pulled? Are the bushes trimmed? Is the entry neat, clean and
welcoming, with perhaps colorful pots of flowers by the front door? And don't
forget to hide your garbage cans.
Foyer/Entry. When you stand at
the front door, what do you see? Does any item of furniture or art stand out
like a sore thumb? Do you get a sense of space or blockage?
Walls, windows, floors. Have the windows
been washed? Are the window treatments minimal? Has the wallpaper been removed?
Are the walls painted in neutral colors? Has the wall-to-wall carpeting been
taken up to show the hardwood floors, punctuated perhaps by a couple of area
rugs? Is the carpet freshly cleaned?
The great room, family room,
living room. Have
you pulled the furniture away from the walls and floated it around a focal
point (such as a fireplace)? Does the furniture arrangement make the room seem
spacious or cramped? Does the furniture seem dated? Go with a classic sofa and
a couple of chairs, a few tables and lamps. And take half the books and
knickknacks from the bookshelves, and rearrange things to leave spaces. Think
of your visit to any model home subdivisions in the past! Does your home
represent this?
The dining room. Set the table, as
though you're expecting guests. (You are, and you hope they'll buy.)
The kitchen. Remove just about
everything from the counter tops. (You might leave the coffeepot and a bin of
utensils.) Remove any items that don’t belong in a kitchen. If you pay bills in
your kitchen buy a bill organizer to limit the amount of scattered paperwork. Take
the magnets and the notes off the refrigerator. Organize your pantry. Go
through your cabinets and cupboards, and straighten and remove things.
Potential buyers snoop through cabinets. You want them to see there's plenty of
space.
Closets. Are they so
precariously stuffed that things fall on your head when you open the door? You
know the drill: Clean them out so that only a limited number of coats and
clothes remain, letting buyers see how much room they'll have for their
clothes. Pack up your off season clothes into boxes for now. You are getting
ready to move
anyway.
The bedrooms. "Tired"
bedding is the bane of stagers. Consider buying some fluffy down duvets and
pillows with shams in neutral colors that you can throw over your faded
comforters and deflated pillows every morning. You want the bed to look like
one in an upscale hotel room.
The garage. Nothing shows a
home's age more than a garage floor. Clean off the grease stains and paint it.
Organize the gear you have in there. And a key question: Can you actually pull
your car(s) into the garage?
Toy control. Corral the toys in a
chest or cabinet in the family room. Or put them in the kids' bedrooms.
Organize them into bins or laundry baskets.
Pet control/odor control. Vacuum away pet hair
daily. Make sure glass is free of pet/kid prints and drool. Hide the kitty
litter box, and clean it daily. If you use air fresheners consider the same
scent throughout the house to remain uniform.
Park your point of view in storage. Remove all religious
symbols, political posters, artful nudes and indications of alternative
lifestyles.
For more information on staging
your home or to contact us for a free CMA and complimentary walk-through on
staging your home please contact;
THE JEN TEAM- Dani Miller - Solutions Real Estate - East Valley
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