When it comes to selling quick, one of the best ways you can help achieve this is by staging your home.
Home staging is not a new concept but with the introduction of the internet and social media it is easier than ever to pick up great tips to help you stage your home on a budget.
Before you even consider staging your home the first thing you should do is de-clutter. You don’t need to completely empty the house, this actually has a negative effect on buyers as they are unable to visualise your property as a home. Instead, remove overly personal items like collections, health and beauty products, excessive book collections and family photos. Place household appliances that are only used occasionally out of sight in a cupboard or the loft. This will help the house appear more spacious. Give everything a good clean and make sure to include fitted blinds and light fittings that may be dusty.
Once the house is clean and tidy now you can look at what exactly you have to work with. Ideally you will want to address every room. However if your budget does not stretch to this then identify the rooms that are most likely to sell your property such as the kitchen, bathroom and second reception room. Take a look at the rooms you will be providing a face lift to. There are a number of things that you should be looking to address if possible.
Start by assigning a specific usage to each room. If you are fortunate to have a second reception room and you own a 3 bed semi-detached house then you own a family home so think with your target buyers in mind. Treat it as a dining room and get rid of the gym equipment or relocate it temporarily and make sure that you have a dining table. One top design tip that all the new home show-homes use is to actually set the table with place settings, glassware, silverware and crockery with flowers and candles as a centre piece to add colour and fragrance really enhance the room.
Take a look at the décor
A common misconception is that neutral décor is best. Whilst this is true in a sense, buyers will respond best to good use of colour. If your colour scheme is very bright or loud, try painting it light grey rather than white or magnolia. Then take a colour that compliments such as yellow, teal, red or purple and use this colour as a highlight. Paint a feature wall or use this colour in a feature wallpaper. Horizontal patterns will make a room appear longer while vertical patterns will make it seem wider. Use your feature colour as a highlight elsewhere in the room by selecting some flowers in that colour, a cushion or a lamp to create a simple but striking colour scheme. This allows a buyer to see the opportunities the room will offer their design tastes whilst still providing a relatively blank canvas for them to start off with.
If you have any furniture pieces which are necessary storage but are dated or too dominant a feature for the room consider up-cycling them by painting them or changing their handles to match the design of the room. Furthermore, a quick upgrade won’t be a bad investment. For example, finding the perfect bedroom furniture company to browse online to spruce up what seems so personal is a great move when it comes to selling a home. Creating a different and refreshed look for your interior design will do your sale the world of good. There is plenty of readily available furniture paint in DIY stores and helpful tips and tutorials available online to help you. If you are not confident to do it yourself, consider exchanging the furniture for something that will match the design scheme. Search Gumtree, EBay and free-cycle websites for bargains.
If you know your home is on the petite side, mirrors are an excellent way to make your rooms appear larger by reflecting light.
Flooring is another aspect of a room that a buyer will notice. If your carpet is stained or carries pet odours it ideally needs to be replaced. If this is not possible, considering re-arranging furniture to cover badly affected areas or make use of area rugs.
If you are lucky enough to have original wood flooring but it is in poor condition consider sanding and varnishing or even painting if it is discoloured. Although this does take time it can be done relatively inexpensively and can completely transform the feel of a room. If you simply do not have the time or budget to tackle the flooring in every room at the very least consider replacing the stair carpet if it is tired or dated. People tend to look at their feet when they are going up stairs to avoid tripping so they are more likely to notice this carpet than say one in the bedroom that is partially obscured by bedroom furniture.
If your property is situated in a crowded locality, then there is little you can do to change this. However, if a buyer has decided to view the house then minimise the impact of the location once you are inside by using frosted window film to obscure the view from outside. This does not affect the amount of light entering a room but helps the house feel private and tranquil. You can search for Residential Window Film Installation in Ashburn or the ones in your locality for customable and affordable window tint for your home. Additionally, the tinted film also protects you against UV rays; that way you make your home more environmentally friendly.
Provide clean colour co-ordinated linens and towels, scented candles, flowers and plants and decorative soap dispensers in the bathroom to project a relaxed and luxurious environment.
Something that many people forget to consider is property lighting. After spending time design each room, look at the room and then design a suitable lighting scheme. Layering lights enhances colour schemes, so overhead as well as accent lighting such as table, wall or floor lights used together work to the best affect.
One final tip is make sure each room projects a feeling of comfort. A great way of doing this is to make sure the whole environment of your home is designed to make buyers feel comfortable. Make sure it is either sufficiently cool or warm depending on the season and use reed diffusers, room sprays, fresh flowers and plug-in air fresheners to make every room look and smell its best.