DIY Home Staging: The Basics

Why stage your home before placing it on the market? Staging a home can increase the final sale price by 7%. Home staging helps potential buyers see how the space can be used. It can help them see how they could live in the space. It also gives an impression of the home being move-in ready. 

Professional home stagers can turn a so-so property into a top-dollar sale; but if you’re looking to do it yourself, you may need help. Interior Furniture Resources serves customers in Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia. Here, we offer a few home staging tips to make your home sell quickly, and for a good price.

Declutter

Life brings clutter. The longer you live in a home, the more stuff accumulates. Pet and kid toys are tossed into overflowing boxes or baskets. Even in a digital-first world, papers are still stacked on desks or stuffed into drawers. Removing clutter opens the space and eliminates distractions.

Potential buyers can focus on the space rather than the jumble of knick-knacks on a shelf or the pile of remotes on a coffee table. No matter how clean your house is, clutter makes it appear dirty.

Add Storage           

Add storage if you find that clutter exists because you have no place to put it. Consider renting cabinets or bookshelves to organize your space. Just don’t overload the storage. You want people to see your space as having enough storage to hold their possessions. Staging shelves to ensure space remains between items helps buyers see that more room is available if they need it.

Clean

Once you’ve decluttered and organized your home, it’s time to clean. Nothing turns off buyers faster than odors and dirty surfaces. Carpets and upholstered furniture can trap orders. If a deep cleaning on furniture doesn’t work, consider renting items from Interior Furniture Resources to ensure a fresh-smelling space.

If you have pets, clean their beds, sanitize their toys, and remove litter boxes when the home is being shown. You may not notice your pet odors, but potential buyers will. Remember, not every visitor is a pet lover.

Repair

As you move through your home, note maintenance tasks, including repairs. You may know how to turn off that stubborn faucet or close a troublesome closet door, but home visitors do not. Potential buyers see those oddities as indicators of a poorly maintained home.

The same goes for your furniture. If your bedroom furniture has scratches or dents, you may want to rent furnishings rather than try to repair them. The team at Interior Furniture Resources has experience in home staging and can help select the style that best fits your home. 

Rework the Layout

The existing layout may be perfect for your lifestyle, but potential buyers may not agree. Since you want to appeal to as many buyers as possible, you may need to rework how your spaces are used. For example, you may have turned your formal dining area into a more casual space for entertaining. If your target buyer is more likely to use a formal dining room, stage the space to reflect their preferences.

If you don’t have a formal dining room set, talk to our staff about renting a table, chairs, and buffet that fits the size of the room and the style of your home. You don’t want the furniture to overwhelm the room or make it difficult for viewers to move through the space. 

Paint

Neutral walls are best for staging. Although you may love your yellow sunroom or pink powder room, people can react intensely to color. If they dislike the wall colors, it’s difficult for buyers to see beyond those bright blue walls.

That doesn’t mean people don’t want to see color. They enjoy seeing a pop of color in a neutral room. It may be a carpet, a pillow, or artwork, but the touch of color is important for an at-home feeling. Let the architecture guide your color choices. Modern designs rely on blacks and greys, while farmhouse styles use blues, greens, and browns. 

Let Interior Furniture Resources Help With Your DIY Home Staging

When it comes to staging a home for sale, furniture plays a central role in making a home feel move-in ready. With more people watching home improvement shows, potential buyers have expectations of what a home should look like. Our trained staff can help build a furniture rental package to showcase your home. They have the furniture resources and expertise to find the right look for your home. Our services are available in Pennsylvania and parts of Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia, and West Virginia. Contact us today to find the right furniture for staging your home.