Staging Secrets Revealed!

Staging can boost a sale price of a home by as much as 10 percent. The best staged homes strike the balance between lived-in and never-owned. How can you apply that science when staging your home? Look no further than model homes, which draw buyers by blending the form-follows-function principle with the preferences of today. Here are some tips:

• Remove anything from the room that doesn’t fit the intended purpose of the space, and vice versa.
• Delineate sections in a room with area rugs, and “float” furniture away from walls and on and around the space.
• Group solid furnishings, like sectionals or bookcases, with visually lighter pieces, like a glass side table or raised bench, to convey spaciousness over sparseness.
• Mix general and task lighting in rooms that see the most traffic. Install lighting between open-air shelving or underneath overhead cabinetry in the kitchen, and place a small lamp on a desk or workspace in a child’s bedroom.
• Accessorize sparingly. Display only a handful of books with like-colored bindings in bookcases or shelving units, add one (thriving!) house plant to a side table, or hang one statement piece of artwork (scaled appropriately) over a bed or fireplace.

Stage to the model home aesthetic with these tips and you’ll be well on your way to selling your home for more.