Use these Home Staging Ideas for Entertaining or a Fast Sale

Staged homes typically attract better-qualified home buyers fast who are willing to pay more for them.  But your objective may be entirely different from that of selling a home, perhaps improving it instead to encourage guests and family members to return for future entertainment, to be that exclusive oasis for your own relaxation, or simply to make it like new again through routine maintenance.  Whether making others fall in love with your abode or restoring it to the retreat that prompted you to buy it in the first place, consider these house staging tips along your journey to making the property into the showplace you've always known that it could be.

Use these Home Staging Ideas for Entertaining or a Fast Sale

Twelve Tips on Easily Cleaning and Depersonalizing Your Home

• Declutter by packing early, focusing on books, clothing, memorabilia, photos, diplomas, wall art, and other personal items. Consider the use of storage offsite.
• Reduce belongings to the absolute must-haves in the attic, basements, and closets so that guests can imagine those as ideal storage spaces.
• Reduce all cabinet and drawer contents to the bare minimum.
• Secure personal devices, pharmaceuticals, medical gear, and other valuables in a safe place.  
• Check for cobwebs, dust, and insects in room corners, ceiling fans, air registers, return vents, above door and window frames, and around light fixtures.
• Clean the property from top to bottom, including the baseboards, ceiling, walls, and windows.
• Address pet odors by cleaning and freshening litter boxes. 
• Place pet blankets, toys, bowls, litter boxes, and playthings out of sight.
• Run a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher.
• Clean the oven inside and the door including the glass.
• Deodorize smelly drains and address hard water stains on plumbing fixtures with baking soda, vinegar, and boiling water.
• Wash waste cans.

18 Proven Ways to Be Consistent when Staging the Whole House

• When selling, put away collectibles, mementos, toys, family photos, trophies, religious icons, political references, calendars, and home movies.
• Straighten and organize closets, cupboards, drawers, and shelves.
• Remove excess and oversized furniture, perhaps a piece or two, including those that are pet damaged, for a more open, spacious feel.
• Keep symmetry in mind while arranging the remaining pieces of furniture away from the walls and into groups along with lighting and rugs that promote small group interaction. 
• Set up the room so that the majority of the seating faces or angles a focal wall.
• Place the tallest piece of room furniture in the far-left corner, away from the entry.
• Achieve visual texture through the use of decorative tabletop accessories, mirrors, artwork, flowers (neutral colors rather than red), and texture-rich fabrics.
• Consider the rule of three (three room colors, textures, pieces, fixtures, groups).  Place at least three pillows on the sofa.
• Modestly place bright, colorful accent pillows, throw blankets, and rugs around in symmetry.
• Replace worn window treatments and clean the others.
• Create an illusion of space by placing curtain rods just beneath the ceiling and ensuring that curtains reach the floor with minimal gaps.
• Place wine glasses near the fireplace and a floral arrangement near the entry.
• Use stylish lamps and spotlights to brighten dark spots.
• Add new hardware and fresh paint or stain that enhances the appearance of the molding, doors, cabinets, and drawers.
• Polish all appliances, cabinets, doorway hardware, and light fixtures.
• Brighten darker areas with lamps, spotlights, and decorative mirrors, which also gives an illusion of more space.
• Ensure that all walls are light in color, perhaps beige, taupe, or white.
• Use the same paint color in nearby rooms to achieve the feeling of more space.

Three Great Suggestions that Adorn the Main Gathering Areas

• Ensure that the fireplace, accompanying glass, screen, and accessories are clear of soot, otherwise clean, and present well. 
• Configure an underused nook as a small workspace.
• Finish with a cool board game, an open book, or a county newcomer magazine displayed on the coffee table while tasteful image slides show on the television. 

Stylish Touches to Encourage Entertaining in the Dining Room

• Allow guests to imagine themselves enjoying the dining area with a stylish table setting, a decanter on the buffet accompanied by wine glasses, and a beautiful runner.  
• Place floral vases, colorfully themed candles, throw rugs, windows, and other matching stylish treatments as the ideal meeting point between causal and formal design.

13 Tips that are Sure to Touch up the Kitchen with Style

• Determine whether the kitchen appliances work properly, can be cleaned into a good, presentable appearance, or should be considered for replacement.
• Be sure that the kitchen drains and water are both odor-free.
• Confirm that the drain stop holds water in the sinks.
• Decide whether the backsplashes, counters, and hardware need to be replaced.
• Wash the floor, fridge, walls, and cabinets, inside, and out.
• Be sure that all stove gas burners and grease traps are clean.
• Clean and check for odor along the pressboards beneath the sink.
• Caulk any gaps between plumbing fixtures and surfaces.
• Arrange pantry items with designer baskets, bins, and canisters to promote extra space inside.
• Remove calendars, magnets, and anything else attached to the outside surface of the refrigerator.
• Think about adding under-cabinet lighting.
• If staging to sell, empty and move all wastebaskets out of sight.
• Consider packing away all but the most flattering cookware, dish sets, glassware, and utensils. 

Consider these Five Tips to Make the Bedrooms Inviting.

• Pack and store away any clothes that are not likely to be worn soon to enhance the closet space.
• Decide if the bins, racks, and shelves are due for replacement.
• Ensure that matching, high-quality closet hangers neatly hold the remaining apparel.
• De-gender, and remove televisions and other gear from rooms used as bedrooms to create a more neutral, serene environment that promotes rest.
• Configure extra bedrooms for use as a home office, gaming, or sewing room.

Consider these Ten Tips for a Charming Powder and Bathroom

• Remove all personal care items from the counters, tub, commode tank, shelves, and any other surface, and pack them all away except for those still frequently used.  
• Place all personal and medical care products still in frequent use out of view.
• Confirm that the water heats and is odor-free.
• Repair any chips in the shower, tub, or face bowl fiberglass.
• Carefully examine the windows, flooring, counters, sinks, tile, and molding, for moisture or damage, and decide if caulk, grout, repairs, or a replacement should be considered.
• Clean and check for odor, moisture on the pipes, and the pressboard beneath the sink.
• Decide whether the backsplashes, counters, hardware, or mirrors need to be replaced.
• Caulk any gaps between plumbing fixtures and surfaces.
• Clean the surfaces from top to bottom, removing peeled paint and sanitizing the ceiling, floor, walls, shower, tub, and any other surface that makes contact with steam. 
• Accessorize with a candle, soap dispenser, matching bath mat, shower curtain, hanging bath cloth set, and perhaps even a beautiful basket of disposable hand towels. 

Nine Tips for a Welcoming Tone on the Showing or Event Day

• When practical, let in the fresh air and turn on the bath, powder room, kitchen, and house exhaust fans for up to an hour prior to a showing or an event.
• Walk through and touch up the home by revisiting the cleaning suggestions.
• Add seasonal plants in stylish planters near the front entryway.
• When selling, remove and store the window screens from highly visible windows.
• For home showings, avoid cooking unless it involves making cookies or other baked goods for a pleasant fragrance and visual appeal.
• Close all cabinet doors.
• Run a cleaning cycle in the dishwasher.
• Turn lights on throughout the property, have the HVAC conditioning the air for the season, the fireplace on during the winter, and a slideshow of tasteful art on the TV.
• Leave the property for showings so that potential buyers can privately imagine the property as their own.

Wrapping Up These Top House Staging Suggestions and Tips

These house staging tips are sourced from several articles over the years and interviews with highly regarded home interior design authorities nationwide.  But the places that we call home are as different as each of us, varying by area, size, style, and much more, and many of these suggestions may not apply to all readers.  They should, however, offer some general guidance on home enhancements that are applicable to all.  Make use of these tips and those home staging tips in other posts to present your property in the very best light so that it once again feels like new for both guests and owners alike.