How To Stage An Empty House

Moving out of one home and into another is an exciting time. But it can be stressful too, especially if you've taken on a new mortgage before selling your old home. Home staging is essential to selling a house quickly and for maximum profit. And the good news is that staging an empty house is much easier than staging an occupied one. This is because the absence of personal belongings helps you detach from the home and see it as a commodity rather than a piece of your own history, which is a key aspect of effective home staging. The more you can see through the eyes of prospective buyers, the better a staging job you'll do.
There is no one-size-fits-all to home staging. Each home has its own style and special features to play up. The best empty house staging ideas are those that showcase the specific style of your home and put its features in the best light. But there are a few basic steps that will apply to any home. Read on to get a general idea of how to stage an empty house:

Step 1: Clean thoroughly
Cleanliness is a key factor when selling any home. Dirt, dust, and print-smudged walls are off-putting to potential homebuyers. Empty houses cannot hide their dirt and grime, so it's important to clean thoroughly before putting a home on the market. Empty houses make cleaning easier than occupied homes because there's no furniture in the way of walls, floors, baseboards, and other surfaces. The best way to get the deepest clean is to hire a professional cleaning company. If you ask for move-out cleaning services, they'll know to tackle the dirt up high, down low, and inside every nook and cranny. Staging an empty house should always begin with a deep clean from top to bottom.
On a budget? Grab a bucket, a mop, a carpet steamer, and everything else you need to get the place sparkling. Take the project room by room, and give yourself ample time to clean each one thoroughly. Don't forget the tops of light fixtures, cabinets, and crown molding, places where dust settles unseen.

Step 2: Paint
Even after you've thoroughly cleaned all the walls, windows, floors, and other surfaces, you may find that some rooms still look a little dingy. A fresh coat of paint is the key to making a home look new again. Neutral paint colors are a must when staging a home to sell. But neutral doesn't have to be bland. Modern paint technology means you have access to an abundance of beautiful neutral paint colors to create an atmosphere of serenity, warmth, comfort, spaciousness, or luxury. An experienced home stager can help you find a paint palette that works with your home's style so that each room is in harmony with the next.
On a budget? An Internet search for "paint colors for home staging" will lead you to a number of interior design sites that offer ideas for specific paint colors. While these particular colors won't always be appropriate for your home, they'll at least help you get an idea of the types of colors to look for when you go to the paint store.

Step 3: Furnish and accessorize appropriately
Although it seems counter-intuitive, empty rooms do not create the illusion of space?they often do the opposite by putting too much focus on the walls rather than the space in between. Similarly, choosing furniture that's too large can make the room feel cramped. On the other hand, the lack of structure in an empty open-concept space can lead to confusion about its potential use. Staging an empty home with the right scale, balanced proportion of space and furnishings helps buyers understand the space and envision themselves in it. When choosing furnishings and accessories, make sure they're of proportionate size and compatible with the style of the home. Accessories need not make a huge statement. Mirrors, plush hand towels, houseplants, and table lamps all help turn an empty house into a well-staged home.

On a budget? Choose the main rooms to furnish and present them right. As per the NAR 2019, Staging Survey, the main rooms to stage are the Living Room, Dining, Master Bedroom, Kitchen. Among homes staged it is no surprise 94% of Living Rooms are staged.

Step 4: Address curb appeal
After the online pictures, the drive-by is the next point of contact potential buyers will make with your home. Even though we've all been told not to judge a book by its cover, weeds, overgrown bushes, ratty porch furniture, and peeling paint will cause most visitors to assume the same lack of attention on the inside. And the majority of them will keep on driving. A well-groomed exterior will get more prospective buyers in the door. Boost curb appeal with a fresh coat of paint, upgraded house numbers, tidy landscaping, comfortable porch furniture, and clean light fixtures.
On a budget? DIY maintenance: While the rooms inside won't require much more attention once they're staged, the outdoors will require some maintenance. Rather than hiring a lawn maintenance service, you can take on the work yourself. Put some fresh new mulch where needed, mow the lawn, if it's spring arrange some bright pots and flowers and dust off the porch furniture and lighting fixtures weekly.

Ready to stage your home for a quick, profitable sale? Call BlueGrape today.
Staged homes sell more quickly and for more money than empty homes. But there's an art to getting a home ready for sale. Not everyone has the time or the inclination to handle the details, but we do. At BlueGrape, we don't just specialize in home staging and design?we also really love to do it. We're happy to use our skills, experience, and on-trend inventory to help showcase your home's best qualities so that it sells quickly and for the maximum amount possible. For more information on our quality home staging services, please give us a call at 858-652-3007.