Monica Breckenridge

Preparing for Staging!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our home stager will contact you to do an initial consultation on preparing your home for staging. After the consultation, the home stager will come back out and stage your home. They will re-organize your furniture, move accessories around, and bring in some of their own accessories. When they are done, your home will look like a model home! Here are some things you can do to prepare for this:

 

De-Clutter

De-cluttering is not always an easy task because your personal decor and belongings are personal to you and your lifestyle. It is also amazing what people collect over the years. We ask that you consider this: If you have not used it in the past year, you probably do not need it! If you do not need it, consider selling it, donating it or throwing it away! A helpful way of looking at this process is to consider it as a head start on the packing you will eventually have to do.

• Remove all books from bookcases.

• Pack up knick-knacks.

• Clear off everything from kitchen counters.

• Put essential items that are used daily in a small box that can be stored in a closet when not in use.

 

 

Depersonalize

Anyone staging a home knows the importance of getting rid of clutter, but that is just first step. Along with de-cluttering, you have to depersonalize your home. This means losing the 27 pictures of your baby and replacing them with one or two nicely framed photos. Your children’s artwork needs to come off the refrigerator and your knick-knack collection and athletic trophies need to be stored and put away. The goal is to make your home look generic and appeal to what 85 percent of the population will like.

 

Hire a professional cleaning crew to make the house sparkle!

Have them:

• Wash windows inside and out.

• Clean away cobwebs.

• Clean all baseboards.

• Dust everywhere and everything.

• Polish cabinets and furniture.

• Polish chrome faucets and mirrors.

• Clean out the refrigerator.

• Wax floors.

• Dust furniture, ceiling fan blades and light fixtures.

• Bleach dingy grout.

No matter how thoroughly you clean your house, things are overlooked. What is overlooked is what a potential buyer will notice. If something is not clean, it can leave the buyer wondering what else might not be cleaned or maintained. This is why we recommend bringing in a professional cleaning crew, if possible. You want your home to look new and fresh!

 

Adding final touches:

• Pressure wash the siding of your home and spray down driveways and sidewalks.

• Re-caulk tubs, showers and sinks.

• Replace worn rugs.

• Hang up fresh towels.

• Bath towels look great fastened with a ribbon and bow.

• Vacuum daily.

• Clean and air out musty smelling areas.

• Odors are a no-no!

 

Rent a Storage Unit

Almost every home shows better with less furniture. Remove furniture that blocks or hampers paths and walkways and put them in storage. Since your bookcases are now empty, store them too. Remove extra leaves from your dining room table to make the room appear larger. Leave just enough furniture in each room to show case the room’s purpose and to allow plenty of room to move around. You do not want buyers scratching their head wondering what the room is used for.