Maximize Your Selling Price With The Ultimate Guide to Home Staging
By: Hannah Warne
When you’re preparing to sell your home, there are a few important home staging tips you don’t want to skip out on. Whether you’re taking a critical look at the interior of your home or freshening up your exterior to capitalize on curb appeal, a few small changes can go a long way toward appealing to potential buyers.
Read on to discover our top tips that will give your home a fresh, ready-to-buy look and help you fetch the maximum selling price for your property.
At brick&batten, our seasoned team can help you tweak your home exterior to make it ready for the market. From incorporating a more neutral exterior color palette to adding modern finishes, we’ll help make your exterior as attractive to potential buyers as possible. Learn more about our virtual exterior design services.
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Deep clean every room
A clean house should be your top priority before every showing. When you first put your home on the market and before staging any of the rooms, start with a very thorough deep clean. And don’t just do the basics. Clean all of those often-neglected items like the baseboards, windows and window sills, and inside cabinets and closets.
Once that first deep clean has been completed, it makes it easier to keep up with the cleanliness of your whole home the entire time it’s on the market. This attention to detail won’t go unnoticed by particular buyers who are eager to see the space at its best.
Declutter & depersonalize
While family photos, trinkets from your travels, or cherished mementos are what make your space your space, they can also make it difficult for potential buyers to see themselves living in your home. Before your first showing or open house, pare down on these hyper-personal items and stow them away until the house has sold.
The same logic applies to your exterior — remove personalized lawn decor, flags, and any other items that are highly personalized. Be sure to always keep your lawn in tip-top shape while your home is on the market. Store toys, bikes, and lawn equipment neatly in the garage, and don’t leave them piled in the yard or driveway. You never know when a potential buyer may do a drive-by to scope out your home!
Streamline the kitchen
Many kitchen countertops are flooded with useful kitchen gadgets, appliances, and other items you use daily. And while practical, all of this together can make the space feel cluttered and chaotic. Take a good look at what is left out in your kitchen, and evaluate which items you truly use every day.
If you only turn on that KitchenAid mixer once in a while or if you rarely use your air fryer, tuck them away into a cabinet or closet for the duration of the showings. This not only makes the kitchen feel more spacious and highlights your counter space, but offers a cleaner, sleeker look, too.
Add extra lighting
One often-overlooked element of your exterior is lighting — porch lights, lamp posts, sconces, bistro lights, and even hanging pendants will instantly amp up the curb appeal. Think strategically about how changing or adding lighting can help make your home feel more cozy and inviting before potential buyers even step inside. Other exterior design elements, like a fire pit, can also add much-needed ambiance in the evening.
Once buyers enter your home, the lighting still plays a huge factor. Especially for those visiting your home on overcast days or in the evening, having ample lighting will make the space feel warm and welcoming. Even if your rooms have overhead lighting, add plentiful floor and table lamps throughout the space — try to incorporate light in at least two corners of the room for maximum illumination.
Rethink your paint colors — inside and out
Paint is a very personal choice; while some people love bold colors or dark color palettes, others prefer classic neutral hues. To make your home as widely appealing as possible, refreshing your paint with classics like creamy white, beige, or gray can be a smart move.
While this applies to the interior spaces like the living room and bedrooms, it also applies to the exterior. If your home is finished in a less traditional shade like sage green or pastels, it might be wise to consider a fresh coat of paint outside, too. If you go this route, opt for a classic and timeless color palette. Black and white shades like Greek Villa and Iron Ore by Sherwin Williams, or an earth-toned hue like Sherwin Williams’ Urbane Bronze, have widespread appeal.
We always recommend sampling and testing paint colors before committing. Factors such as natural lighting, undertones, and your property’s fixed elements will have a significant impact on how a color will appear on your exterior. Our friends at Samplize offer extra-large 9 x 14.75 inch peel-and-stick paint samples of the colors we love for exteriors. Order your ‘Real Paint, No Mess’ samples from Samplize here.
Refresh your exterior
In addition to a fresh coat of paint or a more neutral color palette, take a critical look at your exterior to evaluate what updates can be made. Simple changes, like modern railings, upgraded shutters, or new gutters can make all the difference.
While some of these elements can be pricier than others, take a look at the affordable changes you can make to your exterior that will pay dividends when you go to sell.
Clean up your landscaping
When you’re selling, curb appeal is the name of the game. Potential buyers’ first impression of your home can sway their opinion when they go to put in an offer — so you want to always put your best foot forward.
One of the easiest ways to do so is to update your landscaping. Whether you have a small yard or an expansive plot, be sure that you keep the grass and other plant life trimmed and orderly throughout the entire showing process. Keep walkways clear of debris and weeds, and powerwash any hardscaping like retaining walls, patios, or porches.
If you haven’t already, also consider creating a few new garden beds where you can add lush florals or lawn ornaments. Especially in the spring and summer months, this will give your home a lively, welcoming feel from the minute a buyer’s car pulls up.
Interior and exterior home staging tips to help you sell
When you’re prepping to sell your home, your to-do list is probably a mile long. And while taking the time to stage your home may feel daunting, it’s a task that will be rewarding in the long run. Tackle larger projects first — like refreshing your exterior or overhauling your landscaping — and move on to smaller, less time-intensive tasks to help streamline the process and make it feel that much easier.
Or, if you’re able, you can outsource some of the work to help clear your plate! From hiring professional cleaners to bringing in experts like brick&batten to amp up your curb appeal, these home staging tips will help you secure the best price for your property.
Ready to start your home or business exterior transformation? If selling your property is top of mind, take the first step by getting started on an exterior overhaul with the help of our talented team of experts. We’ll work with you to make your home feel fresh and new — and ready to sell. Start your project today!
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