Staging Your Home – Part II

Welcome to Staging, Part II. (For Part I, click here).

Today, we’ll discuss two additional aspects of Home Staging here: Furniture Placement, and Color. Remember, the purpose of staging is so buyers will visualize themselves living in your home. To do so, all personalized items will be removed, as discussed in Part I. Then, think about furniture placement and color:

Furniture Placement: Proper furniture arrangement highlights focal points and architectural features in a room. It will also create the illusion of more space in your home.

To start, use nice furniture for staging! Old, worn furniture will lead buyers to believe your house is old and shabby, too. Many buyers WILL judge a home by its contents.

Pay attention to a room’s focal points. What do you want buyers to notice when they enter a room? Is it the fireplace in your great room? the chandelier in your dining room? the view from the windows? the spaciousness of the room?

Once you decide what you’d like to highlight, focus attention toward it. For example, a large piece of artwork over the mantle will draw attention to the fireplace. Simple window treatments or none at all will allow buyers to see the wonderful view from your windows. In a dining room, emphasize the room’s size – you want buyers to picture their furniture fitting easily. Remove all but 4 chairs, leave ample walking space around the table, and remove extraneous furniture. Center the table under the chandelier.

Think about a room’s purpose, too, and take steps to let the buyer imagine using the room for that situation. A bedroom should be a restful place – perhaps your exercise equipment should go elsewhere! A craft room should be tidy, but illustrate a space where your buyer can picture themselves creating. A home office should follow the same rules as other rooms – declutter, depersonalize, and get the excess furniture out of there! Clear off the desktop and place a few well-thought-out items on it – computer, cups of pens, perhaps a notebook. If you have an inviting window view, make that a focal point.

What about overcrowded rooms? A typical staging trick is to remove all your furniture and put back 1/2 to 1/3 of it. Arrange furniture so it compliments the room, highlights the focal point, and makes it feel roomy.

I have empty rooms in my home. An empty room is just as bad as an overcrowded room. A sterile environment isn’t inviting, and buyers may have trouble determining the purpose of the room. A few pieces of furniture will go far to indicate a room’s purpose. A desk and chair for an office, a table and chairs for a dining area, a bed, bedside table and lamp for a bedroom. Pssst. A bedroom without a bed? Get a taller blow-up mattress and make it up like a bed.

Color Choices: There are volumes written about which colors to use in your home – especially when trying to sell it! Rule of thumb is that neutral colors should be used on the wall. Neutral colors are white, beige, grays, including taupe, and earth tones. Black is also neutral, but not recommended for wall colors.

The only place you should use exceedingly bright or dark colors are very sparingly as accessories … and maybe on the front door, if that suits the style of your neighborhood.

Selecting a monochromatic color scheme will help with the flow from room to room. You can paint each wall the same color and it will change depending on the lighting in that room. Or, you can also use a main color and different values of the same color to provide cohesiveness (think paint strips – several shades of the same color). Overall, 3-5 colors in the entire home is a good rule of thumb to follow.

This wraps up our two-part series about home staging. We hope you’ve found the information helpful as you prepare to sell your home. If it all seems a little bit overwhelming, The Seay Realty Group works with experienced stagers frequently and can recommend a company to you. If you decide to stage your home by yourself, we are happy to advise you, based on our vast experience in home sales.

Call the Seay Realty Group today for help selling your home! 214. 636.8485