With the changing market from post-Covid we are seeing a return to more traditional strategies to sell a home. In addition to adding negotiations and helping with financing to the transaction, staging a home for sale becomes another tool paid for in elbow grease and thought. Staging is more than cleaning and removing clutter, it becomes an art form that highlights the focal points of each room and brings attention and the eye to what makes a home special. It is not decorating! It is not even how you might choose to live in a home, it is about drawing the eye to the selling points.
For example, we all know that dining rooms are not a preferred room to showcase and sell a home like a kitchen or updated bathrooms. Still these dining rooms show us that using such simple updates as a new chandelier, or removing furniture that blocks our view, placing groupings of three with accessories, balancing soft and hard surfaces and use of bold color in subtle ways can make a room pop.
Take a dining room with a bay window and fireplace that needed to be highlighted. A stager can add a bench by the window and a more eye grabbing art piece over the fireplace to highlight those features. When the home is viewed, having a clear open path to move about the room without dodging furniture adds to the strategy.
Not only do we want to draw the eye to the selling points, be aware of drawing the eye to distract from those features will work against the seller. Area rugs everywhere hide your beautiful flooring, items on the floors such as trash cans and toilet brush holders are a no-no. It is amazing how items out of place “pop” in the photos.
Keep in mind that a professional photographer is aware of using not only the light in the room but the best angles to highlight the features. I use a photographer that not only takes great shots but knows how to present a room. A professional photographer that not only does a great job with lighting and definition but understands getting the right angle on the shot puts them above the rest.
