6 THINGS YOU SHOULDN’T FORGET WHEN STAGING A HOUSE

Leave on all of the lights! When potential buyers are walking through your home, you want everything to be seamless and simple for them – and if they have to hunt for the light fixture in your hall closet or play around with the remote control for the fan in your room, it could be annoying (or even a turn-off!). Before each showing, walk through the house and turned on every single light – including the lamps. Not only does it help make sure no one needs to search for the switches, it makes the house feel bright and welcoming. While you’re at it, be sure to open all of the blinds too – natural light is always a good thing.

Do a quick bathroom clean before each showing. Stash some Clorox wipes and Mrs. Meyer’s Concentrated cleaner in the bathrooms and they were a life-saver when prepping for showings. Wipe down all of the surfaces (including the toilet) with a Clorox wipe and pour a tiny bit of the Mrs. Meyer’s into the toilet to ensure the bathroom smelled clean. Then, quickly sweep, and make sure the toilet lid is closed and the shower curtain is open before leaving.

Remove rugs from small rooms. This is particularly important if you have new or nice flooring! Leave the rug in the living room, but pull the small rugs out of the bedroom and it will immediately help the room feel a little more open – you can see more of the flooring, and it will feel a little bigger.

Make a good first impression. A stager told us that most buyers make a decision about a house within a mere fifteen seconds of walking through the door. That means that when they arrive you’ll want to make sure the first things they see make them feel like home. Make sure the house smells fresh (take out the trash regularly and employ the use of a few not-too-strong plug-in air fresheners), keep the entryway open and well-decorated, and do a walkthrough of the home as if you’ve never been there before. Sometimes it helps to look at it through a fresh lens and see if you notice anything you’ve been ignoring!

Ask yourself what message you’re sending. Buyers don’t have a lot of information about how you live in your home, so they’re going to make a lot of assumptions. An air purifier in your bedroom could send the message that there’s an air quality issue in the house (when, in reality, maybe you’re like us and just have it because you love the white noise). Full cabinets could indicate that there’s not enough storage. A dirty AC vent might mean the house isn’t well-maintained. Spend some time analyzing what you’ve got around your house and what kind of message it’s sending – you might be surprised how many potential turn-offs you’ve got laying around.

If you have time, fresh paint on the baseboards will make a WORLD of difference. This applies even if you aren’t moving! There’s just something about crisp, freshly-painted trim that screams “this house is clean,” and while your home can surely sell without it, it’s a huge bonus that will go a long way.