When you’re selling your home, you want it to look good for the potential buyers who will walk through the door. Making it look its best and showing it off in the best light is what home staging is all about. An empty house isn’t very welcoming, so fixing it up to look like someone lives there might be just what it needs to sell in a time when people are not in a hurry to travel right now.
What is Home Staging?
Home staging is a method of decorating meant to highlight your home’s most impressive assets. It can be adding decorative pillows, rugs, rearranging furniture, and dressing up the home to make it look stunning to help buyers imagine themselves living there. If this is done correctly, you should have no problem selling your home.
The Benefits of Home Staging
One of the best things about home staging is that it gives prospective buyers an idea of what it would look like if they lived there. Oftentimes when you do an open house, the rooms are empty and cold and can be hard to envision how it looks with furniture in it. Staging makes it look lived in and comfy, the way it would look if they lived there (more or less). A single feature can be a selling point for a home if highlighted the right way.
If you are selling your home in the winter, a crackling fire in the fireplace and cups of hot cocoa encourage visitors to sit down and enjoy the ambiance. Walking into a house that is warm and inviting has a lot more selling potential than a house that is empty and your footsteps echo through it as you walk. It can feel like the difference between walking into your neighbor’s house or the abandoned house down the street.
Home Staging Tips
When it comes to making your home look lived in, here are a few home staging tips from the experts.
It should be clean, and smell good when a prospective buyer walks through. Is there such a thing as a house-selling smell? Yes, actually, there is. From trial and error, we have learned that prospective home buyers dislike citrus smells. Lemon, orange, and pine reminds them of cleaning supplies. They are not bad smells, but just not what draws people in.
A better choice is fresh-brewed coffee, cookies right out of the oven, or a roast baking in the oven or crockpot. These types of smells draw people in, rather than repel them. Smells that are familiar and remind people of their childhood are very effective.
- Start With the Outside First
The first impression your visitor sees is the view as they pull up in front of your house. The front and back yards should be kept mowed and trimmed. The sidewalks and walkways weeded and looking nice. Back yard or patio furniture gives a homey feel, as well as backyard play equipment.
- Stage the Rooms with the Most Potential
Not all rooms are considered equal when it comes to home staging. Focus your efforts on the rooms that have the biggest potential to influence a buyer’s decisions. Rooms that fit this focus include kitchens, bathrooms, family room or den, and the back patio. Kitchens can showcase the latest space-saving appliances, while bathrooms with a garden tub appeal to people who spend a lot of time working on their property.
- Power wash siding and walkways
- Wash front and side windows
- Make sure house numbers are easy-to-read
- Plant blooming flowers and fresh greenery
- Mow lawn, and reseed or add fresh sod as needed
- Repaint or stain the porch floor as needed
Style your dining room table. The dining room is often a blind spot in decorating the home. Between dinners, a large dining table can look bare and uninviting, so styling it up with visitors in mind can increase the appeal. An oversize arrangement can look too stiff and formal, so try lining up a series of smaller vessels down the center of the table instead.
Create the Illusion of a Home in the Country
If you live in a small town where life is relaxed, create the same feeling for your house. Put up a hammock or cage swing in the backyard, make a zen garden, or set up an outdoor fire pit with lounge chairs placed in a semicircle. It’s all about creating a fantasy that will draw in people who are looking for that feeling.
Why should you hire a design company?
People with an eye for creativity can offer a lot of ideas when it comes to home staging. Interior designers can spot areas that need improvement that could be deterring buyers from making an offer. Professional designers know what attracts buyers and how to arrange decorations and furnishings to catch their eye.
If you need home staging in Atlanta, GA, Out The Line Design has the expertise to provide you with the information and creativity for your home needs. We can help you with various home-related projects as well as home building or remodeling, architect drawings, interior design and space planning. Call us at (678) 392-7653 and book a free consultation service!
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