Home Staging: Some Quick and Easy Tips

As an interior decorator, helping a home owner stage a home can be an excellent way to widen your opportunities for work gigs. Home staging is the art of preparing the house for the viewing of prospective buyers. This requires an eye towards what attracts homebuyers and what factors could help cinch the deal.

Home sellers may feel reluctant about spending “extra” on home staging, thinking that this is just an optional step towards closing the deal. However, experience shows that home staging can actually help push the homebuyer to choose a certain home. In fact, an effectively staged home can even demand a higher price – with prospective buyers vying against each other and starting a bidding war.

Now, you can market yourself as an effective home stager and provide a much-needed service for home sellers. Here are a few things you can keep you started:

• Increase the curb appeal. Win prospective buyers from the get-go. Check that the lawn is freshly mowed, the walkways and driveways are free of cracks and there are flowers in bloom. Add some potted flowers and plants, especially near the entrance and beside the doors. Put on a gorgeous welcome mat at the door.
• Fix or replacing everything that needs fixing or replacing. This indicates that the house is well maintained. Get rid of that loose doorknob, oil down the squeaky hinges on the doors and replace busted out lights. The same goes for cracks and chipped areas in the walls. The furniture may also need replacing. Your clients don’t need to spend an arm and a leg for classy, high-end furniture– you can work with furniture rental companies.
• Give the walls and floors a face lift. A fresh coat of paint can do a lot of wonders to change the ambiance of the home. However, when choosing colors, make sure that you choose neutral colors. Avoid colors that are too “loud” or bright. Rather, choose colors that appeal to a broad range of potential buyers. Remove worn out carpeting and revitalize the hardwood floors by refinishing them. If you don’t plan to remove the carpeting, get rid of major stains.
• Make the home look and smell clean. Remember, people who are really interested in the house will give it more than a cursory glance. They will look inside cabinets, underneath sinks and tabletops. They will pore over the different surfaces in the house. So, be sure that everything is dust, grime and smudge-free. Also, the place should smell clean. A mysterious and not-so-pleasant odor can be a no-no.
• Show off the space. Effective home staging should highlight the wealth of space the home offers. The prospective homebuyer will need a visual representation. Get rid of the vanity in the bathroom; replace it with pedestal sinks to show the square footage of the bathroom. Hang framed mirrors in selected areas such as the foyer and the living room, in an effort to give the feeling of spaciousness. When painting the walls, use the same painting for small spaces. For instance, if the home has a small living and dining room, create a feeling of seamlessness by painting the rooms the same color so that the rooms feel like a single, large space.
• Add new life to the bathroom. Dated and grimy bathrooms can be a major turn-off. Even when the new owner may eventually decide to have new tiles installed, it is still important to show a clean bathroom. You can start by getting rid of mold and painting the tiles.
• Add color with artwork. Photographs and paintings can contribute to the overall visual impact of the home. There are a lot of inexpensive pieces available. When these pieces are placed on well-selected frames, these can imbibe new energy and atmosphere to the room. However, make sure that the frame complements the artwork. For instance, a photograph of the city skyline will look weird in an antique picture frame but will look perfect with a simple white picture frame.
• Keep the personal collection out. Encourage the sellers to pack their personal things such as trophies, personal portraits in oval wood picture frames, figurines and other knickknacks. Make the space a depersonalized one so that a potential buyer can start seeing the space as something that they can make his or her own.