Interior decor and home staging are two different animals.
That's why you can disregard some of the most oft-heard decorating advice. Here are examples:
Ignore trends
Good homestaging includes some trends. If you imclude some accessories that are in style at the moment you will make your home look fresher.You don’t have to honor every passing fad, but something new and stylish gives rooms some polish.
Home buyers often tour model homes, which are decorated with trending colors, the newest furniture, and the latest home accessories. Look current.
Add pops of color
A staged room doesn’t want pops of color. A staged room wants to be seamless and layered. It wants to be interesting but not in-your-face, like a tastefully dressed but approachable woman at a meet and greet. You don't need neon orange pillows to make your home look stunning.
Follow your own style
"Buy what you love and it will all work together." It probably won’t. A well-designed room is no accident or collection of oddities. A room that buyers are attracted to takes some forethought, even if it was professionally decorated by an expert interior decorator. When it’s time to stage, the décor rules change.Use your favorite colors
"Look in your closet to determine what color palette is right for your home when it's for sale." Although you might determine your personal color preferences, that’s no guarantee you’ll find the right color scheme for staging a home.Instead, choose paint colors that harmonize with your existing fixtures like countertops and flooring.
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You can save all the fun of splashing color and pattern around once you sell your staged house and move to your next home. |
Paint fun colors
"Paint a closet a fun color. Or paint a ceiling a fun color." Don’t put stumbling blocks between a buyer and a purchase offer. Most people do not like to paint. They want to buy a home that’s move-in ready. They don't want to wait for a painting crew, don't want to live in a home being painted, don't want to pay painters.
Choose paint colors that have the widest appeal possible, colors that don’t call attention to themselves. Closets and ceilings should be white. Ignore what the frou-frou decorators say.
Cover walls with pattern
"Stencil designs on your wall." Stenciling an entire wall is fashionable with DIY decorators and home décor bloggers right now. But a wall of design, no matter how tasteful, is restrictive. What are the chances it will be appropriate for the new owner? Painting over a stenciled wall is more difficult than painting an ordinary wall because of the raised paint edges and uneven texture left by stenciling.Paint your walls with regular wall paint in a neutral color.
It's pretty. But paint is safer. Not every buyer will fall in love with the same wallpaper you love. |
Display what you love
"Don’t save your wedding gifts and heirloom possessions for special times. Display and use them." That's decorating advice, but not staging advice.Staging advice is that you should pack these sentimental and valuable household items away.
There is always the chance that something will be stolen from a home on the market. Why take a chance, when you can stage a home with ordinary art and accessories instead of precious belongings or expensive antiques?
Surprise with wallpaper
"Use wallpaper in unexpected places like a powder room, pantry or small foyer." Buyers do not like to see wallpaper. Chances are they’ll want to change it. Painting walls is faster, easier, cheaper, and smarter for homestaging than wallpapering.
Add hooks to baths
"Use robe hooks instead of towel bars to save money." Another veto. This tactic looks cheap, even if you are doing it to be stylish. Also, I question whether towels dry thoroughly when they hang from a hook.Use kitchen shelves
"Replace your upper kitchen cabinets with open shelving." I know it's in style and I can think of some instances where this approach would work: a minimalist kitchen, a small vacation home, or a loft apartment where the owners hardly ever prepare food.
Most buyers will want closed storage. Are you sure you want all your dishes on display? Do they look THAT nice? And do you want dust and cooking oils to settle on all your dinnerware and glassware?
Although all buyers might not be thinking ahead to these problems, some would, so why chance it?
Although all buyers might not be thinking ahead to these problems, some would, so why chance it?
Paint your trim dark
"Paint your trim a dark or interesting color." Spaces look bigger when edged in white, and dark trim closes spaces. Buyers want big. Give them clean, classic white trim. It will go with whatever wall colors new owners want in the future.
Painting trim is time-consuming. It looks crappy if you do a poor job, devaluing your property. It’s expensive if you hire painters to paint trim. Keep your trim white.
Create pools of soft light
"Choose lighting that will flatter yourself and guests." Forget this. Instead, choose lighting that will make your rooms look spacious and clean. This is no time to create a moody ambiance with subdued lighting.Make it easy for a Realtor to illuminate a room without circling the room to turn on lamps, even if it means you put timers on lamps.
Here's good staging tips
To get more advice on staging your own home, be sure to download my eBook, DIY Home Staging Tips to Sell Your Home Fast for Top Dollar. Why make mistakes, when you can do it right and make your home sale go faster and more profitably?Top Photo: BHG