Have you ever walked into a house with tacky furniture, old wallpaper, and shaggy rugs?

Your first impression was probably that it was off-putting, or at the very least, outdated. Even if you weren’t actively critiquing the house, you’ve involuntarily made a subconscious opinion that the home is less desirable. As a home seller, the LAST thing you want to happen is for prospective buyers to focus on your eclectic furniture choices that distract them from appreciating your home’s best features. If your interior design choices are outdated, buyers might think other parts of your home are too!

Over the years, we’ve had to ensure that our clients remain competitive, and one of our biggest tips is, “Staging works!” In fact, even developers believe this so much that they spend over $200,000, on average, just on decorating a model home! 

So to be blunt, staging a home could literally make or break a sale! A professional interior designer can access your home’s specific layout and stage it with contemporary furniture pieces that invite people in without making too much of a statement. Good staging can show off the great parts of a home, hide the bad parts, make unique spaces usable, and create a mood that you want your buyers to feel. The goal here is to flatter the property but not be too obvious about it, like being dressed without drawing particular attention to what you’re wearing. 

Staging a home is an art, and we have developed a keen eye for what works and what doesn’t. Here are some of our little-known insider staging tips that help homes sell for more money!

  1. De-Personalize: One of the primary objectives of home staging is to help prospective buyers visualize the space as their own. The fastest way to accomplish this is to set as blank of a canvas as you can. You want the home to have style and charm, but it should be devoid of personal touches that suggest this home belongs to the seller, not the buyer.
  2. Curb Appeal Matters: Make sure your lawn, hedges, trees, and other plants are neatly pruned, and be sure to get rid of any weeds. Wash windows well, and consider adding flower boxes to brighten them up even more. If you can, power wash your home’s exterior—this can make it look almost freshly painted but with less effort and expense.
  3. Go Neutral: Bright colors on walls help people express their personality in their homes, but they can be a major turn-off for buyers. When you’re staging your home to sell, one of the very best things you can do is paint over any garish colors with neutrals, like gray, white, and taupe.
  4. Natural Light: Brighten up by letting as much light shine in the house as possible. Open the blinds on all of the windows, which in addition to letting in more light will also make rooms seem bigger.
  5. Freshen Up: A few potted plants can do wonders to make your home feel fresh and inviting. Another way to make your home seem fresh is to get rid of odors. Pets, kids, last night’s dinner, a damp bathroom, and many other conditions can make your home smell. Inexpensive tricks for ridding a home of odors and giving it an inviting aroma include baking cinnamon-coated apples or cookies in the oven (be careful not to burn them), or burning vanilla-scented candles.

If you ask any industry professional, they will say professional staging is paramount to selling a home. We have found that staging our homes equals 6.9% MORE MONEY versus non-staged homes and 50% LESS TIME on the market versus non-staged homes. When you go with Reynolds EmpowerHome Team, our complimentary stagers will turn your house into a Better Homes & Gardens magazine cover using your furniture and items! We think you’ll agree that the difference is stunning! Many of the sellers we work with know ahead of time that they want to sell, and want to get a head start on getting their home ready and find that meeting with our stager early on is extremely helpful! If you want more information on scheduling a staging consultation, give us a call at  202-516-7857!