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| {Entry} |
Last week I had the opportunity to stage the Cole's home (one of my neighbors.) They have a beautiful home in a gated community in South Carlsbad, California. They decided to put their home on the market and needed some help getting in ready to show. Above is a picture of their entry. I removed a bench that was to the right of the entry hall and removed a large palm and replaced it with a more size appropriate peace lily. On the entry table, I removed some larger candle sticks and replaced them with a living white orchid arrangement. By doing these small changes the Cole's entry features more space and freshness.
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| {Formal Living Room adjacent the Entry Hall} |
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| {Living room with dining room and staircase} |
There were a few minor changes needed in the living room. I switched locations of the lamp/end table and chair on the window wall, allowing for a better conversation area. This new arrangement helped the room look less lined with furniture from your initial view point as you entered the home. If your house has shutters it's important to have all the slats going in the same direction, especially for picture day. To complete the look, I added a fresh green house plant and staged a wine bottle & glasses to create a relaxing room to come to at the end of the day.
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| {Kitchen & Family Room} |
Above and below are pictures of the kitchen, family room and kitchen nook. These three rooms are open to each other and have a wonderful flow. To enhance the flow, I removed a satee to the left of the kitchen island and a book shelf on the far end of the island which allowed for more space in the walk ways. It's a pretty good rule of thumb to always have at least three feet of space for all walk ways.
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| {Family Room} |
When it comes to staging a kitchen I strongly suggest removing daily appliances from the counter tops. We all use them but they tend to make the kitchen counters look cluttered. When you are staging a home you want to show off as much space as possible...so my rule is to keep them concealed while your house is on the market. In addition, I removed a large palm tree in the right corner of the family room by the fireplace and replaced it with a more size appropriate house plant. An extra fluff of the pillows and removal of some additional accessories opened up the space and completed our look.
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| {Kitchen} |
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| {Kitchen Nook} |
As we move upstairs, you come upon the landing where all the rooms enter off. The landing has a built in desk, game table and built in linen storage. This part of the home is used quite a lot but needs to look fresh and inviting to a potential buyer. I removed clutter from the desk and an additional desk chair. The corner lamp and the house plant was added to brighten and freshen up the space. I removed many family photo frames and kept a few.
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| {Upstairs Landing} |
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| {Landing view into the Bonus Room} |
As we enter the bonus room, I'd like to make a special mention about lighting. Buyers ALWAYS want a light and bright home and the easiest way to do that is to turn the lights on. Another suggestion is to leave all the doors open in your house. A house feels more inviting when all the doors are open and a potential buyer isn't wondering what's behind door number # 3.
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| {Upstairs Bonus Room, Craft Room and Class Room} |
The homeowners recently renovated their bonus room to fit their homeschooling needs. They did a very smart thing by adding lots of custom built in storage on the wall shown above and the adjacent wall where the television, book shelves and additional storage is located. Potential buyers love storage and will see the value in this type of home improvement. Off the bonus room is a tranquil outdoor sitting area. In this space, I removed a chair and added some foliage.
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| {Outdoor Living Space} |
The next room I staged was the Cole's Master bedroom. I LOVE hotel style bed linens because they make you feel like you are on vacation. I achieved this look by layering the bed with a white coverlet and folding back their current duvet. When dressing the bed it's important to adjust the bed skirt and make sure it's laying correctly. Another thing we did was add some house plants to freshen up the room. Some additional de-cluttering and rearranging accent furniture aided in giving this room the feel of a tranquil escape.
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| {Master Bedroom} |
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| {Master Bathroom} |
When staging a home it's important to make the bedrooms feel as large as possible and the best way to do this is to remove unnecessary furniture and accent pieces. In the Cole's son's room I removed the toddler bed in the corner of the room which opened up the space. I also made sure all the lampshades are facing front and centered. In the baby's room below, I removed the children's play kitchen and play table and a couple accent tables. These items are practical items but will make the room appear smaller when you are showing your home, therefore it is best to remove them.
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| {Son's Room} |
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| {Baby's Room} |
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| {Daughter's Room} |
Lastly, don't forget to stage outdoor living spaces. We did that here by creating a cozy sitting area by the outdoor fireplace. Make sure all furniture is equally spaced and positioned and that all pillows are fluffed and going in the right direction.
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| {Outdoor Fireplace} |
I hope these tips will help you stage your home to sell. Good luck Cole family!
