Home Staging 101

Depersonalize, De-Clutter and Clean, Clean, Clean!

Even if you're on a tight schedule and don't have the time for anything else, these three tips are essential. You must depersonalize, de-clutter and clean your home for your potential buyers to see what a great home it is! If there's too much of "you" in your home, they won't be able to visualize themselves in it, if there's too much clutter, they'll be too distracted to notice all the great qualities of the home, and if it's dirty, they won't want to spend any time in the home let alone purchase it.

How Do I Depersonalize?

First of all, you need to understand that now that your house is on the market, you can no longer see it as "your" house. If your house has too much of your personality in it, the buyers may not be able to see themselves living in it. An important rule in home staging is to pretend your potential buyers have no imagination; so if all the buyers see are paintings of grandpa over the fireplace or photos of your kids on the nightstands or - even worse - your last name printed on the front door and mailbox, they'll always see your house as "someone else's house" instead of their future home.

Your house should look like a model home or a hotel lobby. It should appear unlived-in. Put away the family photos, take down the hand-painted and hand-stitched decorations displaying your name, and pack up all those old issues of Guns & Ammo. Clutter is a big no-no and you're about to move anyway, so start packing some boxes full of anything you won't need for a little while and that screams, "I live here!"

If all you have on the walls are family photos, replace those photos with photos of local monuments and attractions. Or fill the frames with cheap but nice wallpaper samples or postcards. But only keep as many framed pieces of art as necessary to break up big walls or to draw the eye up, and remember that too many frames is clutter. You don't need something hanging on every wall.

Your collection of Star Wars figurines or autographed baseballs may be very important to you and it may be all part of your idea of a good-lookin' room, but it just may not be the buyer's taste and it could turn them off from the home. If you're a Yankees fan but the perfect potential buyer is a Red Sox fan, that buyer may overlook your house if it's covered in Yankees banners and posters and they may even do it subconsciously. Pack up everything that is not neutral.

Neutral:

Not So Neutral:

How Do I De-Clutter?

If there are piles of stuff on the floor the rooms will look smaller than they are, and if there are knick-knacks everywhere and books and papers and wires and toys covering every surface, the house will appear hectic. Clutter causes a subconscious reaction in the buyer that causes them to feel stressed by your mess. What you want is a relaxed buyer, who feels as though they've just walked into a calm, clean sanctuary. If you have a clean house the buyer will be able to believe that when they live there they will be living in a clean house, too. Plus, if the house is cluttered it will appear that you don't have enough closet space, and not enough closet space can easily kill the deal for a lot of potential buyers.

Again, you're about to move, so go ahead and pack up everything that you're not using and won't need for a little while and put it into storage or into the attic if there's room. Be careful, however, of piling box after box in the garage or basement! Sure, the buyers know you're moving, but too many boxes is still clutter, and your garage and basement are part of your house and need to be staged, too.

So what should you do? Take everything off the kitchen counters. Clean them, then put back on one or two appliances that you absolutely need every single day, as well as maybe one or two decorations for open houses, like pretty bowls of fresh fruit or vases of fresh flowers. The most important thing is to show off as much clear counter space as possible to make the kitchen look spacious. Then, organize your cabinets and pantry. People are going to open cabinets and drawers to see how much space you have, so make it look like you have tons of space by organizing everything. Buy cheap drawer and shelf organizers at your favorite discount store and organize every drawer, cabinet and pantry shelf in your kitchen.

The living or family room will look best without clutter because you want it to appear large enough to fit anything the potential buyer wants to put in it. If you've got too much furniture, though, the room will actually appear smaller and cluttered. You really only need one couch and one chair or loveseat to demonstrate a seating area. A larger room could hold as much as one couch, one loveseat and one chair, but any more than that starts to cause clutter. If you have a fireplace, clear any clutter from the hearth and mantle and make it the focus of the room. Oversized televisions overwhelm the room and make it look smaller as well as distracting buyers from the built-in benefits of the rooms, like a fireplace or French door or wood floors. Bookshelves should have books and nothing else, and only hardcover books if possible. Keep fake plants and flowers to a minimum and try to use real plants instead - but only a few here and there. And tone down the wires. If there are electrical wires everywhere, then you need to pack up some of your electronics or at least buy something to contain the wires, like cable wraps.

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The master bedroom is very important and needs to feel like a sanctuary. Take out the television, or hide it in an armoire, take out any kid's toys or anything that reveals you have a pet. Definitely take out the cat's litter box if you keep it there, because it's not only unhealthy, it smells and it turns off buyers. Organize your closets because, just like the kitchen, people are going to want to know how much storage space they're getting. Pack away all the clothes you're not wearing and won't need for awhile and make the clothes look neat and tidy by organizing them into categories: place all shirts together and all pants together, etc., and even organize them by color and try to use all the same hangers, making sure nothing is "crammed in." The closets should be about half-empty so there's plenty of space for everything with extra room to spread out. It may sound silly, but it looks much more streamlined and clean and people will be amazed by the big and organized closets, which is important: buyers want lots of storage space and if they see it already organized, it will help them believe they can keep it that way.

Make sure there's not too much furniture in the master bedroom, since you want it to appear spacious. There needs to be at least a bed and a nightstand or two, and a dresser or chest would be nice, but if there's just not enough room then leave them out. You should have three feet of open space around furniture, so don't block pathways by insisting that the dresser belongs opposite the bed: it's more important that potential buyers never feel crowded. And don't forget that in this master bedroom sanctuary the bed is very important. The bed is the biggest thing in the room and always draws the eye, so make sure the bedding is clean and fresh and the bed is made. And the quilt you made yourself or was a gift from a relative is probably very pretty and very special to you, but it may be too taste specific and you want the bedroom to appeal to everyone. The master bedroom needs to be a place that is so appealing and calm that every buyer who walks into the room never wants to leave. So, if it your bedding is old, stained and ragged, invest a new comforter and sheets. You can buy something discounted, but something modern with clean lines and not-too-feminine, not-too-masculine colors is what you're looking for.

The bathrooms are important, too. First and foremost they need to be very clean. People want updated, spa-like bathrooms, but you may not have the time or money to renovate your bathroom. Quick ways to update the bathroom include changing out the cabinet hardware and light fixtures with more modern pieces. Make sure shower curtains and towels are fresh, clean, and not covered in flowers or fish or anything else too taste-specific. Clear out all the clutter and any toiletries you don't need every day. Clutter makes a space seem hectic and small and if there is clutter all over the counter and shower, it will seem like you don't have enough storage space. If you have a strange color countertop or vanity but don't have the budget or time to change it out, then get a shower curtain and towels and decorative candles that match or complement them. Make the color work instead of just ignoring it or trying to hide it.

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What Do You Mean By Clean, Clean, Clean?

Just that: clean, clean, clean, and then clean again. Make sure everything is spotless, because no one wants to inherit your mess. No one wants your germs and muck, so clean everything - even the things you don't normally think to do.

Clean your oven and your microwave and wipe down all your kitchen cabinets. Clean all of the dust and lint off of your washer and dryer, even if they're yours and they're going with you. Sweep all the leaves and grass and cobwebs out of your garage. Wipe down all of your baseboards (that's the molding on the bottom of your walls where they meet the floor), and the chair rails, too, if you have them. Clean all your windows and the window sills. Clean all the doorknobs and kitchen and bathroom cabinet hardware. Clean inside the refrigerator and behind the refrigerator. Move the couches and clean the floor where they sit. Scrub the grout lines in the bathtubs and showers. Dust all the light fixtures. Dust all of the central air and heating vents and all of the ceiling fans. Clear out that pile of branches in the backyard you've been ignoring for the last two years. Wipe down the inside of all the kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Throw out the dingy toilet brush and plunger. Clean the barbeque grill and wipe down all the outside furniture. Get the stains out of your carpet and the dog hair off the furniture. Pour some baking soda into your kitchen sink drains and then some white vinegar to wash that down and freshen up the sink, and if your garbage disposal smells, grind up some lemon slices in it or buy some garbage disposal cleaner. If your floors are bad, it's usually cheaper to steam clean the carpet and refinish the wood floors than to grant your buyers a generous flooring budget to allow them to replace everything, but if the floors are beyond repair you should consider replacing them.

Cleaning is never fun, but nobody wants to buy a dirty house. Period. You house may be bigger and have an updated kitchen, but if it's filthy, your potential buyers are going to purchase the house down the street that's clean, even if it is smaller and more expensive.

The great thing is most cleaning can be done with the basic household cleaners you already have, and once you put forth the effort to do a major, thorough cleaning, you then only have to worry about upkeep, which is easier. Don't forget to keep a spray bottle of air and fabric odor neutralizer on hand, which can quickly freshen up your home.

There are plenty of natural and green ways to clean your home, if you prefer! For example, mix a half cup of water and a half cup of white vinegar in a glass and microwave it for 4 or 5 minutes, letting the mixture boil and get the inside all steamy, and then wipe it clean. You can clean tile grout by scrubbing it with a toothbrush soaked in white vinegar and you can scrub surfaces like countertops and stainless steel appliances with a paste made from equal parts salt and white vinegar.

If you need help with how to clean a certain stain or appliance, check out one of my favorite websites: eHow.

Give Each Room a Purpose

Like I mentioned earlier, you should pretend that your potential buyers have no imagination, and so it's important to assign each room a purpose. A master bedroom is a master bedroom, not an office or nursery, so take out the desk or the crib. A dining room should have a table and chairs and maybe a buffet, but no bookshelves or toy chests or anything else that doesn't belong.

Remember that bedrooms are more important than a home office. If someone needs a home office, they can easily imagine their office furniture fitting in a room that's big enough for a bed, but it's difficult for parents to imagine fitting their children's furniture in a room in which you've only placed a desk. So unless you work from home and definitely need to put a home office in a bedroom, stage all your bedrooms as bedrooms.

They Can't Fall in Love with Your Home if They Can't See It

Open all the curtains and blinds and let in the light! Natural light is softer and better for showing your house if it's available, but be sure to turn on all the lights anyway, including the outside light by the front door if it's late or cloudy. If your window looks right into your neighbor's window then you may want to leave the blinds there, but crack them just enough to let in the light. Try to avoid cheap looking blinds; curtains usually make your home look more upscale and more like a model. If there's a bad view out the window, put up a sheer curtain to block it that still lets in some light. If you have a great view make sure the curtains are open so that the buyers notice it.

Finish That To Do List

Now's the time to finish all those little projects you've been intending to do, before the buyers show up. The buyers will notice the creaking door you've become accustomed to and they'll see that stain in the carpet you've learned to ignore. That toilet that has a funny way of suspiciously running for no reason is bound to act up just when you don't want it to, so go ahead and fix it before it costs you a sale.

Don't start any huge projects, because now's not the time to put in that deck you've always thought would look nice in the backyard, only to be left with an unfinished project at open house (because things inevitable go wrong just when you hope they won't), but this is the time for you to finish the honey-do list.

Buyers will notice all your unfinished projects and all the maintenance that needs to be done and they'll see your house as work. Buyers don't want to do work; they want to move right in, so if you want to ensure a quick sale, ensure that there're no projects that your buyers will have to tackle.

Curb Appeal is Important

If you can't get your potential buyers in the door, then you can't sell your house. Curb appeal is extremely important because it is the buyers' first impression of the home. If the potential buyers don't like the way it looks on the outside, they may never get to the inside and see how wonderful it is.

What can you do? Clean up the outside. If it's snowing, shovel the path. If the leaves are falling, rake them. Trim your bushes, plant a few colorful flowers, fix the broken gutters, mow the grass, clear away the kid's toys, touch up the paint on the front door or trim around it, and replace the house numbers or light fixtures if they're outdated or rusted. Replace broken shutters, add a flower box, and set out a new "welcome" mat. Make your house look like a home that anyone would be happy to come home to.

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Neutral Walls Attract Buyers

A neutral palate is a plus when it comes to walls. If you've got a colorful personality, decorate with purple throw pillows or candles, but if you've got purple walls, now would be the time to repaint. I'm not saying paint your walls white, because white is boring and sterile, but you should consider painting your walls more neutral tones like beige or sand. If you're going to pick a color, like green or blue, try going with lighter shades, avoiding anything that appears neon or too dark. A dark accent wall can be nice, but dark walls all over can make a room feel cramped and small.

Color choice is not always as important as having a clean, new coat of paint. A fresh coat of paint can make the home look newer and cleaner and is much better than a faded wall covered in scuffs and holes. You will more than recoup the cost of a few cans of paint if your house looks fresh and updated because you will have a better chance of selling quicker and for more money.

Furniture That Works

Furniture is important because it defines the rooms. If you have too much furniture, put some of it into storage and if you have no furniture because you've already moved out or not enough to fill all the rooms, you should rent some furniture sets from a rental store.

There should be enough furniture to define the purpose of the room: bedrooms need at least a bed, though you could substitute a blow-up mattress for a real mattress if you don't have enough beds for your bedrooms. A nightstand and dresser help to define the bedroom, but don't overcrowd the room with too many pieces. A dining room needs a table and at least four chairs (two if it's a secondary dining area) but not much else. A family room should have a seating area, but it's not necessary to push everything back against the walls. Often, if the family room is large, pulling the seating area in away from the walls will make the room appear larger.

Remember that you want your potential buyers to want to live in your house, and sometimes buyers have a difficult time separating your things from your house, so you need to make sure your things are welcoming. If your couch looks like something that fell out of a dumpster or is covered in animal fur, people are going to be uncomfortable sitting on it. You don't want people feeling uncomfortable - you want them to feel like they're at home, so make sure your furniture is welcoming and not something people are afraid to touch.

Minimize the Kid's Clutter

Children take up a lot of space in the home what with toys, highchairs, changing tables and everything else needed to care for them. But clutter is clutter, and your potential buyers won't be able to appreciate your home if there's a plastic toy kitchen blocking the fireplace opening or if they're stepping on tiny, toy dinosaurs in the bathroom. It may be tough, but when your house is on the market, try to pack up or hide away as many toys as possible. Don't leave a changing table and piles of diapers in the living room. Use designated baskets that match your living room décor as toy storage for toys that are kept in the living areas.

The main goal here is to remember the rules about clutter: you want your potential buyers to see your house as roomy and calm. Toy clutter can turn off buyers that don't have or want children and even young couples who are expecting or planning on starting a family soon don't want a cluttered house that is overwhelmed with children's items; they want to imagine that their house will always be clean and organized, so if your house is staged to show that it is clean and organized and calm-feeling even with children, then your potential buyers will think that they can keep the house clean and organized, too, even with kids.

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Don't Forget the Utility Areas

Garages and laundry rooms are important, too. Find someplace else to park your cars when showing your house, because if they're crowding up the driveway, that hurts curb appeal, but if they're crowding up the garage, the garage will seem small. Stage your garage by organizing everything you store there, like tools and bicycles. Give everything its place, even if that means buying a few cheap utility shelves and plastic bins. Again, if your garage appears organized, your potential buyers will feel they can have a clean garage, too, if they were to live there.

I don't know anyone who enjoys doing laundry, but that doesn't mean the laundry room is not important. Whether you've got a dedicated laundry room, a stackable unit in a closet or the machines are hooked up in the garage, they need to look clean and organized. Clean up the area, keep all the detergents and anything else stored there organized just like the kitchen or bedroom closets, and you can even hang a cute, laundry-themed painting or put pastel-colored wicker baskets over the washer. The most important factors are cleanliness and organization, but some fun personality will leave the buyer who's in charge of laundry wishing they had your laundry room.

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Bring the Outside In and the Inside Out

Plants are a great way to bring the outside in. Fake plants should be avoided because they get dusty and, well, they usually look fake. But don't despair if you don't have a green thumb. Bringing plants into the home can be as simple as a potted, easy-to-care-for fern or grabbing some flowers or tall grasses out of your yard and putting them in a vase. Dried out sticks look good in a vase as well, and they require no attention.

You should be sure to utilize any outdoor space you have. If you only have a small apartment balcony, put out a comfortable outdoor chair and a few (and only a few) potted plants. Keep it uncluttered and relaxing. No Christmas lights in July. If you have a large yard but have done nothing at all with it, you should make sure the grass is mowed and at least put out a nice bench or an outdoor furniture set of some kind. No patio or deck? Just dig up the grass a little and lay down some pavers as a platform for a grill or table and chairs. Don't forget a few candles or a pitcher and set of glasses to set the scene.

If your backyard has a view of your neighbor's garbage cans, now might be a good time to invest in a few bushes or a fence. Don't forget to clean up the backyard's curb appeal just like you did for the front yard. Don't leave a hose sprawled out across the grass for your buyers to trip on and put all children's toys to the side or in a shed or toy box. Outdoor space is just like extra square footage, so don't forget to stage it, too!

Hide All Evidence of Animals

If a potential buyer knows there are animals in the house, they may wonder what they'll be inheriting by way of mysterious carpet stains and strange odors. If you have pets like birds or gerbils or ferrets, see if a kind neighbor or relative will agree to pet-sit while your house is on the market. It's usually impossible to completely disguise the existence of dogs and cats, but you can minimize their impact. Don't leave dog or cat beds or toys lying all around every room. Keep the food and water bowls out of the way and clean. Hide the cat litter the best you can: don't keep it in the master bedroom or living room and be sure to clean it everyday. Pet odors are completely unwelcome to any potential buyer who is not an animal lover. If your couch has washable slipcovers, wash them, and if not make sure you use have plenty of lint brushes on hand. Vacuum regularly to control shedding and quickly and thoroughly clean up any "messes" the pets make. Invest in some spray bottles of air and fabric sanitizers to eliminate any pet odors.

Tackle Closet Organization

We've already discussed the importance of organized closets, but it's important enough to warrant another mention. Pack up and store everything you're not using. Your closets should all be about half-empty, or at least not full, and they should be organized. For bedroom closets, group clothes by style (pants with pants, short-sleeve shirts with short-sleeve shirts) and by color. For pantry and linen closets, organize everything again by style (cereal boxes with cereal boxes, canned veggies with canned veggies, big towels with big towels, etc.) and, at least for linen closets, by color as well.

It is worth it to rent a storage unit or a portable storage unit to store all your extra stuff and stuff you won't be using for awhile. Your closets and cabinets will be opened by buyers to examine how much storage space there is in your house and they need to appear spacious and organized so that buyers will feel like if they buy your house they will be neat and organized and have plenty of space, too.

Simple Updates

Kitchens and bathrooms are important to buyers, but not everyone has the money or time to renovate. Staining and painting cabinets and replacing countertops can make a stunning change that will be welcomed by potential buyers, but unless your house is in really bad shape, this isn't always necessary. But it can be important to update some of the smaller, but still noticeable, things in the house. Items you should consider updating and replacing include kitchen and bathroom cabinet hardware, light fixtures, ceiling fans, outdoor light fixtures and house numbers, and sink faucets.

New kitchen appliances can be a good investment, especially if your appliances were built in the 1980s or earlier and are not EnergyStar rated. Stainless Steel appliances are popular right now, but any appliance that is brand new will catch the buyers' interest.

If you've got wallpaper that's outdated (or you even suspect is outdated, and most wallpaper is) take it down and put up a fresh coat of neutral paint instead. Like we discussed, a fresh coat of paint makes the whole house look fresher, and the point behind all these simple updates is to make the house look as new and fresh and updated as possible for the least amount of money and time.

Don't Leave the House Too Sterile

Neutral is great since you want your house to be welcoming to everyone, no matter what their taste and style, but don't be too sterile. You don't have to be afraid to leave a little of your own personality in the house, but show your style with throw pillows and candles, not with bright pink walls. Add a bowl of fruit over here or a pillar candle over there, just avoid clutter. Group items in odd numbers, like three or five, which is pleasing to the eye. Put a stack of hardcover art books on the coffee table. Make wall art of neutral patterns of wallpaper samples or of photographs or postcards that feature local scenery.

Once you get your house depersonalized, de-cluttered and clean, here are some suggestions you can use to add some decoration to your house. Remember to keep it simple; you're adding personality, not clutter.

In your family room place a single jar candle on the coffee table and a staggered pile of three, hardcover art books. Maybe a wooden bowl filled with balls made with natural materials. Or a trio of candles on pillars of varying heights.

Set the dining room table with stacks of two of three plates and maybe a bowl and drinking glass at each setting on top of a placemat, with a vase of fresh flowers in the center. Try four place settings, two on each of the long sides, because unless your table is huge any more than that can look crowded. Or set a simple glass bowl or vase with fresh fruit or flowers in the center of the table; just don't leave the table plain and empty.

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In the bathroom, place a wicker basket containing three or more rolled-up towels in a corner or on the side of a spa tub. You can place towels that match your color scheme in the basket, but also try using brand new, fluffy white towels rolled-up in the basket or folded neatly on the side of the tub, because these tend to give more of a spa-like feeling to the room. Try placing three matching candles on candlesticks of varying heights on a spa tub, votive candles in small holders that match the color scheme on a shelf over the toilet, a small bowl or plate of fancy soaps on the vanity, and/or a nice piece of artwork on the wall.

In the kitchen, try a bowl of matching fresh fruit, like red or green apples or oranges or pears. Set out a wooden or bamboo cutting board with a few tomatoes or carrots - but keep the knives hidden. If you have an eat-in-kitchen, try staging an eating area with place settings, making sure there are at least chairs or stools to show buyers they can sit there.

If decorating is not for you, or you think you're too busy to tackle staging, there are a few ways you can find a professional home stager. First of all, ask your friends if they've ever used a home stager and if they would recommend that person. Or you can ask your realtor who, if anyone, they work with to stage their homes. Your realtor may know of professional stagers in the area if even they don't use their services.

You can also search for a professional home stager online. The American Society of Home Stagers and Redesigners offers an online database of their members and the Home Staging Resource, which trains home stagers, lists members who have completed their course. The Real Estate Staging Association is another online resource that lets you search for stagers in your area.

Does everything here sound second nature to you? Do your friends complement the way you've decorated your house and ask your opinion about decorating their own? Do you love television shows like HGTV's "Designed to Sell?" Are you looking for a way to run a full-time or part-time business from your home?

If you answered yes to any of the questions, then you should look into the career of Professional Home Stager. There are multiple resources online that you can research, such as the Home Staging Resource.

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