Home staging is important when you want to entice interested home buyers faster. Even with the Coronavirus global pandemic, virtual home tours have proved to be a catalyst for plenty of home sales.
As reported by the National Association of Realtors (N.A.R.), home staging had a significant impact on a home’s days-on-market (D.O.M.). Homes that were re-listed had shorter D.O.M.s compared to when they weren’t staged.
Home staging makes it easier for buyers to visualize your property as their future home. However, while staging a home can quickly get us carried away, you have to remember not to stage it according to your preferences. If a professional home stager is too costly for your budget, don’t worry. You can always prepare your house yourself and still get the same results as many professionally-staged houses. So without further adieu, here are some practical D.I.Y home staging activities you can do:
Organize Your Stuff
If organizing your home is not your thing, it’s time to make it one. Organizing takes out visual clutter for your buyers and allows you to create more space in your home. There are so many ways on how to go about organizing. If you need some guidance on how to manage and declutter your home, check this guide out.
If you don’t have the luxury of time to organize everything (especially if you have a large house), you can also focus on the three most important rooms: the kitchen, living room, and master’s bedroom. These are often the most used rooms in a house; hence, they get the most attention from buyers. According to N.A.R., staging the living room was very important for more than 45% of buyers, followed by the master bedroom (43%), then the kitchen (35%)
Repaint the Walls White
If you don’t have an aptitude for art and colors, go for white. White never fails — it’s classy, versatile, and gives people a refreshing feeling. Plus, white allows your buyers to visualize the designs they want without too many distractions. While white is often associated with contemporary styles, you can play around with different shades to achieve a certain feeling. For example, warmer whites make spaces feel cozier, so they can be applied to bedrooms.
In addition, white will complement any colored furniture you have, makes other colors pop, and brighten up your home as it reflects light a lot.
Depersonalize
Imagine yourself walking into a stranger’s home and seeing their family photos, children’s drawings on the wall, or fridge reminders of next week’s grocery, would you feel completely at home? Would you feel as if the house is already yours? If not, then your buyer might feel the same way too if they see your stuff.
Other personal stuff you can hide include:
- Fridge magnets
- Stickers
- Certificates and awards
- Personalized mugs
- Welcome home signs with your family name
- Pillowcases with your name
Do A Deep Clean
Nothing beats a thoroughly clean home. Even if there is no infestation, musty smells, or apparent signs of dust, always clean your home from top to bottom before staging. When you’ve got a big house, don’t panic, take it one room at a time. If you’re not a fan of to-do lists, this is when you’ll learn how they make cleaning more manageable and less stressful. For each room in your home, you can use this checklist:
- Wash all linens, curtains, and mattresses
- Deep clean carpets and rugs
- Dust off and reapply varnish/beeswax onto wooden furniture and window frames
- Take everything out from cabinets, shelves, and drawers and wipe the space clean
- Wipe all glass surfaces with glass cleaning solutions
- Mop the floor
- Wash/wipe every single item (e.g. decoratives, books, lamps, etc.)
Fluff Your Pillows
If you’re not aware of it yet, fluffed pillows have plenty of benefits. Visually, they can make a room look more alive and new. Within bedrooms, they help people feel more comfortable and sleep better. Flat pillows can give you a migraine and stiff neck, so even if you’re not yet staging your home, it would be best to practice fluffing your pillows before using them. Here are some ways to effectively fluff a pillow.
Add Real Indoor Plants
Never underestimate the power of plants — even those tiny little succulents that may seem to do nothing but sit pretty! While indoor house plants provide plenty of mental, physical, and emotional benefits for the residents, they can also charm first-time visitors instantly. From the home staging perspective, plants make spaces feel more inviting, cozy, and approachable in a discreet way. Plus, with the growing demand for curated house plants, your buyers will appreciate that you value nature’s power.
Add Fragrance to Every Room
Similar to lights, home fragrances help set the ambiance and mood. Different scents draw out different feelings, and some oils actually provide health benefits. If you want to add that “wow” factor to your home before entertaining a buyer, you might want to consider fragrances that actually help sell your home. Be careful, though — some people are allergic to strong scents. So, it would be best not to overdo your home fragrances.
If you need more expert help in selling your home fast, call us at HomeSold GA. We know Georgia by heart, and we can show your buyers exactly what they can get by buying your home in the Peach State.