Welcome Home: How to Stage a Home for Free

Getting your house ready to put on the market can be an anxious affair.

You may worry about your home’s minor flaws or fret that it will stay on the market for longer than you hoped. Putting your house on the market does come with uncertainty, but knowing how to stage a home will make you feel more prepared.

Many people hire professionals to stage their homes. Why? Because it helps them to sell faster.

It gives the buyer an image of the potential of the home and how they will feel living in it. It shows them what the home would look like at its best so they can feel more comfortable putting an offer in.

It’s good to keep in mind that not all buyers have a vivid imagination. They may be too distracted by the current state of your home to see past it. This could result in you losing a potential buyer and your home sitting on the market longer.

To avoid this scenario and to know that you are presenting your home in the best light, you’ll need to stage it. Read on to find out how to stage your home for free or on a budget.

How to Stage Your Home on a Budget

Staging your home differs from decorating your home. Decorating your home involves your own personal sense of style and unique taste. Staging a home appeals to the masses.

Staging a home is also about putting objects out in an organized manner. It requires that you plan ahead and have some tact when placing items in your home. Staging is all about having a crisp, clean design that gives the buyer a starting point from where to add their own unique style.

Staging your home doesn’t need to be expensive, however. In many cases, with a few tips and tricks, you can do it for free. Staging is all about pleasing the eye and creating a comfortable environment so it doesn’t require a total remodel.

Explore the following tips for staging your home before your first showing or open house.

1. Cleaning

The first step in staging your home is thoroughly cleaning it. Start by vacuuming the floors, cleaning the bathrooms, and mopping the floors. Then, you should move on to washing the walls, baseboards, and cabinetry.

It’s also important to get your appliances as clean as possible. Many buyers can be deterred by needing to purchase new appliances, so it’s essential that these items look their best. Also, make sure to remove any odors from the home as this can be distracting to buyers who may fear they won’t be able to eliminate it.

2. Create Closet Space

Closets appear bigger when there are fewer items in them. Create more closet space by packing up some of your clothing or other items. This will make buyers feel like your home has more storage space, which is important to most buyers.

3. Remove Family Photos

Removing family photos better allows buyers to feel like the home is already theirs. Remove family photos from the walls, shelves, and tables. You should also put away any memorabilia or other highly personal items such as family keepsakes.

4. Decrease Clutter

A cluttered home makes buyers feel like there’s less space. Declutter your home by removing unnecessary pieces of furniture, clearing off kitchen counters, and decreasing the amount of personal decor. Try to also declutter your garage if possible.

5. Pack Up 30%

Aim to pack up at least 30% of your belongings from each room. This will also help to declutter and will give buyers less to look at allowing them to focus on your home’s most important features. Place your moving boxes in the attic or a storage unit if available.

6. Rearrange the Furniture

Properly placed furniture can help a room to be more appealing. It can also make it appear more spacious. Arrange the furniture in a more open manner so the layout flows more smoothly.

It’s also a good idea to remove furniture pieces that seem to be crowding the room.

7. Strategically Place Everyday Items

The goal of staging isn’t to make the home look like it isn’t lived in. The goal of staging is to inspire the buyer to see themselves living in your home and feeling comfortable.

Make buyers feel more comfortable by strategically placing everyday items in specific places. For example, place a newspaper and a cup on your kitchen table. You can also place a book near a chair in your sunroom.

This will draw buyers in and gets them excited about starting the next chapter of their lives.

8. Spruce Up the Exterior

Lastly, it’s important to spruce up the exterior of your home. A house for sale needs to have some curb appeal to entice buyers. Curb appeal is extremely important because it’s the first impression buyers have.

Power wash your siding, pull weeds, and trim your bushes. You could also consider planting some flowers. Mowing the grass is also a great way to make your exterior stand out.

How to Stage Your Home: Taking Action

Knowing how to stage your home is just the first step. After learning these tips, you’ll need to put them into action.

First, create a staging design plan. Make a to-do list of all the areas you want to spruce up and what you’ll need to complete each task.

It’s also helpful to ask friends and family to help you during the staging process. Especially, if you need to move large pieces of furniture.

Set aside time whenever you can such as on the weekends and plan to complete one room at a time. You can also request that all of your family members are responsible for staging their own rooms to save time and effort. Once they’re done simply check the work and enjoy the fruits of everyone’s labor.

It’s also helpful to get a seal of approval from your realtor. You can also ask your realtor for their own personal staging tips as well.

Want to learn more about the home selling process? Check out our blog post to learn all about what you’ll need to do to prepare, sell, and close on your current home.