So, you’ve decided to put your home on the market. You’ve already got this plan in your head that will make your move the easiest, most streamlined process (with the help of the Mobile Attic, of course). With a local storage solution out of the way, the next step would be…to sell the house. Simple enough, right? Then you hire a realtor and sit down for a conversation, the overwhelming smell of lavender-scented perfume filling your nose. She says with a gleeful lipstick smile, “We need to prepare your home for staging.” That hits you like a ton of bricks. What’s wrong with this elegant simplicity that I have been cultivating over years of my life? It is the expression of my very soul, you say. Every hall and room represent compartments of your own mind. To simplify this, your style, would be to strip away the very fabric that cuddles your spirit on long, stormy nights. I might be exaggerating a bit, but the emotional attachment is still there! Nonetheless, future home buyers don’t want to be greeted with a neon baseball sign and the rather large ceramic bear collection. You are simplifying the theme of your home (and renovating that style) so that it can appeal to a wider audience. Have no fear because, as always, your humble blog writer brings you a few tips that will make this an experience that you enjoy and one that your realtor certainly enjoys.
Start from Scratch! This should be simple enough, assuming your move is just around the corner. Unless you are the procrastinating type, there should already be a few things in your portable storage container. House staging is an art; like any art, it certainly helps to start with a blank canvas. Remove everything or almost everything from the main living spaces for a day or two; if you have the luxury of being able to wait some time, the mental distance from your original furniture arrangement will help the creative process. Everything will be safe your friendly neighborhood local storage solution. Think long and hard about the furniture that is going into the main areas. You want to simplify, so reduce the number of surfaces and sitting areas to open the space, showing off the natural shape of the room. If you’re the visual type, it may help to plan the furniture placement on a piece of paper before you start moving things.
Brighten things Up! This would probably be a good time to consult one of my posts from early March… colors will, I repeat, WILL make or break your home for potential buyers. It’s just one of those things that is heavily subjective, but if you do it right, it will play with the lighting a bit and create a feeling that no human brain can ignore! Try to tie the colors in with the main colors on furniture that you are including in these main areas. House staging gives you an excuse to go to the local home décor shop so that you can find pillows, throws, and afghans that will compliment your color selection. The accessories also tend to tighten the space back up to a reasonable degree, which will be incredibly helpful after you just removed half of everything. The icing on the cake, if you have the patience, would be to add some living plants to the house. This not only adds to the diversity of color, but it also instigates a psychological response where the person in the room sees the signs of life and associates that positively with the living space.
Make it Inviting! The first big step to making your newly arranged room presentable would be to clean the darn thing. I can’t think of anything more off-putting to a potential buyer aside from structural damage to the home or vermin infestations. Once we get that out of the way (And yes, I wrote about that also), you should pay attention to how the lighting affects your mood as you enter. Indirect light works well with more vivid colors, while you may want to do something cooler or more subdued in natural light. Fluorescent lights give off a subtle blue hue that can distort some colors, so keep that in mind. The goal is to have the buyer feel like they could live in the environment, and the lighting can make things feel incredibly homey. The last tip I want to mention is something that I picked up from reading about Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Apparently, they have smells like popcorn and cookies pumped through the park to make you feel welcome and relaxed. You will start to associate the park with the pleasant feeling of smelling baked goods! Harness this same ability at home! Leave a tray of chocolate chip cookies in the oven and that can be the cherry on the sundae of your elegantly staged home!
Whether you are decluttering or forming that blank canvas, Mobile Attic is your local storage option that will turn your move into something simple and elegant, just like your newly staged home!
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