Staging Your Home
General Tips
Clean your house, and be sure to eliminate any animal or cooking odours. If you do not have the time or energy to clean your house, hire a cleaning service to do it for you before you have your first Open House. It’s money well spent if it helps you relax and relieves the stress.
De-clutter as much as possible. Start packing up all your personal photos that are on the walls and on tables, nick knacks and collectables. You can keep a small collection of things that you love, however, keep only 3 things from each collection and group them together.
Put out fresh flowers in a main area or a bathroom, and keep the vase clean and the flowers looking fresh at all times.
Put a potted plant on the porch or new flowers in the garden for curb appeal.
Leave the lights on. It makes the house look brighter and more spacious.
Remove excess furniture from every room.
Remove all valuables each time you show your house.
Keep rooms tidy at all times so if there is a last minute showing you do not have to run around like mad to clean your house.
Have a box or bin that you can take Room 2 Room to declutter the excess stuff off kitchen counters, stairs and bedrooms that you can store in the basement while you are showing your house.
Remove personal items from the bathroom, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrush, and the bar of soap that is in the shower or bathtub.
Bathrooms and kitchens are important to most people, so make sure that they are in good shape, painted in neutral colours, clean and organized.
Type out a list of all the things you need to do before showing your home. When you get a call for a showing you can go through the list quickly and get the things done that matter the most. This will keep you organized and save you time.
Fix anything that needs to be fixed inside and outside of your home. If you do not do the repairs, it will give the buyers more leverage to offer you less for your home.
Present your home as “MOVE IN READY” by removing wallpaper and painting in neutral colours.
Create an attractive, warm and welcoming atmosphere. Sometimes emotions guide buyers instead of logic.
Clean out all of your closets to make them look roomier.
Start purging old toys, clothes, broken things, etc.
Hire a Professional Organizer to help you stage your home and pack it up. They can also unpack your belongings in your new home. It will make moving faster and less stressful for you.
Kitchen
Make sure the kitchen sparkles.
Bake cookies to leave out for your Open House guests, put on a fresh pot of coffee or put an apple pie in a preheated oven 15 minutes before the Open House is about to start. The smells will remind them of home or bring back an old familiar smell from their past.
Set the kitchen or dining room table for dinner with your best dishes.
Clean out the fridge.
Remove clutter from your kitchen counter tops.
Benefits of Hiring a Home Stager and a Professional Organizer
Your house usually sells faster.
You get some of your things packed up earlier – less to pack up later.
Home staging and organizing a home can make the house look bigger.
A freshly painted and clean house sells quicker than a house that hasn’t been neutralized and is dirty!
People can visualize themselves in your home more easily when it’s depersonalized.
Hiring someone to help you get you organized before the move will benefit you once you are in your new home. You will be better organized and know how to keep your house neat and tidy.
Contact us today to schedule your half-hour consultation!
FENG SHUI