Top Three Staging Tips

Top Three Staging Tips for your Family Room

Each house is unique, but certain principles apply to all homes when preparing them to sell.  I have prepared my top three staging tips for family rooms to help you out.  

1) Neutralize your wall colors: If you have tan, white, grey or pale tones you may not need to paint, however, if you have gone bold in your color choices, you will need to neutralize.  All buyers need to be able to picture themselves in the house.  You don't want to lose a sale or get a lower offer price just because of a wall color.  The cost to paint a room is approximately $300 that can easily add $3,000 in value!  Dollars well spent!

What if Pink and Turquoise are not your buyer's colors?

My go-to color is "Agreeable Grey" by Sherwin Williams.  This pink room looks completely different now that it's neutral.  It will appeal to more buyers!

2)  Make the fireplace your focal point: Many family rooms center around a large TV, but the fireplace should be the focal point as it is the primary feature conveying with the house.  If the room is wide enough, face the sofa toward the fireplace.  If it is a smaller room just be sure that furniture is not obstructing the view.  This may mean that you remove a love seat, bookcase or side table.  Less is more...a simple furniture arrangement with sofa, chair, coffee table and side table with a lamp is enough.  Place a large colorful painting and just a few decorative items on the mantel.  Voila - it'll look fantastic!

What is the focal point?  Don't make the fireplace compete with the TV.  Remove the TV entirely if it is too large for the space.  "What no TV?", you say... If you sell at your open house above list price, won't that small effort be worthwhile?  Say, "Yes!".....  Get it sold fast & for top dollar!

With this new arrangement, the fireplace is front and center with no interference.   This new arrangement also shows off the windows.  The large sofa used to block this great selling feature and reduced light flowing into the room as well.  

3) Add color, softness and light: You want that "wow factor" so that when buyers walk through at your open house they fall in love and want to place an offer immediately.  A little color goes a long way...just add a large painting, some throw colorful pillows and/or a bouquet of flowers.  Add softness with the use of a throw over a chair, an area rug, a faux or real plant/tree. For added light, open up the curtains, turn on the overhead lights, add a table lamp and/or floor lamp - the lighter the better!

As you can see from my staging example above, I applied color, softness and light to this family room.  This home sold in just three hours well-above list price so I think it worked! 

I hope that my top three staging tips for a family room was helpful to you.  If you would like a consultation for improvements you can make in preparing your home for sale, call (919) 280-0441 or email jen@stageandsellraleigh.com.  For more helpful tips, check out my website: www.stageandsellraleigh.com