Home staging is an American concept that they have long used to sell properties. In a nutshell, it is about showing your home in its best light, suggesting the lifestyle the buyer could have if they bought your property. It sounds a good idea and simple enough, but spending too much and spending it on the areas can prove a costly mistake. So, what should you be doing to get the best possible price when you sell your home?
1 The kitchen
For many buyers, this is the room that can make or break a house viewing. A kitchen that looks dated and tired is not visually appealing.
The solution is not always to rip out and replace the kitchen, however. Replacing worktops, painting cupboards doors or replacing them, updating the tap and generally decluttering so the work surfaces are clear can make it look far more attractive than it currently is, without too much of an investment.
2 The dining room
Another important area. The dining room lost its popularity for a while with homeowners preferring the more socialable kitchen/diner set-up. However, in recent years its seen a bit of a come back and whilst a tired or dated dining room is not as off-putting as a dated kitchen, there are still some tricks to making it more appealing.
Declutter by getting rid of furniture if needed or putting it in storage so that buyers can see the dimensions of the room. Reclaimed wood furniture is very beautiful but furniture around every edge of the room closes it down.
With your reclaimed wood dining table, add a stunning centrepiece such as a floral display (great for colour and scent too!) and arrange the dining chairs so that the room’s accent is on the important bit – the dining table and the space the room offers.
3 The living room
Like the dining room, you need to place an accent on the dimensions of the space and what potential buyers could do with it if it were their own.
Thin out bookcases and the like so that the range of furniture in the room, from the wooden coffee table to the beautiful sideboard and display units, shine through.
When buyers can feel the space in the room by seeing the edges and the furniture that is in there, it will have the feeling of space and style that they are looking for.
4 The bedroom
Clever home staging is about drawing the buyer’s eye to the points you want them to notice.
Bedroom furniture that has the same style is key as it creates symmetry in the room, but you also want to balance it by clever placement. The large chest of drawers, for example, shouldn’t dominate the room as the reclaimed wood bedframe should draw the eye first – make sure you have the best bed linen for viewing day!
A rug can help draw the eye around the room and with key items such as a wooden blanket box helping to ‘hideaway’ blankets and spare linen, the room will have the feeling of organised space that people want.
5 The spare bedroom
And finally, don’t underplay the spare room by leaving it looking sparse. Make sure that buyers understand this space too. For example, a single bed with sideboard and a wardrobe and a small chest of drawers showcases the room perfectly.
With hallway rugs adding pops of colour and texture, the smallest and cheapest home staging tweaks will make a difference.
