Staging 101: Specific Changes to the Interior
Living Room, Dining Room and Family Room: When you view a newly constructed model home, you will notice that it is sparsely furnished. However, for a resale home and it is just full of our "stuff." You need to create space for buyers to mentally move into the room. This is accomplished by reducing clutter and minimizing the overall number of items. For example, remove all toys if you have children, remove calendars and anything of a personal nature. Do not leave mail out at any time, and remove all religious items and photos. Remember that It is important to keep the home as generic as possible to appeal to a wide variety of people.
Kitchen: The question is, what can you live without? The counters should be cleared off, leaving only a few items that you use on a daily basis. Small appliances, etc., should be kept out of sight to create space. The key is: if you haven’t used it within the last 6 weeks, store it. Specifically:
- Magnets, photos, children’s drawings, etc., should be removed from the surface of the refrigerator. Store any necessary items on the side of the refrigerator or in a cabinet.
- Keep the stovetop and oven clean. If the stove burner pans are old and stained, replace them. The exhaust fans, filters and hood should be thoroughly cleaned as well.
- Keep the kitchen floor clean at all times for showings.
- Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink - keep the sink clean and empty daily.
- The kitchen faucet should be working smoothly with no drips and kept cleaned.
- Everything should be cleared off the window ledge above the kitchen sink.
- All soaps, towels, scouring pads and cleaning supplies should be kept out of sight and under the sink.
- The garbage should be emptied regularly to keep the kitchen smelling fresh. Dog and cat dishes should be moved so they won’t interfere with buyers walking around the room.
We’ll go through the remainder of the home next time.
Additional Info
- Published in All Islands
