7 Home Staging Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making

Posted by on Thursday, February 1st, 2018 at 10:59am.

There are reasons some homes sell faster than others. We’ve seen more than our fair share of homes, having worked with a lot of clients both buying and selling over the years. So we have the secrets you need to make a well-staged home that is marketable to potential buyers! Check out our top 6 home staging mistakes you don’t want to make: 

1. Over-personalizing your home

Just because you like a wine country themed kitchen doesn’t mean buyers will share the same feelings. When you begin the process of staging your home, try to take out the specific personalization that might make a buyer think twice about the space. In staging a home, your biggest asset is the imagination of prospective buyers. You want them to be able to see themselves in the space. So be sure to take yourself out of the equation and remove any photos, signs of pets and themed decor that will make it harder for a buyer to imagine your home as theirs. 

2. Not placing enough furniture

When staging a home, it’s important to remove any excessive furniture that will make a space seem smaller. That is usually a no-brainer, but the staging mistake people can make is not using enough furniture. Each room should have a defined purpose with the potential buyer in mind. What do you think they’d like to see there? Maybe an office, guest room or another kids’ room? Rent, borrow or buy inexpensive furnishings to turn your room into something that is appealing to buyers. 

3. Too much color…or not enough color

There is nothing wrong with neutrals, but if every room is beige and white and forgettable, your home may not stand out from others. We’re definitely not saying to get crazy with the color, though! You don’t want the buyer thinking of all the time, money and effort they’d have to put in to cover up bright blue walls. There’s a fine line to walk, but if you can create a neutral room with a few small pops of color, you’ll find yourself in the home staging sweet spot. 

4. Getting complex with scents 

One of the home selling tricks you might have heard is to bake cookies before a showing or open house so the home smells like fresh-baked yumminess. That’s probably worked for people before, but sometimes it does not! Strong smells, even good strong smells, aren’t what a buyer wants to find in a new home. A safer bet for attracting a buyer is to avoid chemical air fresheners, perfumes, etc. and instead go with a scent that everyone loves—the smell of clean. Wipe down countertops with a cleaner that has a subtle fresh scent like citrus. 

5. Missing the details 

Although it’s important to clear out unnecessary clutter when staging a home, that doesn’t mean your home should look empty and clinical. Decorative displays on dressers, counters or bookshelves can give your home a warm, lived-in vibe that will help potential buyers imagine their lives there. Group decorative items from the same color family in odd numbers (three is a good bet) and vary them in height and shape. Replace family photos with art so your walls look finished, but impersonal. A vase of fresh cut flowers is also always a great option to make a home feel like a home! 

6. Keeping doors closed

This seems like a small detail, but it can make a huge difference to a prospective buyer’s feelings about a home. Being able to move freely around the home without opening doors makes things feel more open and appealing. Beyond that, if you’re unfamiliar with the layout of a home, it’s possible to miss rooms or even an entire floor if they mistake that door for a closet! 

7. Faking people out

If you’re starting out with an empty home, we understand the difficulty of trying to make a home feel lived in that hasn’t actually been lived in. However, the answer to that isn’t cutting corners with fake fruit, cardboard TVs and air mattresses. Every fake item a buyer comes upon makes the home feel more clinical, like a show room, rather than a home they can imagine themselves in. Take the extra steps to truly stage a home and leave the cardboard items out of the equation. 


Looking to sell your home? We would love to help! Contact us for more information: 

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