Staging Tips & Photos {I’m selling my house again!}

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If you subscribe to my newsletter, then you already know that I’m getting ready to move because Matt started a new job on the other side of Dallas. Today I’m showing some of our real estate listing photos and sharing some staging tips. Staging your home is different than decorating. Even if you live regularly in a clean and organized way, your home could be helped from staging. Of course, starting with a clean and organized home makes staging a lot easier. {It is hard to believe I went through selling a different house less than 2 years ago! You can see I’ve learned even more round 2.}

Here are the topics we’re going to cover:

1. Curb Appeal
2. Inviting Entry
3. Clean
4. Clear Surfaces
5. Remove Extra Furniture
6. Highlight Strengths
7. New Carpet
8. New Paint

Remember the photos and staging aren’t for a magazine spread or to show your friends your cute house, it is to give a potential buyer an idea of the space and the ability to pictures themselves in it.

*This post doesn’t include every room and every photo … there are too many photos for that!

1. Curb Appeal

The curb appeal is the first thing buyers see when they approach the house, which gives them their first “sense” of what to expect. One of the things we did was hire a lawn company to spruce up the front landscape and trees to make sure it looked very clean and well-maintained. It was still the beginning of March when pictures were taken, so the grass isn’t green and the tree doesn’t have leaves, which is why the realtor chose the “night shot” as the main image.

2. Inviting Entry

For similar reasons the curb appeal is so important, the entry is the first experience the buyer has entering the home. It should be extra clean and welcoming – like a breath of fresh air.

3. Clean

It should go without saying, but a buyer has a hard time looking past dust and dirt. To me, as I look at homes to buy, a dirty home screams: “This house has not been well-maintained!” I like my kids to have space for self-expression in their rooms, but my 5-year-old took it too far for house-selling with tons of art work taped to walls, doors, and furniture. He also wrote on everything. It was worth the extra-deep cleaning I gave the room. Even though it is impossible to keep a house perfectly cleaned, it the whole house needs to at least feel like it was very recently cleaned!

4. Clear Surfaces

While I always enjoy somewhat minimal decorating, I removed almost all extra decor when I staged my house. Absolutely NO knickknacks. And normally I keep a few things on my bathroom and kitchen counters, but for staging, I even removed hand soap.

5. Remove Extra Furniture

We emptied some extra furniture into a storage unit, like shelves from the office, worktops from my studio, and desks from our girls’ rooms. While some furniture can show the versatility and depth of a space, too much furniture can make a big room look smaller. It is about balance!

6. Highlight Strengths

As you stage each room for Real Estate photos and house showings, ask yourself “what are the strengths of this room?”  Whatever the answer, try to highlight it. Even though I have a serious love of rugs, our realtor suggested I remove the rug at the dining table to highlight the beautiful wood floors. I honestly struggled with removing it, but once it was removed, I understood how the wood floors were now the focus. In the bathroom we remodeled last year, I wanted to highlight the beautiful tile we added, so I keep the shower curtain open.

7. New Carpet

Another suggestion from the Real Estate Agent was to change the carpet. I figured a buyer would want to select their own, but she said people don’t actually like to deal with that while moving. This is another thing where we just took her advice without over thinking it. The new carpet really does show much better! I’m kind of wondering why I didn’t give myself new carpet while we lived there, but then again, it wouldn’t still be new if I had changed it out for myself.

8. New Paint

To prepare the house, we also hired a painter to come in and paint everything that hadn’t been painted since we moved in. This made such a big difference! My room looks so better with the new color and I think the ship-lap looks so clean and fresh with another coat of paint.

Now, I’d appreciate any good vibes you can send my way that the right buyer will buy this home and that it all will go smoothly.

From my home to yours,
Mary