Correct furniture placement for selling a home

Furniture placement for selling

Good furniture arrangement is the secret to making a room look it’s best.Yet, most people struggle with what goes where. Have you ever stood at the doorway to a bedroom, or the center of your living room, and wondered, “What’s wrong with this room?” You may sense that the arrangement is awkward, but you’re not sure why. Every room has an ideal arrangement for home staging, and you can discover it by avoiding the most common mistakes.

Too much furniture.

Select your best pieces. It’s better to have a few impressive pieces of furniture, than a roomful of some good and some not-so-good pieces. Keep a few larger pieces (sofa, upholstered chairs, beds, bookcases) unless they are in poor condition or very dated. Colors and styles from a few decades ago don’t make your home look fresh and exciting.
Remember that house hunters are looking at other homes and will compare your home to properties with new and stylish furniture that left them with a positive impression.

If a room is too crowded, the eye doesn’t know where to rest

 

Not enough furniture.

Since most people own more furniture than they use, sparse furnishing is more common when a home is unoccupied. When selling a home, key rooms should be staged. House hunters see an unfurnished room as a problem room, one that raises questions. “Did the sellers run out of money? Maybe they’ll accept a low ball offer.”
An empty room also draws attention to minor flaws in a property which would normally not be an issue in a furnished room.
Put some large pieces of furniture in that empty room. If it still looks a little barren, an area rug can unify the grouping that you do have. Add some free standing shelving along the wall or as a room divider. Large artwork will help to warm and define a space.

Buyer’s need to see the full potential of a room. Bedrooms need to be presented as functional spaces and not just an afterthought.

 

Avoid poor traffic flow

Make sure home buyers can wander effortlessly through all your rooms. The traffic pattern should not pass through a conversation area or snake its way through the room. The walkway should be obvious, and it should look wide and unencumbered. From the entrance of the room, most of the room should be visible, and the door should open wide.

No traffic flow here. Hurdle your way into the room! Some beautiful features in this room being blocked by large, bulky furniture.

Give a room purpose, the one it was meant for

Each room needs to self explanatory. Will your Realtor have to say, “And this is the Master bedroom” or will it be obvious because you’ve staged it with appropriate furnishings and accessories.

Create a focal point

Every room needs something big that the eye goes to, something that gives a message of comfort and quality. Make your focal point something that sells your home, even if it is not part of the sale, such as a stunning piece of artwork or a well arranged seating area.  A view is an excellent focal point, so arrange the furniture to showcase it. When the room has no existing focal point, you’ll need to create one.

 

Art serves as a focal point when a room doesn’t have many features.

Delete too much small stuff

It’s common to see homes with too many small pieces of furniture such as chairs and side tables. Try removing items that don’t contribute to the look you’re aiming for. Unify by using similar colours and tones.

Don’t spread furniture out too much

After you’ve decided what the function of the room is, group the large pieces accordingly – chair at the desk, table in front of sofa, or night stands at either side of bed, for example. Then, add the smaller furnishings so they sit close to the larger ones. Don’t place a tiny pedestal table by itself in a corner, or plop a small bookcase all alone at the end of the room. Thinks pairs and trios.

And if in doubt leave it out.

Less is more when staging to sell.

Staging isn’t decorating, it is marketing to show your home in it’s best possible images.

Prep Home Staging services include furniture rentals, accessory and artwork rentals and cost effective Home Staging Consults with an emailed report.

www.prepstaging.com

   902 489 6162

 

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My no dollar spend dining nook makeover

A nook from nothing

 

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I have never been happy with my dining area. It’s tucked in a nook opposite my kitchen, doesn’t have a window and gets pretty dark. Great if you want a candlelit dinner but not so inviting in the daytime. One Monday morning it was time for a change. Not in the mood to go shopping (I know, shocker! ) I decided to shop my house. The largest wall in the dining space has never looked right to me, even though I have changed up art work and mirrors. I needed something to add height and feature this wall. Ding, ding, light bulb moment, A huge canvas I was given by a client who had downsized, was the perfect size. It has had a makeover already with paint but this project needed more.

 

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I have always loved the look of a banquette, so it was time to cover this canvas. I needed fabric….. stat. A rummage in my prop closet yielded nothing large enough. I was just about to give in and go search for some fabric when I passed the guest bedroom. Hmmm… right colour, texture and a good weight. Hello Mr Coverlet, I need you.

 

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A mad stapling session on the canvas and a bench I already owned and voila, a spiffed up dining area. After attaching the canvas to the wall It looked a little bare. I needed art and the fish picture from the en suite bathroom was perfect. Some hot pink ribbon was a good solution for hanging it and added a splash of contrasting colour.

 

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Next some pillows (the 2 blue print are from Wicker Emporium ) I added some faux fur to my dining room chairs and dressed the table with some accessories. I love how it turned out. The whole area is much more inviting and better still I didn’t spend any money. Not bad for a Monday morning 🙂

 

Here is the before

 

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Using moveable colour in home staging

You hear the word “neutral” all the time when talking about home staging but neutral has many different meanings. Using neutrals on large elements in a home makes sense. Flooring, surfaces, wall treatments etc. are large investments and a homebuyer wants to know these will be elements they can live with for many years. Having said that, if your home has features that date it, there are techniques home stagers can use to enhance the positive features and using “moveable colour” is one way to do that effectively.

 

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Colour moves us. It attracts us and stirs our emotions. I have seen many homes where the homeowners have put some staging techniques in to play by decluttering, depersonalizing and removing every last accessory etc. until they are left with a bland, beige box. Yes, you can go too far when preparing a home for sale, removing focal points, colour and anything that will attract a buyer to those online images.

Movable color in items a seller can take with them can update a home for very little cost. Moveable colors are bedding, towels, area rugs, artwork and accessories. By adding pops of colour to every room you instantly freshen and add interest but they have to be the right colours in the right amounts.

Stagers know how to get this right. We stage to highlight positives, create focal points and showcase a home that will attract your target buyer. If your home is occupied, very often we can use what you have, in a way you may not have thought about. If moveable colour is needed to add the finishing touches, we can make you a list of items needed and recommend where to find the best prices or we can shop for you or rent items from our staging inventory.

 

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With a vacant home a stager will choose the furniture, accessories and moveable items that will best highlight your property and appeal to your buyer.

You only get one chance to impress and cutting corners will only hurt your home sale. A small investment ensures you have your best foot forward from day 1 and saves you time and $$$$ by doing it the right way.

 

A little Prep

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Prepping your home for Winter sale

It’s been a brutal winter so far in my part of the world. Snowbanks are growing higher by the day and it’s hard just to get in and out of the house, let alone starting to think about preparing for selling. But the truth is, now is an ideal time to get a jump start on the competition. While many sellers are waiting for the first well awaited days of spring to list their home, you could be well on your way to sold.

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By using the winter as a time to improve your home’s interior appeal, it’s possible to command a higher price when serious buyers are out and about (and lets face it, you have to be serious about buying a home to slop around in this weather ) Put your snow days to good use and start the dreaded chore of de cluttering. I know, you’re cringing at the thought of mountains of books, movies, unworn clothing and the 27 travel mugs in the kitchen cupboards. We’ve all been there, (myself included having moved recently) You need a plan of action, someone to cheer you on when what you really want to do is to be curled up with the remote and Netflix. A staging consult can be a great motivator to get you started.

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When I first visit for a home consult one of the things I always hear is “I know we have to de clutter” but many times sellers underestimate how much time this really takes. You can’t just sort through 10, 20 or in some cases 50 years or more of belongings in a couple of weeks. Not if you want to minimize stress and wine consumption 🙂 Plus you may be removing some things that could be used as props for staging the home, while other things you think can stay, will not help your sale. Start by doing one closet, one drawer, put everything into a laundry basket and sort while watching t.v. if that helps get you get started. Starting is the hardest part so the sooner the better.

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Winter is also an excellent time to get a hold of trades, to do any repairs or renovations that will maximize selling appeal. During a consult a stager can recommend where to spend $$$ for best bang for your buck and where to save, by not doing renovations that will not bring a solid ROI. I read a report today that indicated both male and female buyers rate master baths and walk in closets as top of their wish list when purchasing a home, so upgrades in these areas are sure to be a worthwhile investment. Come Springtime when all the other sellers are scrambling to find a painter, plumber etc. you are already ahead of the pack.

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Selling a house requires you to make a potential buyer think that the home is already their own. Nothing gets in the way of this feeling more than another person’s clutter. Often, the things that buyers interpret as clutter are a homeowner’s prized heirlooms. Rather than purging your house of personal photos and accessories all at once, it can be less jarring to pack up your personal items slowly and move them into storage. These few weeks left of winter represent a perfect opportunity to start this process.

A little Prep

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