5 Key Tips for Staging a House to Sell

I am sharing 5 of my best tips for staging a house for sale! These tips will help you get your home ready to be shown!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of CORT for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.

Home staging is actually one of my favourite things to do. I love taking on the challenge of a blank, dated, or cluttered space and giving it a whole new fresh, inviting, and welcoming feel with a few simple style updates. We recently touched up and staged an investment property that we purchased a few years back and put it on the market. I’ve had the opportunity to stage a few houses for sale over the past few years, and I wish it was something that I could do even more often! It’s such a fun and satisfying process. If you’re looking to stage your own home, or a blank property, for sale there are some simple tips you can follow to help it show to it’s best advantage and sell more quickly. 5 Key Tips For Staging A House To Sell poster.

Tips for Staging a Home for Sale

Up the Curb Appeal

You only have once chance to create a good first impression, and upping the curb appeal on your property is key! Depending on the type of property you are selling, this might mean cleaning up the yard and updating the landscaping. Add a planter full of seasonal pretty blooms, and make sure the porch or entry is clean and free of clutter. Repair any obvious signs of damage or wear so that your home looks well maintained. Consider brightening up the entry with a fresh coat of paint on the door, a clean and welcoming door mat, and a fresh seasonal wreath. Extend the fresh, well-maintained feel of your home by making sure the first impression in the entry hall is equally inviting. Think of form and function in this space, add hooks and a small seat or table to give the buyers the impression that your entry way, however small it may be, is a functional and efficient space. An entryway with a small stool and a basket and throw blanket on a hook.

Clean & Freshen Up

Next, clean your property head to toe. Scrub the floors, walls, trim work, and even the ceilings if they are dirty or stained. Don’t forget inside cupboards and closets! Once it’s totally clean, assess the state of the paint. If it hasn’t been painted in more then two years, it may need a fresh coat of paint on the walls and/or the trim work. If you are repainting, stick to neutral colours that will allow potential buyers to see past the decor and picture themselves living in your home. It’s amazing how much “newer” a home can feel after a good cleaning and fresh coat of paint. Don’t ignore those baseboards and door frames! The condition they’re in stands out more then you think.

A small sitting room with a white couch and wood floors.Style it for Lifestyle

Make sure your furnishings and decor are clean, appealing, and inviting. Old, rough furnishings and accessories can give buyers the impression that your home is dated and requires renovations (more time and money!). If you don’t have furniture to stage and style with, CORT is a great option for on-demand furniture to help you create a fresh lifestyle feel when staging your home to sell. It’s also a great option if you are staging a home that you don’t live in, like we did with our rental home staging. CORT has everything from furniture to accessories to home decor touches. They also have some great home staging articles on the CORT Blog, such as How to Make Your Home Ready to Sell.

Make Simple Updates

Consider updating lighting, window treatments, and possibly even the flooring if it’s dated or worn and in bad condition. If your kitchen or bathroom is dated freshen it up with paint and new cabinet hardware. When buyers see things that are old and in rough condition, it equates to dollar signs (and WORK!) in their head. And sometimes all these little things can add up to be “too much work” in their mind, even though they are all just simple, minor fixes on their own.

There is a mostly white kitchen with a blue rug in front of the sink and flowers on the counter.

Clear the Clutter & Depersonalize

You want potential buyers to be able to see themselves loving life in your home, so you want to remove any personal items that may interfere with their ability to envision that. Personal photographs, clutter on the fridge, and overstuffed shelves can give the impression that your home is too small or lacks storage space. You may even wish to pack up some of your belongings ahead of the move to create free space in your closets. Do a big PURGE now, before moving, and simple keep essential items while packing away and storing things you won’t need until after you move. There is a small console table in the hallway with a round mirror above it.

Have you ever staged a house to sell? What were your best tips?

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9 Comments

  1. The front door needs to look new and fresh, a fresh coat of paint, a good cleaning may be all it really needs but it amazes me, how many people forget their front doors. As a Realtor clients are standing at the front door area while we are getting the key from the key box. Having a wreath, a fresh door mat and flowers can make an amazing first impression. It is said just like when you meet a person the the first 5 seconds is critical. So never ever neglect the entrance to the home.

  2. Thank you for every bit of detail. We’re busy in setting our house for selling, and has started to box some goods. Unbelievable to see how the removal of cluttering can lighten up a room!
    Thank you

  3. Best tip I ever found. Take out those area rugs in small areas such as a small bath. People will always look down. They can then easily judge the size of the room by the size of that small rug

  4. Love the suggestions! As a Realtor that lightly staged my listings, I have realized how much simple staging helps sell good houses.
    Curb appeal (silk or fresh flowers near the front door, new attractive door mat, cleaning) really draws people in.
    Just enough seating to suggest how a space can be used (you can cover an old chair with a new attractive sheet)….
    Air mattresses with clean neutral color linen to show how much space there is in the master bedroom….
    Thank you for all the great information!

  5. I wanted to thank you for this advice for staging a home. I’m glad you mentioned that you should try to have small updates, like updating the lighting or bathroom. It sounds important to really look through your house to figure out what would run better if it was updated.

  6. Clearing the clutters is definitely important to make your house look spacious and organized. Great blog by the way and thanks for sharing.

  7. Hello,
    Indeed great tips for selling house. Also I am looking for this type tips & info and got it!! Thank you very much.

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