If you want to sell your home quickly and for the best possible price you must work on making a good impression. Home staging is effective because it allows you to emphasize your home’s strengths and minimize its weak points.  It allows you to showcase your home’s maximum potential while allowing buyers to walk in and visualize the home as their own. However, while you are focused on turning your home into a showplace you have to remember that you are still living in it.  You can’t fall victim to the false reality that your home is going to be a model home. That said, you can still do plenty of things to stage your home while ensuring that you are comfortable living in it.

Declutter

You have heard this time and time again but that’s because it is just so important.  One of the best ways to stage your home is by decluttering it and let’s face it…there are plenty of things in your home that you can live without. (at least for a little while)  Get rid of unwanted items and go ahead and pack up the items that you don’t need every day.  This is a great time to get a portable storage pod where you can neatly and easily store your belongings.  Not only will decluttering make your house look better, but it will give you a nice head start on your packing.

Give Everything a Home

Take a walk through your home and look at everything that is either sitting out on a counter or lying on the floor.  Look at things likes toys, shelving, entertainment units, bedside tables, and entryways.  Why are these items stored out in the open? Do they have a place where they belong?  Oftentimes things like charging cords, toys, blankets, shoes, mail, and appliances crowd our counters and floors when they should be stored neatly out of sight in their own special home. You don’t have to pack these items away while staging your home.  You simply need to make sure everything is neatly stored in its place.

Arrange Your Furniture

Arranging your furniture properly will increase the overall look of your home design.  You can apply some basic interior design rules to make your house look fabulous while still keeping function in your home.  Start by going through each room and removing any pieces that might not serve a purpose or are too large.  These extra pieces and bulky furniture can crowd your room making your home appear much smaller. Remove furniture that does not “fit” with a cozy home, such as exercise equipment, large toy cabinets, oversized bean bag chairs, etc.    Arrange existing furniture into cozy conversational areas that are inviting, but still provide seating for your family while living in the home. 

Go Neutral

If you want to appeal to as many different tastes as possible, aim for neutral décor.  Give your walls a fresh coat of paint, opt for traditional furniture, put away bold statement pieces, and remove family photos.  Neutral paint colors and furnishings give the home a fresh, clean, and inviting feel.  This also gives you a chance to add pops of color with areas rugs, throw pillows, blankets, and accent pieces. 

Organize Closets and Cabinets

Just because you are living in your home doesn’t mean buyers won’t open up closets, drawers, and cabinets.  One of the most important factors to many homebuyers is storage space so you want to be sure these areas are looking their best.  No more shoving everything into a closet and shutting the door.  Take the time to go through each closet and make sure they are neatly organized.  Go ahead and pack the items you don’t need and make sure the rest is stored neatly.