Home Staging Tips in 2023

Home Staging Tips

Up your curb appeal
Declutter and depersonalize
Make quick fixes
Paint the walls a neutral color
Fix big ticket items if budget allows
Clean, scrub and clean some more
Designate a purpose for each room

By following these tips and advice, your home will looks its best and sell for the most amount of money in the current market. Putting your best foot forward make mean some work in the short term, but it will mean more money in your pocket in the long term!

Curb Appeal is Everything

First impressions are everything. Your home needs to have great curb appeal or it will immediately turn away prospective buyers. Spruce up your exterior by getting new mulch or pine straw around your shrubbery. Make sure you lawn if freshly cut before your house is put on the market. Other ways to add curb appeal is bringing new life to your entrance. Add a new door mat and potted flowers next to the door. You can also put fresh paint on your front door and add new hardware.

Declutter

Most people have too much furniture that makes rooms look smaller. Get rid of knick-knacks and shelves full of items. Put toys away. Clean everything off your kitchen counters. Buy storage bins and fill them! You’ll be amazed at how much STUFF you own when you see it all boxed away!

We had an entire corner of our garage full of storage bins, but if you have it in your budget it might be a good idea to rent a storage unit – especially if you have a lot of furniture that needs to be removed for staging.

For home staging, it is said you should depersonalize your home as much as possible. This means that generally you don’t want to have too many pictures of yourself on the walls. Why? You want buyers to be able to picture THEMSELVES in the home instead of picturing YOU.

You want your home to feel like a home and to still be inviting. Don’t remove so much that it feels cold and sterile.

Make Quick Fixes

Quick fixes won’t necessarily add a ton of value to your home, but they will make it more appealing to buyers – which may add perceived value. For instance, painting ceilings and scuffed walls, updating the kitchen with a few low budget items, freshening up the bathroom grout or even just replacing a cracked bathroom medicine cabinet.

These are cheap and easy fixes to make but they help your home look its best. In the eyes of a buyer, it’s also one less thing for them to fix.

Clean, Clean, Clean…..and Clean Some More!

If you take one bit of advice from this post – clean your house. I mean a DEEP CLEAN not just a surface clean. Make sure the insides of cabinets and drawers are spotless, all your appliances and faucets are shiny and baseboards and floors are dust-free.

Remove scuffs on walls with a magic eraser. They really are magic!

The bathroom needs to be absolutely spotless. Remove all the products from the shower and sink and add an orchid to brighten up the space. Again, don’t forget to shine the faucets and shower heads and of course make sure the mirror is spotless!

Another thing to focus on when cleaning is your floors. I love walking into a home during a showing and the house having clean, shiny floors. It just adds to the experience and really makes the home show well.

Each Room Needs a Purpose

Each room should be designated to serve a clear purpose.

Not all buyers have great imaginations. Sometimes they need help seeing how a space can be used. For example, when we bought our house, there was a room that use to be a formal living room. We decided to use that room as a home office. We added a few desks/chairs and made it our own home office. It is clear what that room is used for now.

I hope you can use these tips when you get ready to put your home on the market. As always, you can contact us with any of your home buying or selling needs.

-Jecca and Stephen

5 Home Projects in 2023

If you’re looking for home improvement projects that really pay off, you don’t have to go for a full renovation with a hefty price tag. Instead, there are plenty of home improvements that are affordable and can be wrapped up in just a few hours. From the kitchen, bathroom and even unused spaces, we’re covering home improvement projects that will boost your home’s value.

Whether you’re looking to put your house on the market or you want to add value to your home sweet home, we’ve rounded up 5 of the most affordable and best ROI home improvements.

FOCUS ON THE KITCHEN

A complete kitchen renovation isn’t always necessary when you’re looking for a sizable ROI. If your kitchen has good bones, work with what you already have and add a few upgrades.

“Updated kitchens and bathrooms provide the highest ROI when considering home projects. Assuming your kitchen cabinets are in fairly good condition, there are a few updates that provide a big impact that don’t require renovation and can be incorporated fairly easily into your existing [space],” says Shoshanna Shapiro, Owner and Principal Designer at Sho and Co.

Adding “key upgrades such as new pendant lighting over the kitchen island, new cabinet hardware and a unique backsplash,” are all ways to transform the look of your kitchen.

Looking for a bigger project that can still be worked into a smaller budget? Consider painting or refacing your cabinets, changing out the flooring, upgrading appliances or opting for new countertops.

2. PAINT REFRESH

The quickest and easiest way to get some bang for your buck is to give any room in your home a paint refresh. While the cost of a can of paint can vary based on brand and quality, you can expect to pay anywhere between $15 to $40 a gallon.

Interior Designer Jessica Love of Urbane Design says a project she always recommends to homeowners is adding a new color to their bathrooms. “Paint your bathroom walls or vanity a fresh new color,” says Love. “I like to stick with neutral, zen colors for the bathroom.

While painting, don’t forget to add a new coat to the trim and the ceilings for an all over clean look.

3. REFINISH HARDWOOD FLOORS

Breathe new life into your existing hardwood floors by resurfacing them or installing new hardwoods in your home to see an average ROI around 70% to 80%. There’s no denying that beautiful floors make a great first impression, and with a variety of stain colors, your hardwood floors can be timeless or trendy.

Whether you choose to turn this into a DIY project or hand it over to the professionals, skip the wall-to-wall carpet and opt for hardwoods instead.

4. UPDATE MIRRORS

If the bathrooms in your home still have the borning builder-grade mirrors, it’s time to evict them. Swap out the mirrors for ones that have frames that match your decor and hardware. From a high end to a discount store, you’ll find plenty of mirrors that match your design aesthetic and budget.

If you’re changing out the mirrors, just make sure the hanging hardware can hold the weight of the new mirror.

Looking for an easy project? Love suggests adding some personality to your existing mirrors by adding a custom frame by using DIY framing kits. She says they’re easy to order, customize and assemble.

5. NEW HARDWARE

From the kitchen, to the bathrooms and on every door—old hardware can make your home seem outdated. Another budget-friendly project that can make a big difference in the look of your home is fresh hardware.

“Switch out your current hardware for something more modern. Mixed metals are trending right now; we’re seeing black with brass and brass with chrome,” Love says.

Don’t stop inside your home, consider changing out the hardware on your home’s exterior as well.

Those are 5 home improvement projects that you can do in 2023 without breaking the bank. As always, if you have any questions about buying or selling property, contact us so we can get started in helping you reach your real estate goals.