How to Stage a House For Sale and How It Actually Helps

Are you looking to sell your home?

In today’s competitive market it’s not enough to present some pretty pictures of your home. You need to sell it and give buyers a reason to choose your house over the many other similar ones on the market.

Staging your home is the best way to show off everything it has to offer and provide that reason. But if you’ve never staged a home before you might not know why you should go to the effort.

What benefits can it actually bring? Where would you even start if you did want to stage it?

Don’t worry, we’re here to help! Keep reading for our ultimate guide on how to stage a house for sale to get you started.

What does house staging mean?

Staging a home is a selling tactic to add appeal to your home. It’s where you have a strategic arrangement of furnishings and decor to make your home look the best it can.

Home staging design is a fine art and takes skill and a keen eye for detail. It also takes knowledge of what appeals the most to local buyers in your area for your type of home.

How you stage your home will depend on your individual situation. In some cases, homeowners declutter and refresh their furniture and decor. For others, they move all their belongings into storage and rent decor and furniture.

Whatever method you choose, the goal is to present your home at its best. You want to draw in buyers to think about how their life would fit into your space, how it would work for them. You’re presenting a blank canvas for them to project their future on.

The selling process (and buying) is emotional. There is a lot of stress and pressure on both sides. This blank canvas lets potential buyers envision your house not as a property, but as a home.

Staging a house: what are the actual benefits?

The NAR (National Associations of Realtors)’s Profile of Home Staging details the pros. They have a very strong case for why it benefits both owners and buyers.

It’s worth a read if you want to learn more, but we’ll go into an overview here. We’ll look at the specifics and statistics around home staging. We’ll also look at the role it plays in an effective, efficient sale to get you the offer you deserve.

Buyers are more decisive and know what they want

In the NAR’s home staging survey, agents state that 76% of buyers know what their ideal home is. They’ve figured this out before they even start to look for homes in a serious manner.

Home staging makes it easier for buyers to find homes that meet their expectations. It shows off the space a home has to offer in a way that maximizes its appeal.

Without home staging, it could prevent buyers from visualizing your home. To decide whether your home fits their ideals, they need to be able to imagine how your space will work for them.

Among those who responded, 47% said home staging had an effect on how they saw the homes they viewed. That’s compared to only 7% who said it had no impact at all.

The stats speak for themselves, and it puts you at an advantage. It gives you the power to put your home in a positive light for buyers. You have a chance to influence them before they step through the door.

Staging highlights potential for the future not the present

Any interior designer will tell you that designing and living in a house is very personal. Everyone has their own unique tastes, styles, and personality. Not to mention that homes come in all shapes, sizes, and styles too.

But one of the most important home staging design tips is to not make it personal. It’s time to put buyers first, not your own personal tastes. If you want to sell, your home needs to appeal to buyers.

82% of agents acting for buyers said staging a house makes it easier for buyers to visualize the property. And 41% said that knowing a home was being staged made buyers more willing to go see homes they had seen online.

Agents will tell you that one of the major hurdles is getting buyers through the door. So, it makes sense that home staging would help in this regard.

You’re never going to please everyone or be able to predict each buyer’s exact tastes. But, you give your home a broad appeal that should invoke thought from the most buyers possible. The more you appeal to buyers’ hopes for the future, the more attractive your home will seem to them.

Staging your home shows off its key spaces

Not all the rooms in your home have equal importance to buyers. So, they won’t have equal importance for staging a home. 46% of buyers said that the living room was important to them, and 43% also said the master bedroom.

Only 11% found the children’s bedroom very important, with 9% saying the same for guest bedrooms. Bathrooms came out at 20% and yard space might surprise you at 23%.

This is great news if you’re on a budget and can’t afford to stage all the rooms in your home. If you know which ones are most important to local buyers, you can make them a priority. This will give you the biggest returns for the least amount of effort (and cash).

Speaking with local agents will give you an idea of what rooms local buyers value the most. After living rooms and master bedrooms, the NAR’s survey has kitchens and dining rooms.

Great home staging will show off these areas at their best. It will also highlight any period features that you want to show off, things like:

• Original hardwood floors
• Period fireplaces
• Original plasterwork

There are a lot of period features that appeal to buyers. Home staging gives you a chance to show those off to their full potential, adding further appeal.

The right staging can increase your home’s value

Another huge benefit that staging your home brings is the fact it can increase your home’s value. Around a quarter of buyers’ agents said that staging increased the price offered by 1-5%.

Sellers’ agents said the same, with 23% mirroring these findings. And 18% said it actually increased the offering prices by 6-10%! No sellers agents reported a negative effect from home staging on the offering price.

As such, there could be a lot to gain by staging your home. It’s worth talking to an agent about how staging could boost your home’s appeal. It’s a lot of effort, and while you won’t lose anything make sure your agent thinks the returns are there.

For example, for homes with unique features or decor, it could be a huge selling point to have your home staged.

Staging can reduce the time your home spends on the market

One of the worst things that can happen when you’re selling your home is it becomes a stale listing. This is a home that’s been on the market for a long period of time and hasn’t had any offers.

The longer a house sits on the market, the harder it’ll be to find a buyer. Anyone looking for homes will wonder why your home isn’t selling. They’ll start to think that something serious must be wrong with it.

Your goal, when selling your home, should be to get it sold in as few days as possible. The NAR survey looked at the average time homes took to sell.

22% said they saw a slight decrease in how long homes with staging took to sell. And 31% of sellers agents noticed a significant decrease in the time staged homes spent on the market.

The reason why staged homes tend to sell faster is simple, and as stated above. It comes down to one thing: staging helps buyers see themselves living in a property. They can view the potential a space might hold, and make an easier, clearer decision of if it works for them.

How much would it cost to stage a home?

As each property is unique, the cost of staging a home tends to be too. It depends on the space you want to stage and the features you want to highlight. It also depends on the extent you want to go to when staging your home.

Some homeowners, if their home has dated decor or a very unique style, might decide to redecorate. For other homes, it might be a case of a few new statement furniture pieces. Or even only needing to consider the current layout of a room to make it work better.

One thing that’s true is if you do the research, effective staging doesn’t have to break the bank. You’re looking at $150-$600 for the initial consultation with a home stager. After that, you’re looking at $400-$700 per room for each month you need it.

It will be an investment, but if you do it right, your home shouldn’t be on the market for longer than a month. And remember, you don’t have to stage every room, you can focus on the rooms buyers care the most about. If it boosts the offer price of your home, it could even end up paying for itself.

In some cases, if you’re using an agent, they will pay for the staging of your home. This is because it will make their jobs easier. They’ll sell your home faster and for a higher price if the circumstances are right.

In other cases, you’d need to call in the help of a professional home stager. If you do this, then you’ll be the one responsible for paying the fees. For those with experience and an eye for detail, some even take on the task of staging themselves.

Staging a house: Do it effectively

Regardless of if your agent stages your home, a professional or you do it yourself, you need to know how it’s done. Understanding how to get the best staging results can only give you an advantage. So, here are some top home staging tips to get the results you deserve.

1. De-personalize Your Home

One of the main reasons you’re staging your home is to help buyers picture their lives there. The first step to achieving this is to create as blank a canvas as possible. You might love the personal items you’ve acquired over time, but the buyers don’t need to see them.

This isn’t to mean you’re taking the personality out of your home. You still want a home that’s stylish and packed with charm. It should be a general charm though, without any of your personal touches. You shouldn’t remind the buyer it’s your home, you should remind them of how this space could be theirs.

Take down any personal photos from both the walls and any furniture or displays. This should also include items hanging on your fridge. Keep your clothes stored out of sight and clear the bathroom counters. It might be annoying, but for viewings, this should include items like toothbrushes.

While it will feel weird to live in your home without your personal items, it will pay off. It’s one of the most impactful ways to help buyers get an emotional connection with your property.

2. Remove clutter

The next essential step to staging a home is cleaning, and purging the space of clutter. A clean home that’s clutter-free will appear bigger, and show off your home’s features more.

Take your clutter and knick-knacks and store them. Don’t shove them in a closet, as buyers will open those up. Use this as a chance to start packing for your own move and consider renting a storage unit.

Once you’ve decluttered, do a thorough deep clean of your home. You want your kitchen and bathroom to shine, and make sure your toilet is clean with the lid shut.

Open all the windows to let in the clean, fresh air. Avoid scented candles and air fresheners as they could irritate allergies. You won’t know if a buyer has those, so it’s not worth the risk. If there is room in your budget, it’s worth hiring a professional cleaning service.

3. Choose neutral colors

This home staging design tip is a little more involved, but it could make a huge difference. It could give you that extra edge to reduce time on the market, and improve your sale price.

We understand that everyone’s personality is different. Your home plays a big part in expressing yourself. You might love those purple walls or bright red master bedroom, but to buyers that could be a turn-off.

Bold colors can detract from your room’s features, and make spaces look smaller. It also signifies you in a very personal way, it’s your personality splashed over each wall. That’s not helpful for buyers who want to envision their future in your home.

One of the best ways to stage your home is to paint over any bright, out-there colors. Choose neutral colors instead, like grays, whites, and beiges. Use white to paint the ceilings and any woodwork for an extra fresh look.

Buyers might want to paint with their own bright colors, but a neutral canvas lets them make their choice.

4. Get as much light as possible

Brighter, airier rooms will have more appeal than dark ones. They also look more spacious and open too. Make sure all your blinds and curtains are open, letting in as much light as possible.

Get appealing light fixtures that help to add more artificial light if you need it. You don’t want lamps that are dingy, dated, or dim.

While you should use as much natural light as you can, it’s not always possible. In those cases, it’s better to use artificial light. So, replace any fixtures that aren’t giving enough.

Consider the color of the lighting too. Whiter lights will look closer to daylight. The Kelvin rating on the box should help you work out the right bulb. Soft white bulbs rank between 2700-3000K. To mimic daylight, get as close to 5000-6500K as you can.

5. Do your repairs

When preparing to stage your home use this time to tackle those little repairs you’ve put off. This include fixes for:

• Scratches and nicks
• Holes
• Wobbly doorknobs
• Dripping taps

A good place to start is using a melamine foam eraser on the walls to remove scuff marks. As you go through each room, give it a once over. Look for other jobs that need doing and areas that could use a bit of sprucing up.

If you aren’t repainting in full, look for areas that could use a little touch-up. You’ll want to refresh chipped paint for a fresh, clean look. Most buyers look for homes they can move right into without needing major works.

A scruffy home could show you didn’t put effort into its upkeep. They might worry that the little repairs hide bigger ones, which could end up costing them in the future. Once they believe that, they could walk away and you could lose a sale.

6. Spruce up your furniture

A general rule most staging experts agree with says you should remove about 1/2 of your furniture. This might be difficult given that you’re still living in your home but the payoff is worth it.

With less furniture, it will showcase the available space to make it look as big as possible. This will be more appealing to buyers, as they can start to think about how their furniture would fit into the room.

If your furniture isn’t showroom-worthy, or you’ve already stored it you can rent some. Nice, new, modern pieces give a fresh look and feel to a room. It makes it look like a home, without overwhelming with personality.

Stick to neutral pieces that buyers can swap out for their own furniture in their minds. You want to give a cozy, lived-in feel still, it’s a fine balance. Too bare and it’ll be hard for buyers to picture how your space will work.

7. Arrange your furniture

Once you’ve decided what furniture to use (your own pared down or rented), you need to arrange it. Position the chairs, couches, and tables away from any walls.

This is a design technique called “floating” and you anchor these pieces with the use of a rug. Do this even in carpeted rooms. It will create a cozy, intimate feel.

Buyers will imagine having friends over for dinner at the dining room table. Or they’ll think about watching the latest sports game with them in the living room.

Staged homes shouldn’t feel lifeless and empty, that’s not what they’re designed for. They’re designed to give buyers the vision and tools to see the space working as a home and how it accomplishes it.

8. Spruce up your curb appeal

Curb appeal is what realtors refer to when they talk about how your house looks from the outside. There’s no point staging your home to appeal to buyers if they’re not going to give it a second look from the outside.

Remember, you need to get them through the front door. So they don’t drive up, gasp, and turn around again, make sure you do the following:

• Clean the windows
• Jet-wash driveways and walkways
• Make sure the house number is visible
• Trim overgrowing hedges and trees
• Mow the lawn
• Have planters or plant some appealing flowers
• Consider a welcome mat and outdoor furniture for your porch

These little touches will go a long way when buyers first pull up to your home. You don’t get a second chance at first impressions so you need to wow them from the start.

10. Add the little touches

No home staging is complete without the little touches. Small additions go a long way to make your space feel more welcoming and cozy.

It might sound silly, but think of how nice the smell of cookies or fresh bread is. Bake some, and have a small spread for buyers to enjoy. Some light refreshments can’t hurt either.

Use items that aren’t personal, but will add a homey feel like some decorative vases, or nice artwork. If you don’t like how these items look, you can store them away when you don’t have viewings.

Staging a House on a Budget

Before you start thinking about staging your home, the absolute first thing you should do is declutter, declutter, declutter. When your house looks crowded with stuff, it makes people feel as though the home isn’t big enough and even makes the rooms feel smaller.

One of the most cost-effective ways to improve the look of your house is to declutter.

Since you’re moving, you likely are planning on going through your stuff and getting rid of some of it anyway. If you’re like most Americans, you have closets, garages, and storage spaces filled to the brim with things you don’t even remember buying. Before you put your house on the market and before you get into staging, it’s time to get rid of everything you no longer want or need.

One of the first things you can do when you’re staging a house for sale on a budget is to sell some items. You don’t necessarily need to have a yard sale and drag everything you own out to the curb, but some of your belongings are likely easy to sell and worth the trouble.

Bigger ticket items can be sold on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or other buy-and-sell groups.

When going through your stuff, you’ll need to get some trash bags and boxes. Then, always have a trash bag with you and boxes labeled as give away, recycle, and sell.

Do a deep clean

One of the things you can do to really make your house more appealing to buyers is clean, clean, clean. After all, what’s the point of sprucing up your home so it looks like it belongs in a magazine only for there to be layers of dust on all of the molding?

If you have more time than money, you can deep clean your home rather than hiring a cleaning company. You can cut costs by using reusable rags rather than paper towels and making your own cleaning solutions.

Avoid renting a storage unit

If you’re staging a house on a budget, you’ll want to avoid renting a storage unit. Putting your extra furniture and belongings in a storage unit is common advice when it comes to staging, but if you’re on a budget you won’t want to accrue that expense.

Instead, see if you could borrow a corner of the garage at a friend’s house or family member’s home. Otherwise, you can neatly stack your boxes in your own garage. So long as you do it in an organized way and potential buyers can still get a sense of the space, it likely won’t be too big of an issue.

Use budget items to create curb appeal

Many people who are thinking about buying a home do their own research on real estate websites. When they like a house, they drive by to give it a look before they even reach out to a real estate agent.

For this reason, it’s just as important to stage the outside of your home as it is to stage the inside. First impressions are important in many aspects of life, and it might be particularly true when it comes to real estate. After all, if a potential buyer doesn’t like the looks of your home from the outside, they won’t bother to set up a showing or pursue it further.

Curb appeal is something you can definitely boost on a budget. Here are some of the things you can do:

• Keep the lawn mowed
• Trim the hedges
• Top off mulch
• Keep outdoor spaces free of clutter
• Soften hard outdoor spaces by adding an outdoor rug
• Lighten up your outdoor space with inexpensive solar lights or string lights on your porch
• Set the patio space for entertaining

When you’re looking into home staging ideas on a budget, don’t forget about the outside. Creating an inviting vibe is essential to the quickest sale possible.

Rearrange your furniture

You don’t necessarily need to put your furniture in storage to replace it with nicer, more appealing furniture. Instead, consider rearranging your existing furniture to create clearer pathways through your house.

The flow of how a person naturally moves through the home is important. You’ll want to leave at least 24 inches of space for low traffic areas and 30-48 inches of space for higher traffic areas. When creating these pathways, be sure to consider where chairs rest when they are pulled out.

Shop your own stuff

Before you pull out your wallet to spend the big bucks on home accents, take a look at what you already have in your home. There’s a good chance you already have some elements that would really add something to the space for staging purposes.

For example, you might collect your nicest vases, bowls, and glassware and use them for decorative touches. Fill one of your best vases with fresh flowers or fill decorative bowls with beautiful fruit to display on the kitchen counter.

Add budget accents that exude luxury

Once you’ve exhausted the supply of accents in your own home, you might consider adding a few budget pieces. This doesn’t have to be a huge expense, and a little bit of class can go a long way.

Fresh flowers is one of the easiest home staging ideas on a budget. They add a subtle floral scent and an unmistakable freshness. On top of that, flowers are thought to boost happiness, improve mental health, and raise the perceived quality of life, all of which are wonderfully positive associations for potential buyers to be made right in your house that is for sale.

Another small detail you can add is luxury hand soaps in the bathroom and kitchen. You can get some pretty bars or soap or bottles from places like T.J. Maxx or Trader Joe’s and it shouldn’t break the bank too much. Leave bar soaps unused until the house is sold to keep them looking your best.

If you have nicer guest towels, swap these out for the daily towels. Otherwise, you might consider replacing the towels with a nicer, more luxurious set for showings.

Replacing the shower curtain can also freshen up the place and turn your bathroom from just-so to spa-level.

Slap on a fresh coat of paint

Most real estate agents agree that you should paint your walls with a fresh coat before you start the showing process. When you do this, however, it’s a good idea to go with a nice beige or greige tone, as this is what buyers respond most positively to.

If you have any rooms that are painted a distracting color or are painted a non-neutral color, you can work on these first to save money. You can then incorporate accent colors with textiles after you create a neutral backdrop. This can keep your home from appearing too bland.

Some of the decor pieces you can use to add personality and color without spending too much money include throw blankets, throw pillows and a small accent rug.

Revitalize your existing belongings

When you’re selling your house, you might feel like the expectation is that you will stage your home in a way that basically requires full remodeling. There’s a good chance you have a lot going on in your life, and taking the time and spending the money to totally redecorate doesn’t seem like your highest priority.

However, you can revamp some of your existing stuff to really make your home more appealing to buyers.

For example, the right slipcover could totally transform that dated and worn sofa you have. Cushion covers can give new life to throw pillows, and a crisp white budget duvet cover could help keep your bedroom fresh and clean feeling.

Many people opt to replace hardware from bathroom vanities, kitchen cabinets, and sometimes even furniture. Little details like this can actually make a big difference.

Tailor your staging to your most likely buyers

The number one rule of marketing is: know your audience. When you’re looking for home staging ideas on a budget, the best thing you can do is learn more about the type of people who will most likely be interested in your house.

While you can’t know everything about prospective buyers, there are definitely some hints to help you know who your target market is. For example, if you’re moving out of a family-friendly neighborhood and a four-bedroom house, there’s a high likelihood that the people looking at houses in the neighborhood will be families with children.

Even if your kids have flown the coop and you’re downsizing for retirement, consider decorating one of the spare bedrooms to look like a child’s room. You might be able to borrow decor, toys, and linens from family members or friends rather than spending money on this part of the process.

Maybe your home is in an area where millennials tend to reside. You can then tailor your decorating to this demographic, showing off how the space can be great for entertaining.

Utilize the benefits of natural light

One of the things that is very important to buyers is natural light. For this reason, you should always maximize the natural light that you have. Remove any heavy curtains or draperies that are hanging and replace them with sheer white curtains, sheer panels, or leave them uncovered.

Replace your bulbs

The lighting in a room can totally change the way people see a space. Even if you’re seriously on a budget, you can at least change the lightbulbs to brighten up the space. Choose bulbs that have a higher color temperature that offer a bright, clear, daylight hue to increase the sensation of natural light.

Harness the power of mirrors

If your house is filled with small spaces, add some mirrors and hang them right across from windows. This will make the space feel bigger and reflect more light. You might be able to find mirrors on local buy and sell groups, thrift stores, or on Facebook Marketplace if you don’t have any extra laying around.

Stage a child’s bedroom before listing your home

Staging your home effectively can help you put its ‘best face’ forward in the real estate marketplace. When you have children, however, it can be a bit tricky to ensure a consistent home environment while maintaining a ‘company-ready’ appearance that allows you to market your home well to potential buyers.

Although a bit of balancing is required, it’s not an impossible situation by any means. You can create a comfortable space for children and stage kids’ rooms in a manner that shows these spaces to their best advantage. And, you’ll even find that your kids can even help you manage many of these tips, which makes them great teaching moments, helping you demonstrate the importance of organization and cleanliness.

With these ten no-fail tips, you can stage bedrooms that are sure to impress would-be buyers, and their kids.

Declutter

The hard part comes first! Decluttering with kids is no easy feat, but in order to show off a child’s room effectively, you need to make it appear as spacious as possible so that buyers can more easily imagine their furnishings and possessions in the space.

Begin by removing all items that your kids have outgrown. Create piles of items to donate or store. Hopefully, you have a place where you can neatly stow items in totes. Use clear plastic totes to store items like train sets, Barbie dolls, or action figures so you can retrieve them from your storage spot in the garage or basement when kids want to play.

As for the room itself, you want to stick to the basics as much as possible–bed, dresser, bookcase, and a toy chest. Too many other items will make the space feel cramped.

Organize

Once you remove all the superfluous items, you’ll want to neatly arrange and organize remaining items. These should be kids’ essentials–their favorite books and toys, clothing, and infant or school supplies. If you have shelves or a bookshelf, arrange books neatly and keep small items stowed in attractive basketry.

The baskets are ideal for kids to use too when replacing their small dolls or toy cars, for example. Don’t neglect closet organization. Closet space is important to buyers and they’ll probably want to take a peak to examine how large–or small–it is. Naturally, you want the closet to appear as spacious and neat as possible. Use shoe caddies and closet organizers to keep this area of the bedroom neatly arranged.

Show off storage features

Speaking of storage, it’s ok to show off some of your space’s storage features. Built-ins aren’t always a welcome feature for buyers, but if you have an attractive window seat in your kids’ room that opens for storage, be sure to let them know.

Open it up to let them see how much space there is to fit seasonal bedding or clothing, for instance. A closet organizer, bookshelves, or a toy caddy can help you and your kids maintain a tidy room, so these items need to remain as you stage the room for a sale. Again, with good storage features in place, your kids can help you maintain the room’s clean and tidy appearance. 

Neutral paint color

Real estate professionals recommend that sellers keep bedrooms gender neutral. Keep in mind that you may be showing your house to people without children or families with one gender. A couple with a son won’t necessarily be impressed by a pink bedroom.

Opt for neutral colors like white or a very light beige. Don’t go too dark because everyone knows that it’s more difficult to paint over a dark-hued paint. Plus, fresh, light paint makes the room appear clean and larger in appearance. Be sure to remove wallpaper and borders too. Painted walls are your best option when it comes to staging a bedroom. 

Remove Themed Elements

Many kids’ rooms may feature special items that highly a theme–a Disney Little Mermaid light switch plate or Marvel Incredible Hulk fan blade covers. As fun as these items are for kids, they’re not effective for showcasing bedrooms.

For one, buyers may have older children. For another thing, they might not have any children at all. Your nursery or young child’s bedroom might be their idea of a guest bedroom or even a home office. Just as you’re using paint to create a neutral space, you’ll want to remove any items that could contribute to a princess or cowboy-themed setting.

There’s no need for you to ‘hide’ the fact that it’s a child’s bedroom, but you don’t want to go overboard with kids’ themes either. 

De-Personalize

De-personalizing the space is another way to help potential buyers envision their family in your home. It may be disappointing for your kids to see their name placards, school awards, and artwork removed, but let them know that it’s important to keep these items safe before your move.

It’s only a temporary timeout for them until you’re able to move to your new place. However, de-personalizing has a safety element too. Potential buyers are strangers; there’s no need for them to know your kids’ names or see photos of them and their friends.

It’s also a good idea to de-personalize the rest of your home too and remove family photos to safe storage until you’re able to showcase them again in your new home. 

Update lighting fixtures and window treatments

As you’re transforming your children’s bedrooms for a potential sale, consider updating your lighting features and window treatments. Anything dated or dingy could detract from the pleasant ambience of the room.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to install a new overhead light fixture. In fact, if the room isn’t bathed in natural light, add another lamp or two so that the room is well lit when buyers visit. A bright space has a way of being a more attractive space. In addition, update window treatments too.

Clean curtains or shades are essential. Remove broken blinds or window treatments that seem overly ornate. When buyers visit, keep the blinds or curtains open to allow as much natural light in as possible. 

Add clean, cozy bedding

Beds are usually bedroom focal points so be sure that your kids’ beds are always made and topped with clean and cozy bedding. Again, neutral hues are best, but cleanliness is even better. Stained quilts or overly worn bedspreads could detract from the cozy look you’re trying to create. Encourage kids to keep their favorite stuffed animals in a basket next to the bed rather than strewn atop the bed during the day when potential buyers may visit. Replace stuffed bears and rabbits with a few comfy throw pillows that help tie the window treatments and wall paint together for a decorative, cheerful look. 

Upcycle or remove dated furnishings

In the real world, we often quite happily live with mismatched furnishings. However, when you’re trying to stage a room, you may want to set aside some time for DIY makeovers. First, if furnishings are in really poor or dated condition and they’re not essential to the room, put them in storage until the move.

Then, consider painting mismatched bookcases and dressers–especially if they aren’t in great condition or designed with attractive, solid wood. You’ll be amazed how attractive a room can be when the bookcase, nightstand, and dressers all match.

In fact, go easy on yourself and use a self-priming paint designed for furniture. Again, opt for neutral paint colors when you upcycle these types of items. Off-white is typically a safe bet. 

Highlight the ‘Good Stuff’

Of course, you don’t have to remove everything from your kids’ bedrooms. Are there special collections or items that could really add something attractive to the room? For instance, a collection of vintage children’s books on a bookshelf are perfectly in keeping with a child’s room and could add some attractive ambience to the space.

A small antique rocking horse would not be out of place in a nursery. The key is to keep special collections neat and showcased in a manner that won’t detract from the spacious appeal or neutrality of the room. After all, you don’t want shelves sitting empty.

Top shelves with items that aren’t plastic or too commercial. A vacation souvenir like a large seashell, a globe, or carved animals could add eye-catching flair to the space without interfering with its clean, orderly look. 

A worthwhile investment

So, there you have it! Now you’ve read this guide on how to stage a house for sale, you have all the information to make a choice.

There are benefits to staging your home if you’re going to sell using traditional methods. But staging your home will take money, time, and energy.

If you want to sell your house for its fair market value, but avoid the hassle of staging, get your instant home valuation today. Our online Home Value Estimator pulls market data to present you with the most accurate home value estimate in seconds.