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Set the Stage for Spring Spring is just around the corner, which means now is the perfect time to start thinking about how to make your clients’ homes look their best for potential buyers. Good staging can make a world of difference—and the pros are here to help.
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f you’re a little short on time, says Vivian Gilbert, Principal at Home Staging by Vivian, do your best to create as much space as possible without emptying the room entirely.
“If there are extra side tables with knick-knacks or chairs, you’ll want to remove those,” she says. “But leave something to give buyers a sense of how big the room is.” “Most buyers don’t have a visual concept of size,” she says, so giving them some cues with a few furniture pieces will help them envision the layout. Monica Murphy, Owner of Preferred Staging, agrees. “The first step in decluttering is to remove any furniture items that really aren’t needed in a space, especially small items like extra accent chairs or small accent tables. If these items cannot be purposefully used in another area of the house, then they need to be stored away,” she says. “The next decluttering step is to address surface areas in the house,” Monica says. “Start by removing those items that are personal, political, or religious. The last two on that list are self-explanatory, but the first can sometimes throw people off. ‘Personal items’ basically refers to anything with your name on it like diplomas, awards, and family pictures, or items that are of a very unique or personal nature.” “The goal is for the buyer to envision their family already living in the house, not for them to get to know the family who already lives there.”
Monica continues, “This is also the time to pack up your treasures, which I define as those things that are of high sentimental or financial value to the homeowner. That collection of beer steins in the basement or figurines in the living room are also things that should be either pared down or packed up completely.” Vivian notes, however, that doesn’t mean you should take all art off the walls. “Bare walls can seem sterile and give buyers the impression no one lives there,” she says. Plus, you can use dominant colors in art to create “flow” through color—a blue painting in the dining room can echo a blue pillow in the living room, blue glassware in the kitchen, and blue decorative soap in the bathroom. She also advises making sure the pathways through each room are clear. “You don’t want to put the back of a sofa facing the entrance,” she says. Monica agrees, adding that showcasing the back of furniture in a listing photo “acts as a visual stop sign and doesn’t allow people to see the entire room.” “If you have a bit more time, then you can go a bit further with the decluttering and not just focus on those areas that will make the best first impressions. You can start to take into account how people are going to move through and live in the space and the lifestyle that is being sold. You can also start to address some bigger projects, like a fresh coat of paint.” “Keep in mind that now is really not the time to start major renovation projects, but sometimes there are things that need to be updated,” Monica continues. “I see this often in bathrooms that have old and sometimes rusted light fixtures; an on-trend light fixture can breathe some new life into the space and replacing it is not an expensive or time-consuming project.” More time will also allow for things like the purchase of a few small items that will help the house to sell: “Whenever we’re working with an occupied
16 CAPITAL AREA REALTOR ® — Spring 2020
