You’re about to sell your house, so you will want to maximise the viewings and maximise the sale price. One of the simplest ways to do this is to stage a house for sale.
So, once you’ve booked your valuation, follow these tips for how to stage your house before the photos hit the particulars! Let’s show your home off at its best with our clever house staging tips.
Staging a house for sale
Before we dive into the best staging tips, let’s just quickly reassert the point of staging when selling a house. The point of staging is to make your home as attractive as possible to the widest number of buyers, ensuring they are keen to give you the best price. It should be cost-effective, and indeed a relatively low cost process. The point is that you invest a little to reap a lot. In fact, some of our staging tips cost nothing but a little time.
Staging isn’t simply redecorating – that would involve your personal style. Staging is about widening the appeal. What’s more, staging is about showing your home at its best. In England, where the house buying and selling process allows ample opportunities for buyers to drop their price before the deal is secure, it’s important that you help buyers look beyond any cosmetic issues.
So, without further ado, let’s move onto our tips to stage your house for sale.
Stanfords house staging tips
1. Declutter
Start by channelling your inner Marie Kondo and ditching the clutter. Decluttering is a great idea pre-move anyway as it’ll make your own relocation simpler and more streamlined.
Clutter is distracting. You want your viewer’s eyes to be on the home and imagining themselves there. Clutter also makes spaces look smaller. Hobby stuff, kids toys, and paperwork should be banished to storage or the bin if not needed! A top tip is to remove as many things as possible from kitchen worktops to give the illusion of more space.
2. Clean
A clean home spells out that you’ve cared for this property. If there’s ever a time for a huge spring clean, staging your house for sale is a great one. Sinks, showers, baths, windows and kitchen worktops should sparkle. Grime should be banished.
3. Depersonalise
Chances are you’ve invested love and energy into making this a home, not just a house. But now you need to hit the rewind button.
The odd family photo is ok if you must, but reduce the number right down and tuck away keepsakes ready for the move. Hide away bathroom lotions and potions, and generally reduce the amount of items that say anything about who lives here.
4. Make things fresh
It can’t be seen in a picture, but before your first viewers, you need to banish odours. You can always get baking or brewing coffee right before a viewing!
Show that your home is fresh by reducing any signs of pets. Spritz soft furnishings with diluted essential oils. Plug in an air purifier. Add in some plants for good measure. From now on, any household smokers should be doing so outdoors.
5. Make rooms clear
It’s really important that each room in the property has a clear purpose. Is it a bedroom or a study? Each room should have a purpose to help buyers to visualise how they can use the home.
6. Make the décor neutral
It’s tempting to go into redecorating with your usual style in mind. For the purpose of staging, aim to give the house a lick of paint in a neutral colour, without heady patterned and bold wallpapers or colours. This creates a blank canvas that allows the potential buyer to imprint their own design ideas. It also helps them feel less pressured – they won’t need to redecorate the minute they move in.
An often overlooked house staging tip here is to choose a warm neutral colour, not stark white. You want the property to feel welcoming, not cold!
Plus, when you are decorating, deal with those cracks. They are always worrying to buyers, even if they are just the plaster settling.
7. Feet to the floor
It’s easy to lose sight of a stain on the carpet here and scratches in the wood there. However, remember that your house viewers are coming fresh to your home. If your carpet tells the tale that you have to walk awkwardly around the furniture by the visible pathway, then it’s off-putting.
One of the best house staging tips is to replace the flooring. Hardwood will add value, but affordable low maintenance options are also a good investment for the overall improvement they make to your home. Focus predominantly on the main living areas.
8. Get the lighting right
Maximise natural light, widening curtain openings and keeping blinds open at their fullest. This gives the illusion of space. Brighter homes are more inviting.
9. Furniture sizing
We know that the practicalities of household living mean that you can end up with random furniture. You need to look at each room afresh and think does it look too crowded or too empty? It’s all about balance.
Make sure your furniture is in good nick and spotlessly clean.
10. Don’t forget the curb appeal
Staging isn’t just for the inside. Turn your attention to how the property looks from the outside too. Gardens should be neat and tidy, weeds and rubbish banished. The front door should look pristine and inviting. Pathways should be clean and clear. Creating an outdoor seating and eating area helps with staging too.
All of these house staging tips will help to make your home attractive to viewers and create a buzz around your home. You’ll secure a buyer more easily and get the best price possible. Keep on top of the tidiness and staging throughout the selling process, and prepare for viewings by adding in a few little extras like fresh flowers, plumped cushions, fluffy fresh towels and a blast of fresh air.
Our professional photographers will show your home at its best – let us help with selling your home.