Staging your home can make a big difference when putting it on the market and even help you sell faster. If you’re ready to sell your home, here are some expert tips for staging a house on a budget.
Declutter First
Let’s start at the beginning: decluttering your home. Having too much stuff in your home can be overwhelming to buyers. And truth be told, no one wants to see piles of laundry in the laundry room and 11 bottles of shampoo in the bathroom.
To declutter your home for staging, go through your items and see if there’s anything you can sell or donate. Items you don’t want to part with but are causing clutter can go into a storage unit for the time being. If you haven’t thinned out your wardrobe recently, this can be a great time to do it, as some buyers will want to take a peek inside your closet.
Decluttering your home may seem overwhelming, but you can use a number of methods to make the process go more smoothly. And, as a bonus, decluttering will make it easier for you to get packed and moved when your home sells!
Remove Personal Items
One of the big things about staging a home is showcasing the property’s potential to buyers. To keep potential buyers focused on your home, it’s best to remove any personal items lying around. This includes family photos, knick-knacks, or memorabilia. By removing these items, you’re helping buyers to visualize themselves already living in your home, rather than walking through someone else’s home.
When removing these items, don’t try and shove them in cabinets or drawers to get them out of the way. Store your personal items in a storage unit with your other decluttered belongings, and they’ll stay safe, secure, and out of the way until the home sells.
Stage the Most Important Rooms
If you’re on a budget, there’s no need to stage every room in your house. According to the National Association of Realtors, the most common rooms that people stage are the living room, kitchen, master bedroom, and dining room. That’s because these will have the greatest influence on a buyer’s decision-making process. So when staging a home yourself, focus on these big four rooms.
For these rooms, make sure the wall color is in a neutral hue, such as soft white, velvety beige, or warm gray. Add some little details with minimalist artwork, plants or fresh flowers, a bowl of fruit, or other little decorations to give the space a little “oomph.” Of course, if you have other rooms, they shouldn’t be totally neglected. Just make sure the bathroom, guest bedroom, and home office are tidy and clean.
Try Floating Furniture
Don’t go broke staging your house with completely new furniture! With a little finessing and creativity, you can elevate your existing pieces with strategic placement. Floating your furniture, or positioning it away from the walls, is an easy way to make the space bigger and creates natural focus points. This technique can help create an illusion of space by giving the walls room to breathe and also help to divide big rooms that have several purposes (for example, a living room and dining room with no partition between them).
Spend Time Out of the House
If you’re staging your home while living in it, a challenge can be keeping it as clean as possible for showings without having to go about cleaning every day. If you’re able to, try and spend as much time out of your home during this period. The less time you spend in your house, the cleaner it will stay, so schedule outdoor activities, plan picnics at the park, and try new restaurants in town you’ve been meaning to go to.
Of course, staying out of the house all the time isn’t always feasible, so here are a few other tips to keep your house clean:
- Use placemats during dinner and avoid taking food to the couch and bedrooms.
- Keep windows open while cooking, and wipe down the stovetop and range hood regularly.
- Take shoes off immediately after entering the house.
- Keep cleaning products close at hand to wipe down surfaces immediately after a mess is made.
Don’t Forget Curb Appeal
You also want to make sure the outside of the house is just as good-looking as the inside! Pay close attention to any items that may be outside your home. If you have gardening supplies, sprinklers, and hoses lying around, pick them up and put them in your garage. If you have garbage cans that are visible from the street, take them around back so they aren’t seen by buyers. Clean up any outdoor furniture they may see and consider adding flower pots or a wreath to the front door. These may be little things, but if someone comes over to view the home and sees clutter, it can easily spoil that crucial first impression.
Need a place to store your personal belongings while you stage your home? Rent a storage unit from All Secure Storage!
Stage Your Home with the Help of All Secure Storage
Selling your home is stressful, but finding the storage space you need to successfully stage your home shouldn’t be. That’s why All Secure Storage is here to lend a hand! We have a variety of storage unit sizes available, so no matter how much you need to store, we have the space. We are the go-to storage provider for the Western Slopes. With a convenient location in Montrose, we’ve got your storage needs covered.
