8 steps to stage a house

How to stage a house to sell in a day

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This is the general overview of how to stage a home. Check out this post if you’re looking for a detailed step-by-step list of how to stage your house to sell.

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Hide the ugly.

Let’s be honest. Life isn’t always magazine-worthy, but deep down in there, don’t we all dream of living a mess-free clutter-less life with zero maintenance issues? That ideal is part of what you are selling to potential buyers. “Living here is a breeze. Look, I don’t even have trash.” Yep, you read that right. I even hide the trash can. I also use decor items as an opportunity to hide the imperfections in our home that give it it’s…uhum…character.

Take my steps, for example. (Pardon the hazy photo.)

staging a house - hiding flaws

You think these plants are merely decorative? Think again. The bottom step needs replacing soon. The watering can takes the attention away from where a sliver of a step came off. And that stately boxwood at the top is cleverly (sort-of) concealing a hole we patched in the wall. Tread carefully here, though. You don’t want to draw attention to the flaws. Just pull some of the attention away from the mundane and make the potential buyers’ senses come alive.

If you’re ready for even more step by step help, check out this post for a  list of steps to stage your house to sell.

This girl has some really great home staging tips! Definitely keeping this for when we get ready to sell our house.

 

Ask a pro (or at least a friend).

If you’ve already given staging your house a try, but you still aren’t sure if you’re doing the right things and just need a second opinion, I totally get it. Sometimes it helps a ton to have an outside perspective, especially in a house. You have a tendency to see the day-to-day messes, while an outsider will have an overall perspective.

By the second house I staged in a year, I had the listing process down to a science. Similar to the rules of home decor, there are rules to home staging. I understand the rules and can help you sell your house in no time.

For this month only, I am opening a  few free mini home staging consultations! I am offering a free mini-consultation (worth $149) to give you custom advice on what to do with your home.

You can send me up to 5 pictures of what your house looks like now, and I will respond back with a list of items you can do in each room to get it listing-ready. Think action items like “Declutter desk” “Hide/remove toilet bowl brush” and “Move sofa to “x” location.” You’ll get steps you can actually take to get your home show-ready in no time with no guesswork involved.

To reserve a free mini-consultation, you just need to hit this box and drop in your email address to claim your spot. You’ll hear back from me soon with our next steps so that we can get you the feedback you’ve been needing.

So, if your house is currently on the market (or you wish it was), this time next week you could be preparing for appraisals, inspections, and closings. Or you could be wishing that you knew what to do to get your house show-ready before it hit the market three weeks ago.

Which one do you want to be?

I think I know the answer.

I’ve been there. Let me help you.

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8 steps to stage a house in a day

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15 thoughts on “How to stage a house to sell in a day”

  1. Pingback: 30 Easy Home Staging Tips - Love and Sweet Tea

  2. You’ve been very helpfull we are planning to start building in 2 months while living in our current home im not sure where to store all the packed boxes? We have 4 garages , basement ?? Thank you

    1. Hi Judi!

      Congratulations on building!

      When we moved the first time, our home was on a slab, so my only place was the garage. My garage was almost full of boxes, but it’s just a garage so it’s not like it was the feature of our home. Plus, that just showed that we were ready to close quickly and that’s appealing to buyers when it comes time to sell.

      If your basement is unfinished, I would recommend storing them in the basement so long as it is orderly and organized. It will be better for your packed things (climate controlled and less humidity than a garage) and can showcase additional storage space in your home. But, if your basement is finished, I would definitely recommend keeping them in the garage or a storage unit so you can showcase you additional living space in the basement.

      Or, if you’re blessed to have family nearby with an unfinished basement, you could stow them away in there. This is what we did on our last move, and while I wouldn’t recommend it (too much moving things back and forth), it might also be an option if you have limited storage or you really want to show off your 4 garages (I would love 4 garages!).

      <3 Natosha

    2. Our basement is unfished but very clean and painted thanks to my husband lol i would love to send you pics when im ready !! I have a booklet givn to us when we purchased the home should i.leave it out to show the before and present ??

      1. Yay for handy husbands! Then, I would definitely store those boxes in the basement. We stored our belongings for an extended period of time (about 3 or 4 months) in a storage unit and walked away with mounds of mold. I’m all for climate control now!!!

        I would love to see pictures! You can just come back to this post and click the sign-up button to grab your free mini-consultation (I’m actually working on one at this very minute).

        I think it would be fun to put that booklet out on your kitchen counter or something. It shows that you cared enough about the place to keep some of that early paperwork, and it also highlights how much you have invested into your home. ?

  3. Thank you for the tips! We are looking at putting our home on the market in the next month and I am overwhelmed even thinking about the process. We have very little attic or storage space, so I’m thinking our garage will be the best place to put boxed up items, thanks to the question above. BUT Do you think storing everything in the garage will deter buyers in any way? Perhaps they won’t know how much garage space we have… We also have a dog and I wondered if you had any tips regarding that?

    1. I don’t think storing things in the garage will deter buyers. I actually think it will show buyers you are motivated. Nothing makes me want to leave a home more than walking into a house full of stuff and trinkets. Those people are obviously NOT ready to move out. Plus, most people know about how big a garage is. When we moved, I put all the boxes as close to the garage door as I could to make the space look bigger from the walk-in door leading into the garage (does that make sense?). Just like the other areas of your home, you want to show off as much floor space as you can.

      Also, if you’re staging with a pet in the house is to completely make it look like you don’t have a pet. Our buyer had no idea we had 3 pets. I removed the crate, pet bed, food/water bowls, and the pet before showings or inspections. You also want a friend to shoot you straight. A lot of people’s homes smell like their pet and they don’t know because our brains just don’t tell us. If your house does have a hint of pet odor, baking soda is a good place to start. Sprinkle it on the carpet or rugs and vacuum.
      Next, I would move to febreze on other textiles in the home.

      Hope these tips help!
      Natosha

      1. Could I just add a tip for pet owners? We have LOTS of dogs and cats and have small, decorative bowls with vinegar in them placed strategically around the house. You don’t smell the vinegar but it does absorb odours. Also bran is by far and away the best cat litter for an odour free cat tray! Buy it at the feed store.
        I have a dear friend that is always very quick to tell me if anything isn’t up to her exacting standards (bless her!) and an OH that is always ‘smelling something’ and these two things have helped me pass their tests!!!!

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