December 1, 2024

12 Tips for Staging a Home

Min Read

I don’t usually write Real Estate related blogs, but the Todd Tramonte Real Estate Team just sold my home in McKinney, Texas within HOURS of listing it and I had to share the things I’ve learned in the process. Staging was vital to the sale!

Why hire a Home Stager? A Stager’s magic can bring out-of-the-sky solutions for space frustrations you’ve had for eons. These may be the reason you are selling your home in the first place. From a little tweaking of furniture positions to entire space swaps, the end results can cause you to change your mind and not sell after all! Imagine the sheer saving of time, money, sanity, migraines and unnecessary tons of work. Stagers are known to move furniture, accessories, and artwork, sometimes to entirely different rooms. Recently Stager Amy McBroon shared a story: She had a client who was homeschooling her children. She was selling her home to find a home with more classroom space. Amy took the entire homeschooling area and moved it to the opposite side of a large room bringing more purpose and functionality, opening up the space so much that the buyer decided to take her home off of the market!

According to Realtor.com, staged homes sell nearly 90% faster when compared to a property that is not staged.

How to Stage a House for Sale

If you want to give it a go yourself before hiring a Stager, try this checklist of 12 tips for successful staging:

Everything needs to look spacious. This may entail pushing back or removing one or more pieces of furniture entirely. For example, if you have a large leather sofa and 2 leather chairs, remove one of the chairs, put it in the garage while your house is being shown.
Remove things from small surfaces and leave them bare except for maybe one lamp or one to two small accessories.
Make sure all pass throughs are clear for a party of three or more to walk through without having to squeeze by.
Try to use only one or two focal pieces of art in each room and take down random smaller pieces. Follow up by patching obvious nail holes.
Make sure doorways are not covered or blocked by furniture and make sure one can easily access all doors with at least 3 square feet of entry room.
Clear off desk tops and leave bare accept for possibly an attractive pencil or pen holder, a single lamp and maybe a single open book. Pull back desk chairs at an angle to look inviting.
Put away all personal family photos and children’s artwork.
Beds should be the first thing featured in a bedroom against a wall facing the door. If you have a large amount of bedroom furniture such as dressers, large bedside tables, sitting area furniture, take out a couple of pieces to show off the size of the room. Make sure bedding is properly tucked in on the sides and foot of mattresses and arrange pillows neatly. Turn around the pillows with pillow cases so that the open sides don’t show.
Remove table leaves to reduce the size of breakfast or dining tables and reduce the number of dining chairs to a minimum. Put the rest in the garage. Set the dining room table with beautiful dishes and silverware. If you don’t have beautiful dishes; then a simple centerpiece is enough.
Use fresh greenery throughout the home and make sure your house plants look healthy. Brown or yellow leaves do not send good vibes! A single vase of fresh flowers goes a long way.
Neaten up pantries with containers. If you hire a home organizer for a reasonable fee, you will learn a lot and be better organized for your move and new home.
In your closets It might be necessary to temporarily store some of your clothing in a suitcase to make your closet look spacious. Push clothing to the side, leaving some empty rod space to make the closets look larger.

Image from the Porch’s article An Insiders Guide to Hiring a Home Stager

Prepare for House Showing

Clean clean clean and spray a fresh scent or light a candle temporarily before scheduled showings.
Double fold towels and hide the tags so that they look fluffy and neat.
Turn on ALL the lights including lamps, hanging pendants and chandeliers, and sconces.
Put away shampoos and body washes, eliminate hair and body products from sight.
Make sure bathroom vanities are cleared off and mirrors are clean.
Hide any signs of pets (food bowls, dog/cat beds, dog/cat toys and climbers).
Turn up the AC or turn up the heat so that the house feels just right to your prospects.
Pause washer and dryer cycles
If you can, leave on some soft music for the showings.
If it is winter and you have a gas fireplace, turn it on. I tend to live on the edge and prefer the value of ambiance over believing the very off-chance a fire could start during a showing! But if you light a candle, I would definitely blow that out before the showing.

It is hard to be objective on your own home. Even as a Designer with a beautiful home and eye for detail, it is hard to be objective on your own space. Amy’s minor tweeks with the things we already have made all the difference. You often don’t have to buy, rent, or borrow new furnishings. Repositioing, repurposing, and decluttering may be adequate enough to create the spacious, clean look to enhance showings. Professional Stagers usually have access to their own stock of furnishings and accessories to supplement or replace some of your pieces for an upgrade in style or appearance if needed. Whether you do it yourself, or hire a stager, your home will sell faster and for a higher price.

According to Realtor.com, staged homes sell nearly 90% faster when compared to a property that is not staged.

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