The Do's And Don't's Of Home Staging

All images photographed by @rennaihoefer

If you’ve been following the LGD team for quite some time, you know a big part of what we do is home staging! Staging a home for sale is an important technique that gives prospective buyers the ability to see the function and layout of each room, and the opportunity to envision themselves living in the beautiful space. Staging is also proven to directly impacts your home’s sale price. Industry research has found that staged homes sell faster and at a higher price point than those that are unstaged. According to the National Association of Realtors, for every $100 invested in staging, the potential return is $400. We began staging homes in 2005 and we certainly concur that staging is very important to maximizing your profit. At LGD our staging client is generally real estate agents, builders and designers of newly built or renovated properties. We love providing the finishing touches to their project that allows them to be photographed and marketed to potential buyers. Although the homes LGD stages our vacant properties, we know that when you to sell yours it might not be… so we have put together a list of things to consider when staging your own home.

Here are some Do’s and Don’t’s of home staging!

THE DO’S

Update your front entry and curb appeal.

This is the first impression of your home to a buyer and a great first impressions is best! Keep your front yard clean and tidy, possibly update the porch light, add a new welcome mat and a potted plant. In AZ it gets pretty dusty and often times when cleaning we forget about the front door. Wipe it down front and back, free from dust and fingerprints.

Declutter.

This is a great opportunity to start going through your things before you move. Prepping to stage your home can also dual as prepping to move out of your home. Begin with one space or one cabinet, remove everything from that space and begin sorting the items between a “keep” pile and a “toss” pile. For more information on decluttering and organization, read our Organization 101 blog post with Ashley from OCDAZ. Buyers definitely open closets, and closets that are organized show that your home has plenty of storage. Even if everything from the closet just goes into a box to be stored in the garage!

Remove excess furniture.

The goal is to make the home feel light, open and airy giving buyers the ability to move around within the space. Removing excess furniture helps give each room a defined purpose and also allows buyers to envision their furniture fitting in it.

Remove personal touches.

When you’re prepping for your home to go on the market, begin to think of it as a product. Potential buyers need assistance envisioning the space as their own to make new memories in, and having your personal family photos on the wall or an adorable crayon drawing on the fridge unfortunately will not appeal to most buyers. Remove personal items, including fridge magnets, photos, pet bowls or toys, etc. This step is very important to the successful sale of a home!

Clean!

Enough said! A clean home is a no brainer. You can certainly take this on yourself before your home goes on the market, but it also may be easier to hire a cleaning service to do a deep clean. Put a lot of effort into ensuring bathrooms, the kitchen and appliances are clean and shiny, and free of any grime. If you have carpet or rugs, it would be great to steam clean those as well to rid of any odors or dirt. And remember to pick up before each showing!

Use plants to give the home life.

Adding greenery, even if it is faux greenery, to the staging of your home gives it life that makes everyone feel happy! Add full size, taller plants in entryways and corners of bedrooms, and smaller potted plants on shelves, the dining table and coffee table. Fresh flowers on the kitchen island is always a plus!

Use a neutral color palette.

Bright colors appeal to small percentage of buyers. The other larger percentage have a hard time seeing past the bright hues and lots of patterns. Stick with a neutral color palette for your walls, furniture and decor and you will appeal the larger pool of potential buyers.

Little additions go a long way.

Along with adding some greenery with fresh flowers or plants, investing just a little for new neutral linens helps a ton too! Each bathroom should have coordinating towels (white is almost ALWAYS the very best choice), and bed linens should be fresh and neutral in color (again, white is a good choice here too!). Investing in new throw pillows (Target is a great resource for inexpensive neutral ones) to update the living room sofa can quickly bring a room together.

THE DON'T’S

Take it personally.

When you hear feedback from your realtor that buyers have given, don’t take it personally! Consider this a business transaction and remember that your home is now the product being sold.

Do major renovations.

It is easy to remember that your bottom line is to make a profit on selling your home, so you will not want to any major unnecessary renovations that can bring your potential profits down significantly. Staging and painting can fix a lot of potential problem areas! :)

Purchase all new furniture.

First, use what you have! It is better to remove furniture than add furniture. You also do not have to stage every room in your home. The main living areas are most important. Spend your energy on the living room, dining room, primary bedroom, kitchen, and baths.

Miss an opportunity to use a paint touch up.

Paint can do magical things! Go around the home with a brush and small paint can and touch up any scuffs or marks on walls, trim and doors. Fresh coats of paint on the walls gives a fresh, new feel and you can utilize paint to give a dated fireplace an update. Just a reminder- when touching up paint MAKE SURE you are matching the sheen (speaking from experience here)!

Be afraid to ask for help.

Hiring help is the easiest way to learn all there is to know about staging your home. If you find you need an extra set of hands, our professional team is here for you! Our team offers listing consults for occupied homes, and stages vacant homes. Our expert design choices—from wall art to furniture layout to shelf styling—will have your home ready for a quick and profitable sale . Our home staging fee starts and $2500. We strive to create moments within the design of each space where your buyer can get excited as they imagine their future in the home.

For information on staging and Lexi Grace Design’s services, visit https://www.lexigracedesign.com/staging or feel free to fill out the contact form so we can learn a little bit more about your upcoming project!