Whether you are getting your home ready to buy or simply to rent for the summer season, it’s important to stage it so that it appeals to everyone. Homeowners sometimes struggle with this task as they’re so used to seeing the house the way it’s been for years so it’s helpful to bring in a fresh set of eyes to point out things you may have missed. At LKRE, we offer home staging services to our sellers which is instrumental in the sales process. Here are three tried and true tricks and tips to staging your home!
Bye, Bye Clutter
The most important thing you can do to prepare your home for sale is to get rid of clutter. Make a house rule that for every new item that comes in, an old one has to leave. One of the major contributors to a cluttered look is having too much furniture. When professional stagers descend on a home being prepped for market, they often whisk away as much as half the owner’s furnishings, and the house looks much bigger for it. You don’t have to whittle that drastically, but take a hard look at what you have and ask yourself what you can live without.
All about Lighting
One of the things that make staged homes look so warm and welcoming is great lighting. As it turns out, many of our homes are improperly lit. To remedy the problem, increase the wattage in your lamps and fixtures. Aim for a total of 100 watts for each 50 square feet. Don’t depend on just one or two fixtures per room, either. Make sure you have three types of lighting: ambient (general or overhead), task (pendant, under-cabinet or reading) and accent (table and wall). Also, when showing your home in person or having it photographed, be sure to open all blinds and shades to maximize the natural light factor!
The Fresh Effect
Staged homes are almost always graced with fresh flowers, but you can get a similar effect simply by raiding your yard. Budding magnolia clippings or unfurling fern fronds herald the arrival of spring, summer blooms add splashes of cheerful color, blazing fall foliage warms up your decor on chilly autumn days and holly branches heavy with berries look smashing in winter. Some of the signature LKRE fresh staging items are sunflowers and/or a bowl of vibrant, green Granny Smith apples. Bringing in some select pieces from the outdoors certainly ramps up the vitality of any home.
