If you’re following my blog you’ll know that we recently put our family home up for sale. When we decided to do this my first thought was “I need a stager”. Through my design studies I have come to appreciate that there are unique nuances to the different niche areas of design and staging is one of them. Stagers have the trained ability to walk through your home room by room and quickly provide a concrete list of items that need to be updated in order to present your home in the best possible light. Think about this, a stager is working on getting a new home ready for sale multiple times per week so they are acutely aware of what sells homes.
Once you arrange to meet with your stager for a consultation, you and the stager will walk through your house room by room and discuss the changes that need to be made. Try not to be nervous or offended by what the staging professional thinks you need to change. Remember they are just looking at your house from a potential buyers perspective. If you’ve lived in your home for a long time chances are high that you are not fully aware of what a young family wants to live in. The amount of feedback may seem overwhelming to capture in the moment but your staging professional will typically provide a full report very quickly following your consultation. I received mine within 24 hours and on a weekend!
Things you will typically need to do to sell your home:
clear out all clutter - go through your house room by room and sort items for garbage or donation. Get rid of anything that you don’t love. I know this is difficult for many people but it happens to be my favourite part. I love to declutter and organize!
paint - nothing makes a house feel brighter and cleaner than fresh paint. If your walls and trim are looking dull or dirty they need to be painted. Do you know that I re-paint the trim in my house on an annual basis? Yep, I just go around each room and slap on a new coat of bright white paint because I love how clean it looks when it’s done.
de-personalize - the staging professional will likely have told you what to remove to de-personalize your home. These are things like family photos, grooming supplies, toys, exercise equipment, etc. You want people to be able to envision themselves living there, and not feeling like it’s your home.
Once you have completed the steps above you may choose to have the staging company bring in furniture, art and accessories to showcase your house in it’s very best form. This is typically all done in a single day. Don’t worry if the rental pieces are not your style, they are only temporary. More often than not people are amazed at how good their house looks.
And finally, this is a really good time to reflect on what you want for your next home. If you want to settle in and love your new house for years to come, consider hiring a designer or decorator to help you plan your new space and purchase furnishings that will embody your style and personality.
