When preparing to sell our home, one of the questions we need to ask ourselves is whether staging will increase the likelihood of success – and almost always the answer is “yes”.
Potential buyers need to be able to visualise themselves in your home, and this is where staging comes in handy by de-personalizing and neutralising spaces.
There are plenty of companies out there that do an incredible job of staging homes, or if you’re up for the challenge you can do it yourself!
Firstly, you need to know your target market (and this is where having an educated, experienced agent comes in handy). If you are selling a 5 bedroom extravagant home, you’ll want to present it to a different audience than a single bedroom apartment. One is likely to be family oriented, while the other is likely to appeal more to professionals. If you are selling your small beachfront batch, you’re unlikely to choose black and chrome furniture and details, because they might look a little odd and out of place – by the same token, you probably wouldn’t mount an animal head in a property unless you have a very specific target market.
If you plan to hire a staging company to stage your home:
- Research the company’s work; look online at their website, social media and portfolios, they are a great indicator of their style and themes from the past.
- Ask family, friends, agents and acquaintances for recommendations – if they’ve worked with efficient, well-priced stagers in the past that are great at what they do, you’ll want to look into them.
- Ask them to come and have a look at your home – gauge their vision for your home and see if it aligns with what you’re looking for. You need to be able to trust them to present your most valuable asset effectively.
- Don’t feel obligated to use the first staging company that you encounter – feel free to shop around and find one that suits your style.
- Make sure you ask about the length of their campaigns – 4 weeks, 6 weeks, 8 weeks – and ask about any costs if you need to lengthen (or shorten) the staging period.
If you plan to do the staging yourself:
- Staging your own space, on your own, can be overwhelming to start with, so take time to declutter first. There are some easy tips and tricks for decluttering here.
- Research looks online; head over to Pinterest and create a board for your staging ideas. Find inspiration in what others have done, and look for key features that suit your home.
- Write a list! Don’t go through the shop and just choose what you like the look of. Trust me, you’ll get home and realise nothing matches anything that you already have, and the colour scheme will have gone out the window. You’ll end up ready to start your own staging company with the variety of styles you end up with, if you aren’t careful here.
- Choose a colour scheme; stick with neutrals as best you can, and light colours will help to keep a room spacious and welcoming.
- Don’t forget to include plants in your staging (real or fake, it doesn’t matter), they bring life to a room and give a feeling of homeliness.
- Use cushions, and throws to add depth to bedrooms, and living spaces (including outdoor living areas) but remember to stick to your colour scheme.
- Make sure you have more pillows than you need and more blankets than you know what to do with, for each bed. For some reason, this indicates comfort to us when we’re looking at them.
- Remember that lighting makes a massive difference to the presentation of a home – utilise natural lighting, lamps and change lightbulbs where you can.
I understand that staging can seem like a big expense when it comes to selling your home, but keep in mind that it is an investment in your investment.