Staging Tips to Sell Your Home

Whether on television, at an open house or on the pages of a magazine, we’ve all seen stunningly outfitted estates that deliver a true wow factor – and listing price – that properties without staging just cannot match. Buyers quickly fall in love with homes that have a strong character while wordlessly conveying the lifestyle they would enjoy if they lived there. Before listing your property, consider that proper staging is one of the most important factors in enhancing your home’s appeal and most flattering features.

First Things First

 In order to entice potential buyers, you must think outside the box – but to start, examine what needs to be done to get your home in showplace shape. Check under older carpets for lovely hardwood, survey the ceiling for cracks or leaks to seal, consider having the pool or tennis court resurfaced and focus on boosting your curb appeal. Once your home is a clean slate, you are ready to begin.

 Neutral Rules

When using achromatic tones on painted walls and furniture, ensure that the staging pieces do not distract from the form of the home. When staging for luxury, color psychology can signal buyers that they’re working with a discerning seller who has elevated the home to its full, indulgent potential.

In the world of interior design, fashion and luxury vehicles, neutral colors have always made a recognizable statement of power, sophistication and confidence. Once you’re prepared to stage your home, you’ll want to highlight those qualities with the crème de la crème of design – blacks, grays and whites.

While buyers will always notice houses with splashy displays, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will find them appropriate for their tastes. Staging experts often use furniture, rugs and paint in neutral hues (also consider beige and pale, cool colors) to help buyers overlay their own creations onto the scene and more easily discover the home could be the perfect fit.

Character Is King

Often, a seamless introduction to the home involves pairing décor with architectural personality. Envision how Old-World pillars and stonework are beautifully complemented by gold-framed art and Turkish rugs, and contemporary interiors effortlessly show off leather, wool or velvet furnishings and unique accents as statement pieces. When hiring an interior designer to get the job done, seek out a professional with not only expertise, but also an imaginative mindset.

Now to address spatial issues. For smaller sitting rooms, offices or charming nooks, instead of cluttering the area to make it appear as if much can be done with the layout, take a more minimalist approach to ensue that each individual piece has room to breathe and directs attention to the space itself.

On the other hand, if you have a cavernous room, think about creative ways to section it off and separate it into more manageable areas with rugs or furniture in unique arrangements. The same approach can be applied to unusually shaped rooms.

Attractive Accents

While a visually busy room is an easily avoided faux pas, keep in mind that going completely neutral is not the answer either. In order to strike that oh-so-delicate balance between sensible furnishings and handsome décor, decorate with stylish accents that lend a perfect finish to any lifestyle.

Any artwork on display should be minimal and tasteful, so buyers can easily picture how they will customize the space on their own, and personal items like family pictures, sports memorabilia and other personal items should be stored.

When a buyer enters your front door and explores the home room by room, they’ll be thinking about how they will personalize it with their own touches, and how much of a transformation might be needed to get it suited for them. With beautiful furnishings in place and just the right level of flair, they won’t have to work very hard to visualize their new life – and that gets them one step closer to making your house their new home.

Wallpaper With Personality

Wallpaper is back. And you’ll be glad it is – with all the exciting new colors, patterns and textures available to choose from. Today, stylish wallpaper is being used in small spaces, such as powder rooms and mudrooms, or as a beautiful accent, providing pops of color that brighten up an area or give it a more customized look.

Wallpaper choices range from traditional floral patterns to modern art deco designs, with patterns ranging from subdued to bold. Today’s wallpaper is also much easier to apply and remove, so you can create a big impact without the hassle and mess. So, where do you begin? It depends on the look you’re going for.

Create Visual Interest With Texture

If your space needs some personality, textured wallpaper may be the answer. Its three-dimensional design mimics just about any material, giving the room an unexpected visual element. Faux stone or wood adds rustic charm. Floral or scroll patterns evoke an antique or vintage vibe. Many textured papers are even paintable, so if you ever want to change things up, you can give your walls new life with a coat of paint.

Add a Touch of Glow With Metallics

For a glamorous feel, metallic wallpaper is an elegant choice. Your space will sparkle with movement as gold, silver and black elements reflect the light. Some metallic papers are also textured, producing shadowed accents that add depth and intrigue.

Soften Up With Fabric

Fabric or textile wall coverings are among the oldest types of wall decoration and can complement a bedroom’s soft furnishings, giving it a luxurious feel. Found in both manmade and natural fibers, the paper mimics velvet, silk, linen or cotton. These materials are also breathable and porous, making them less susceptible to mold spores. However, keep in mind that fabric wallpaper can be affected by moisture and extreme heat.

Go Green With Naturals

Newer wall treatments made from environmentally friendly, natural products such as bamboo or grass cloth have increased in popularity. Certain brands are handcrafted and create quite a conversation piece, capitalizing on the material’s innate color and texture variations.

Wow Them With a Mural

On a feature wall, a mural makes a bold a statement. It can help bring the beauty of the outdoors inside, transforming a room with dramatic floral arrangements, sweeping landscapes, lush forests and a variety of other picturesque nature-inspired scenes.

Find Your Inner Child With DIY Options

If you’re looking to create a playful, interactive space, coloring wallpaper is just the ticket. It’s not only an ideal addition to a child’s room, but also adds a fun element to any entertaining space. Just like coloring books, this wallpaper comes in a plethora of themes and can be minimal or highly detailed in design. Most often in peel-and-stick form, you can easily remove it, apply a new pattern and start all over again. Just be sure to take pictures of your masterpiece before tearing it down.

Feeling timid about jumping on the wallpaper bandwagon? Consider starting with a small project. Give your lamps some personality by applying wallpaper around the edges of the shades. Wallpaper the top of a side table that isn’t getting much use. Or paper the back wall of a bookcase or curio cabinet to introduce surprise depth. No matter the project, wallpaper has the unique ability to create a space in your home that’s every bit as distinctive as you are.

Kitchen – The Heart of Home

What magical, gravitational pull does the kitchen hold over us all? It’s a combination of things that we’re unconsciously and instinctively attracted to – comfort, familiarity and fond memories. No matter the time of day, the event du jour or the number of guests who grace your doorstep, most often you’ll find friends and family huddled inside the heart of the home: the kitchen. Its magnetic quality swirls around memory-inducing scents, the sound of flapjacks sizzling on the griddle, the rhythmic clinking of glassware toasting and the irresistible sight of delectable meals being prepared by the hands of loved ones. No wonder it’s where we want to be, and where we often choose to stay.

The ideal modern kitchen is more than a utilitarian food station, it’s everyone’s happy place focused on laughing, sharing and being together. Discover a few simple ways of blurring the lines between kitchen and living space to create the ultimate comfort zone in your home.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Keep it sleek and subtle. When designing a combined kitchen/family room, aesthetics are important. Today’s kitchen appliances go incognito when these workhorses are disguised behind custom cabinetry that hides everything from the fridge to the dishwasher. Ho-hum countertops can be replaced with showstopping surfaces that beg to be touched such as rich marble, honed stone and dramatically veined quartz.

Incorporate the adjacent dining and family room decor into the overall kitchen design by treating it with the same decorating prowess applied to the rest of your home. Introduce intriguing artwork that’s protected under glass, objets d’art to dress up the workspace and reiterate living area fabrics on cushions for a cozier, more cohesive look.

Where the Action Is

Whether you’re into helping with meal prep, witnessing the melding of ingredients into the day’s pièce de résistance or enjoying the hustle and bustle of the kitchen vibes from the sidelines, a comfortable place to sit is a must to make the open-concept ambiance complete. A casual seating chart is preferable.

Start with comfy barstools snugged up to a beautiful stone slab island that offer front-row seats to the chef at work. Add extra seating with a built-in banquette tucked beneath a window, a large farmhouse table with ample chair space, or a couch-and-club-chair combo for even more entertaining options – all within kitchen earshot. When placing furniture and accessories, maintain unobstructed site lines and easy-access pathways to adjoining gathering areas. Flow is of the utmost importance when rooms intermingle.

Let There Be Light

One of the best results of an open-concept kitchen comes from all the light that floods in from the windows of adjacent rooms. In addition to natural light, it’s essential to brighten each of the surrounding sans-walls sections with the proper illumination. The prepping-cooking-plating area calls for bright task lighting, well served by overhead recessed can lights, under-the-counter LEDs and over-the-counter pendants that get the job done efficiently yet stylishly.

Other nearby living spaces require softer options, including general lighting, which is typically derived from a ceiling pendant or chandelier, and ambient lighting – an indirect and often more intriguing glow used to soften harsh shadows and deliver a major impact via wall sconces and torchieres. And don’t overlook unique mood lighting in all its glorious drama. With the brilliant power to set the stage and add theater to a room, its bold effects make it an impressive standout in any space.

Create the perfect gathering hub for sharing daily meals, activities, special moments and living life to the fullest. The open-concept floor plan centered around the kitchen stirs up an elusive energy that radiates out like a star and makes all interconnecting rooms feel like the epitome of “home.”