Kitchen The kitchen is the heart of the home and the easiest transformation of them all. Buyers are either walking into a lived-in home, a vacant home, or a staged home. Lived-in homes are busy. That’s just life. Even when homeowners declutter, it’s sometimes difficult to know what the next steps of staging are. Decluttering and staging are quite different, but homeowners are hoping for the same result. The goal of kitchen staging is tomaximize counter space and feature the items that people are pur- chasing. With a cleared off countertop, you are showing the buyers how much space they will have to work with, and you are taking away the distractions and changing the buyer’s focus to the features of the room. Instead of “Oh! That’s the same toaster we have” you may get a “Wow! Look at that backsplash!” or “There is so much room here for cooking!” Shifting the buyer’s attention to areas of importance can be the dif- ference in a dead-end viewing and an offer on your house. Closets, Cupboards & Pantries When people are moving and viewing, there are many checkmarks they are trying to tick. It is important for you to showcase as many of those checkmarks as your home allows. One area that is often neglected (or filled) is closets. Many of us have our closets utilized to the max. When staging your home, it is important to showcase this space and show buyers the full potential of each inch of your home. Many buyers are moving because they have outgrown their current home. It is up to you to show them how easy it is to live in your current home. We all own too much so the closets tend to become a place to stash things since they have doors we can close. Your house preparation is a great time to purge and start packing up for the big move.
Minimize! There is no greater gift you can give your realtor than to minimize your belongings. Your realtor can only work with what you give them. First worry about preparing for the real estate photos, then the viewings. This can buy you some time from “hiding” items away for the photos to actually getting them organized or removed altogether. The more that buyers can picture themselves in a space the greater the chance that they will leave the viewing with a positive feeling. Positive feelings in real estate viewings speak volumes. If your home can be the one that the buyer compares all the others to, you’re off to a great start. Maximize Space This is the perfect follow up to the ‘Minimize’ section. One of the main reasons for minimizing your belongings is to maximize space. Buyers walk into a viewing and take snapshots of each space; especially if they are in the trenches going from viewing to viewing. They tend to stop eval- uating each room with the same level of preci- sion, and just have a glance. If they look in a room that is filled to the brim with furniture, there is a good chance that their first thought will be an overwhelming ‘there is no room in here.’ By minimizing furniture (within reason) and personal belongings, you’re helping buyers ease into their viewing.
Leave An Unfinished Space Unfinished It’s sometimes hard to not utilize all the space in your home. As I mentioned earlier, living in a home and selling it are two different worlds. If you have an unfinished or semi-finished room in your house, try to keep it unfinished for selling. By setting up a makeshift office, bedroom, or rec room in a space without drywall, paint, fixtures, etc, you’re telling buyers that the finished portion of the home – the portion they may be buying and moving into in a matter of weeks, is not suffi - cient and they too may not have enough finished space. This screams ‘upcoming project!’ to a potential buyer. To some this is welcoming, but to many it is a negative. Another reason to keep unfinished portions of the home empty is so buyers can see the space for what it is. Storage, an extra bedroom down the road, a cool hangout for the kids. The possibilities are endless! This half of the must-do list will surely get you well on your way to making that beautiful show home ready to hit the market. Remember, this is your chance to put in 100% effort and leave the rest to your realtor. Go all in for photos. Have nothing out of place. Once the photos are on MLS, they are in internet land forever. So, make it count! See you next month for more staging tips! Follow us on Instagram @trim_designnl
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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2021
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