The Art of Great Staging
After a home is decluttered—which is one of the jobs of a Move Manager—the stager is ready to start.Staging is a true art and an important facet of selling a home. Have you ever compared photos of the same room, with one staged and the other “lived in”? Which room are you drawn to?A stager is creating a fantasy—a fantasy home experience that aims to attract a buyer.How to stage in a way that wows a buyer? Here are a few artsy tips:
- The pantry—didn’t think I’d start here, did you? It needs to be cleaned-cleaned-cleaned and everything needs to be organized as if it were being “presented.” Don’t stuff any pasta boxes in the back. Line up items in pretty groups as if they were being photographed in Super Kitchen Magazine. Same goes for the refrigerator, both in and out. (The art of staging a home doesn’t include children’s artwork—save Junior’s for your next home.)
- Think/decorate in terms of “threes.” When arranging, choose three items of three different heights and place them in a triangle. For instance, a table lamp, a plant, a stack of marble coasters.
- All personal bathroom items—toothbrushes, used soaps—needs to be removed. Stage with new, fluffy white towels and soaps wrapped in paper, flowers (always flowers, everywhere!) and a brand-new shower curtain, with another fluffy white towel hanging over the side of the tub with a brand new loofah on top. All bathrooms should exude cleanliness and freshness.
- “Suggestive selling” is a great tool. As in the bathrooms, create “home-scapes” that invite a buyer in—place a family board game on the breakfast bar near a triangle of cocoa mugs; set out glassware and tableware and placemats on the little table on the side porch, crowned with a vase of fresh flowers. Think magazine photo shoot and you’re thinking in the right direction. Show them the possibilities.
- The master bedroom—go the distance and set up champagne with glasses and invest in a new bed set. The “new” quality of a bed set, rather than the older quality of a lived-in one, will not be missed on a buyer who is looking to fit himself in to your home.
- Lastly, got your home office brewing in the dining room? Each room should be used for its intended purpose, when a home is being shown.
Good luck! If you have any questions about working with a Move Manager and Organizer, give me a call at (617) 332-7500 or email me here: pat@sortitoutboston.com.