Last summer, our family listed our house for sale. We’d been feeling for some time (through lots of intentional prayer!) that we needed to downsize and prepare for the next place the Lord wanted us to live and serve. We did downsize! We sold most of our furniture and moved to a tiny apartment to be closer to my husband’s workplace and be more engaged as a family in the ministry. BUT, that journey took a good bit longer than we had anticipated, and it had huge blessings we hadn’t expected. I knew I needed to share some of the lessons we learned on how to stage your house to sell… and why I think you should, even if you’re not selling!
Staging Your Home Has Benefits for the Whole Family
We’ve always believed that our whole family is a team. That means when we are serving in ministry together or hosting friends or neighbors, it’s the job of everyone to help prepare. Selling our home had the benefit of strengthening both our home upkeep skills and our teamwork as a family. Always being “on call” can be stressful, but it also helped motivate us to keep things cleaner on a daily basis. And when we got a showing request, we developed a great rhythm where everyone worked together to quickly polish the details, start the diffusers, flip on the lights and spruce up any disorder. I really believe it drew us closer in communication and support, too!
Clear the Clutter
Read any article on downsizing, minimizing, or staging a home to sell, and the first thing you’ll hear is “declutter.” Make that, “DECLUTTER.” When we first decided to list our home, I began boxing items we didn’t use or enjoy daily, and weeding through boxes of “keepsakes” we literally hadn’t unpacked in six years. I immediately began to feel such a new energy that I said so many times, “why on earth didn’t we do this sooner?!” Eliminating items we didn’t love freed up visual space and the work of taking care of them. It made our rooms feel larger immediately and made us want to spend more time in those rooms.
“Organizing your home will not only help to keep it in the showing condition but will also help you live there comfortably. And of course, getting a head start on packing is a bonus. If you have lived in your house for many years, the chances are high that you would have acquired a lot of belongings.” Ronique Gibson shares this and several more tips with The Spruce, on staging your home while still living in it.
Joshua Becker of Becoming Minimalist takes this pretty seriously. He recommends removing 1/3 of your possessions (“A decluttered home is calm and inviting”). While I don’t see our family becoming minimalists (we do love some items just for their beauty or emotional connection), we did part with a good percentage of furniture and decor items, and we don’t miss them!
Create a Sense of Welcome
(Pun intended. 😉 ) While there are tons of resources for staging your house to sell (and businesses you can hire to do it for you), most don’t take into account that you’ll be living in your home while you do so. You might have pets or kiddos or even a business at home (we had all three when we sold our most recent home). Considering all the senses and starting at the front door will help you both set up a buyer’s dream and create a more welcoming home for your everyday hospitality.
Laura Gaskill of Houzz reminds us of the importance of creating a welcoming porch. She says, “Even if you have only a tiny stoop, make it say “welcome home” with a clean doormat, potted plants in bloom and — if you have room — one or two pieces of neat porch furniture. Keep your porch lights on in the evenings, in case potential buyers drive by.” And she’s right! When our house was on the market, we’d often notice cars driving slowly by in the evenings, inching past our house with its for sale sign in the yard.
One of the easiest ways to help a buyer feel at home is to create an entrance that says, “come on in!” Interestingly, it’s also one of the best ways to get to know your neighbors. Some of my favorite heart-talks have been in the big black rockers on our porch while kids laughed together on the cul-de-sac. Having a place that’s clean and comfortable but not-quite-inside can be a perfect way to start connecting in a way that feels “safe” and low commitment.
Above: a clean, bright entryway says, “welcome!” Having a place to drop keys or a business card (when showing your home, for instance) is a nice touch. I do wish I’d made the time to do a custom paint job on the interior of our front door, though. And I never got around to the warmer green for the exterior that I wanted, either. 🙂
Sight
Clean all the things. It’s amazing how we “don’t see our own dirt” unless we’re hosting guests or listing our homes. But once we’ve removed clutter, we can see floors and counters that pick up dust and dirt more easily. Pulling furniture away from the walls helps prevent the never-ending dust bunny war, because we can see it and kick it to the curb. Making sure there’s plenty of room to walk around the bed, keeping the space open under it when possible, and strategically creating a purpose for each spot where furniture resides helps a buyer envision what a space can be used for. But keeping it clutter-free not only helps potentially increase your home’s perceived value; it also makes it more lovely for living in day-to-day.
A note on furniture placement: When we were shopping for this house, we almost bought a much smaller home with questionable smells in the basement. Besides its location, we fell in love with it at first because of how the family room was staged. Although it might seem counter-intuitive in a small space, the owners had pulled the sofas away from the walls. It actually made the room seem much larger than it was, and somehow luxurious in its simplicity! It also had a rustic water fountain on the front porch, which told us the owners loved having neighbor kids around. That little quirky detail said, “welcome,” right from the get-go.
In an article for The Spruce on making the bedroom look larger, Ronique Gibson suggests removing unneeded pieces of furniture and considering use of a smaller bed to make a bedroom feel larger. She also points out how important light is in the seeming size of a room. Ronique says, “The power of good lighting cannot be overestimated. Light can trick the eye and make a room look bigger than it actually is. Use plenty of light throughout the day when showing your bedroom. Open windows at daytime and ensure the bedroom lighting in the evening is varied. Place lamps on your bedside table to soften the space. Make sure they match because dissimilar ones can be a distraction.” She also suggests decorating with mirrors, which visually double a space as they reflect special pieces of furniture or artwork and the light that already exists in a room. Consider window treatments, too. In all the years we lived in this large home, I only added window treatments to a small number of windows. I love the clean, bright feeling of unadorned windows, and if budget allowed, I’d have replaced the mini-blinds in a second with streamlined pull-down shades. Bulky window treatments can seem cluttered and if not intentional, can also seem to shrink a room.
Whether you’re selling your home or not, staging it with good lighting and reflective surfaces makes it more welcoming for daily life. This small bedroom became a guest room when our daughter moved out and her brother snagged her larger bedroom, but bringing in lamps kept it bright and cheery and a warm, inviting spot to be in even in cold, dark winter months. Choosing a slightly smaller bed on a lower frame and hanging the curtains higher (though in hindsight I’d have purchased longer ones) also helped a fairly small-scale room feel much larger.
Sound
Selling your house doesn’t mean it shouldn’t still feel like home for you. In fact, I think it’s important to intentionally keep that warm welcome going even while your house is on the market. Potential buyers sense when a home is welcoming, and a family in transition needs to still maintain a sense of normalcy and calm. Sound is one way you can make that happen.
I have a couple favorite playlists that we use for our everyday. This Amazon home office playlist I use for writing and editing photos is great for creating a calm work environment that’s energized, not sleepy. When we’re going to be close by for a showing, I’d leave my favorite Owlie Scroll speaker and the iPod playing smooth Jazz, instrumental worship, or Parisian coffeehouse playlists. 🙂 Funny enough, we also hosted several open-house sales (it was too cold outside for a garage sale!) to downsize when we sold our home. I used sound and smell to create a homey setting and many buyers commented on what a relaxing time they had – at a moving sale, of all things!
Smell
If you’re selling your home (and even if you’re not!), pay attention to smells. It can get annoying to hold off on cooking your favorite sausage, bacon, or cabbage dishes if your home is on the market for a long time, but it’s worth it. Opening windows and using essential oils to scent your home can make a huge difference not just in how a potential buyer experiences it, but in how it feels for your day-to-day living.
A personal note: I can pick up on artificial scents easily and I think buyers can, too. We use natural candles or essential oils, which also have the added advantage of beneficial properties. We used a subtle combination of eucalyptus, lemon and lavender when our home was shown and it became a favorite blend for our day-to-day living. Eucalyptus is bright and known to help with cleaning and healthy breathing, lavender is calming, and lemon makes a space feel brighter and fresher. I also chose this blend because it’s less potentially bothersome than, say, a floral scent would be. To my delight, several times agents left comments that showing our home was a favorite experience, and I’m convinced this small detail helped! And for the quickest-ever natural scent refresher? Grind some lemon peel in your disposal!
On that note, I love keeping a no-junk-added spray in each bathroom, and this delightful all-natural peppermint spray not only eliminates odors, it’s safe to use on your body as well! You can also use essential oil bottles that are empty to create your own natural room spray; I use essential oil spray tops to make sprays with what we already have! Try one of these “recipes” to make your own:
- A simple make-your-own essential oil room spray (this one’s floral but I use lemon or lime and peppermint)
- Hello Glow has a super simple room freshening spray recipe and 14 suggestions for oil blends!
- Even food.com has wonderful “recipes” for essential oil room sprays
- My very favorite essential oil company is Hopewell Oils – they have incredible prices and excellent quality!
Touch
No, potential buyers are (hopefully) not going to plop down on your sofa and curl up with that soft throw. But intentional use of comfort items can help a space feel more inviting, especially for everyday life. Using a thoughtful mix of surfaces also creates a space that feels like it has history, without being cluttered. We bought inexpensive metal chairs when we purchased our home, that were stackable and nearly indestructible for hosting big groups of teens, Bible study nights, music practices and ladies’ craft nights. Mixing them with a table my husband and I built, a streamlined Ikea dining cabinet, a hand-me-down sideboard, and upholstered end chairs feels “collected,” but somehow works together. (And that wonderful chalkboard? My kids snagged it from the neighbors’ garbage, cleaned it up and hid it for months to gift to me on my birthday; my daughter created the chalk art quote. They know the way to their momma’s heart.) The fabric-covered (and dumpster-dived) bench on the right hides storage and pulls closer for game nights and extra seating.
Taste
While you might not serve cookies when an agent shows your home, it’s not a bad idea to consider it. Having cold unopened water bottles on the counter with a “take one” note can also be a way to offer hospitality even during a showing! Why might this matter? We discovered if an agent enjoyed the experience of showing our home, he or she was more likely to bring other buyers back to see it. If a buyer feels welcomed, what better way to help them remember your house so it stands out above the competition!
Taste matters, too, when it comes to aesthetics of your home. Consider asking a friend you really trust (with great taste) to give you a few tips on how you might update your decor or declutter it to make it seem more clean, modern, and overall inviting. Having unique style can be great, but helping a buyer see how the space can be adapted to his or her own style is a smart move. And you can be discerning in which spaces really deserve the most work.
“Not all rooms are considered equal when it comes to home staging,” says Laura Mueller for moving.com. “…the rooms that hold the most importance for buyers are the living room, master bedroom, and kitchen. These are the rooms that you want to focus the most on when you’re staging a home. Don’t worry as much about the rooms that have less influence, such as guest bedrooms, children’s bedrooms, and bathrooms.” (I personally think bathrooms matter a lot. Freshen the caulk, remove all personal toiletry items, and wipe down those shower walls. A choosy buyer wants to feel like a space is clean!) She also advises de-personalizing (we’ll talk; see the last note on standing your ground), getting rid of clutter, “cleaning like you’ve never cleaned before,” making repairs, and considering your front entrance.
All of these ideas, again, make living in your home daily even more enjoyable for both you and your guests.
Define Your Space
When we moved into our home it had an awkward space that worked well for short-term guest space, and it also evolved into a great office for my photography, speaking and writing work (and often times a spot for my kids to do schoolwork!). Defining the space with multi-purpose furniture helped it to feel like a welcoming, but flexible space. It wasn’t only a “guest room” that sat empty for most of the year, and it wasn’t an all-business “office” that didn’t invite visitors. Instead my DIY home office and guest room became a space that got used year-round for work and welcome, and I think it was a selling point when we listed our house! (In the original post, I also shared some tips on how to make a multi-purpose room work as a lovely guest room.)
While it does help to sell a home (and even to host!) to have a dedicated guest space, it isn’t necessary. My friend Katie at Hospitable Homemaker has some great tips for hosting overnight guests even without a guest room. Take advantage of her tips if you aren’t selling right away!
Trust Your Agent!
When we sold our home six years after we purchased it, we went back to the agent who sold us our home. Our personalities are different, and that’s probably precisely why she was such a great advocate for us. We were able to trust her experience when it came to what “works” in a culture that still seems new to us in many ways. When she told us to remove the bathroom rugs for photos, for instance (legally you must show a buyer there are no hidden “issues”), we knew she had the inside scoop. When she assured us it was perfectly fine to wait and leave as the buyers arrived (knowing our family’s friendly personality and love for our neighborhood), we could take a deep breath and not sweat the showing process as much. If your agent tells you a certain “style” needs to be simplified or that it’s best to remove some artwork, trust her. It’ll help you have more appeal and ultimately, more success in the journey! It’s really important to do your research, choose a real estate agent with experience and the ability to advocate for you, and then trust him or her.
In the same way if you’re not selling your home, seek input or listen to the subtle input you may get from visitors.
Do overnight guests often ask for your Wifi password? Frame a little Wifi password sign and put it on the bedside table (this free printable one is adorable, too!). Does a friend keep her sweater on when she stops by for coffee? Try draping a comfy and pretty throw on the back of the couch. (Side note: at a recent women’s conference I led with an amazing group of ladies, we placed throws strategically throughout the seating areas in the common space where the ladies gathered. Every one got used by the women as they cozied up with cocoa for a late night chat!)
Stand Your Ground
Conventional wisdom for how to stage your house to sell says to remove everything personal so a buyer can envision themselves in your home. In our case, we opted to leave a good amount of decor and I believe it actually helped buyers catch a sense of style they could envision adopting. Because most of our family portraits, for example, were larger scale professional work, it read more like artwork on the walls. And because our style was distinctively different from most of the local real estate, it was memorable to the buyers (who often commented on it in their reviews).
Joshua Becker says it this way: “When staging your home for living, leave the personal decorations. Even better, capitalize on them! Rather than devaluing them, highlight them by removing some of the non-personal decorations in your home. As a result, the ones that make you unique will play a more pronounced role in your home.”
A personal note: As a professional photographer, I encourage you to consider larger-scale versions of your family portraits. While lots of small framed images can feel like “more is better,” and many people are afraid of buying too large, a larger image actually feels less cluttered and is way more easy to enjoy. Food for thought when both staging your home to sell and when curating it to enjoy every day!
Trust Your Gut
We knew we were not in a hurry to sell our home, so we had a bit more “wiggle room” on our selling timeline. While our agent had great insight for us on the market, there came a point when we felt comfortable with our selling price, knew it was more than fair for the house and market, and wanted to stay in that range. Our realtor was patient with us and the wait paid off when the perfect buyer found our home and knew its value. Listen to your agent, and then listen to buyer feedback. Keep an eye on what’s selling (and what’s not) in your area, and then when needed, stick with what you are comfortable with. Ultimately, you know what is best for your family and your timeline.
Trust your gut, too, when it comes to how you’ll use each space in your home. I loved this tip from Myquillyn Smith’s classic home design book The Nesting Place. Just because a tract home builder created a room that often gets ignored and wasted as a “formal living room,” doesn’t mean you have to let it sit that way. We decided from the beginning that this big front room would be our “library,” and it was my very favorite spot to read my Bible in the morning, drink tea with a friend, and do homeschool read-alouds with my kiddos. And that leather sofa? A hand-me-down from my parents, it’s a beloved and comfortable piece that will follow us. Because when you find something you love, you keep it.
Whether you’re staging your house to sell or just want to make it more welcoming for your family and guests in everyday living, consider pretending like you’re selling, even if you aren’t. It’s a great motivator to really take stock of what you have, and what you might want to let go!
Inspiring {the still-cozy, somewhat-minimizing kind of} welcome,
Angela
Our agent is active in the NJ area where we live. In case you’re local and looking for a realtor, Patty Ceglie worked hard to help us both buy and sell!
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