People have been asking us what we’ve been doing to “stage” our house. Short answer: not much. Well, besides generally cleaning things within an inch of their life and stashing some items in the car a la this method. But we haven’t put any large furnishings in storage, repainted any walls or ceilings, removed any personal items like photos or wall art, or done any of the other tricks that we’ve heard through the HGTV grapevine (though I’m sure a professional stager would probably advise us to do some – if not all – of those things to some extent). We figure if people see a house that’s clean yet personalized and obviously well loved and lived in, it might be more interesting than a house that has been stripped of all personality and evidence that it has been enjoyed and appreciated. At least that’s our point of view at the moment. And thankfully we’ve had a few really promising showings so we’ll keep you posted if our approach ends up working out.
That being said, there is one pretty obvious change that we did end up making. We took a good hard look at the rug in the kitchen…
… and decided to nix it.
Even though that’s an old “before” photo from our old camera above, we realized the Company Store rug that graces our kitchen floor was doing us a disservice when it came to selling. It not only covered up the hardwood floors (hello selling point!) it also made the space feel less open in person (by creating a big definitive rectangle on the floor). Sure we loved it for the fun texture and softness underfoot, but because people aren’t buying a rug (they’re buying a house), we realized it was probably a smart call to roll it up and stuff it under our bed. Here’s what the room is looking like these days (this pic’s taken with the new camera, hence the longer shot, different lighting, slightly different angle, etc):
You’ll probably also notice that we removed some of the cute kitchen-y items on the counters to declutter things and show off another selling point in there- our granite counters. After all, we’re definitely not peddling a cutting board or a bowl of tomatoes, so we want to be sure the real features of the room are the ones that get noticed.
Oh, and our bathroom caught the rug-removal bug too. Gotta show off that marble tile, right? (Don’t worry, we bring out our rug friend when we shower so we don’t bite it on the aforementioned marble tile).
Maybe if none of our upcoming showings work out we’ll decide to try a few other “staging” tricks. Do you guys have any house-selling tips (or superstitions) that you wholeheartedly believe in? Or anything that you don’t think is worth the trouble?
Heidi H. says
No house selling tips here, but I would totally buy your house in an instant. As I’m sure you know, your house isn’t just beloved to you! It’s hard to say goodbye. ::sniff sniff::
Good call on the kitchen rug. Your floors are SHINY!
Chris says
Hi Guys. Great job on the Nate show!! Just watched the entire episode up here in Boston. You looked like naturals. Keep up the great work on the blog.
sheila says
I really think you have to know who the general buyers of your type & location & price of your house is…are they young marrieds, retirees, families? Then you can stage the house to show your “audience” the features that work best for them.
Tracy says
The Nate show just started over here! Can’t wait to see you guys.
Kimberly says
We’ve only sold one house and it went FAST, I think it was only on the market for nine days and it sold to the first family that looked at it. That was five years ago though, when the market was super hot. I don’t recall doing anything special for staging the house, other than making sure that it was as clean and clutter-free as we could possibly have it with two big dogs, a four year old, and a husband who worked 3rd shift. Good luck! I know your house will sell fast.
Crystal says
We are also selling our house to upgrade to a bigger house. We have started packing up anything we don’t need (like packing up summer clothes) to make our small closets look more spacious.
We just finshed a our Guest Room make over.
http://www.beautiful-haven.com
Melissa G. says
When hubby and I were house hunting last year we walked into a home with our 2 little boys (no sitter for this particular showing) and they had 3 cats. One of which ran up to my 3 yr. old and scratched his face!!!! Drew blood and everything! (Eekk!) We couldn’t even focus on the house- so i’d say removing pets for showings would help.
Also I second the whole ‘smell’ thing! We went into a ton of homes, some of which were beautiful but smelled so badly that we were turned off from the second we opened the door.
Karrie says
I also don’t feel that a house needs to be staged for it to sell but clutter free and clean. Fingers crossed that you get an offer soon!
I just finished watching The Nate Show, too. You guys were great! Sherry, you are a natural on TV! And you both looked great-can’t wait to read your post about it.
renee says
watching Nate right now – he LOVES you guys!!! how exciting :)
Dorothy says
I agree with removing the rugs. I had rugs in front of my stove, dishwasher and in front of the bathroom vanities. It just makes the floor room look bigger. I had 2 offers the day after we showed our house!
Beth J says
My husband SWEARS that every time his parents sold a house, his mother had made roast chicken the day before or the day of the successful showing. She also used this trick when they used their last home as a showplace for the community; prospective buyers came in and checked out the house, eliminating the need for an official model. Forget baked goods; it’s all about cooked meat. :P
As a recent buyer, I’m begging you: please PLEASE don’t do the scented candle thing. I had to leave one house because of the cloying smell. Also, I highly recommend having a bowl of candy available, with a little sign that says “Help yourself.” I really appreciated that, especially on the late evenings where we saw so many houses we didn’t eat dinner until 9 or 10.
Amanda @geekdetails says
I think you’re right on the lived in and loved approach. I went house shopping last year and was drawn more to the houses that showed real humans lived there than the staged within an inch of their life houses. Clean and well decorated won out over staged and sparse.
And your house is lovely. I think part of what makes it lovely is the personal touches you guys have every where. It’s lovely and it makes potential buyers think that when they live there, their house will look like that too.
sara says
I’d buy your house in an instant!
Christina says
Hi guys,
I think you made a smart decision by removing the kitchen rug. We’re currently providing our kitchen with a little face life and I was wondering…do you know what paint brand/color graces the walls here? I’d love to know!
Thanks so much,
Christina
YoungHouseLove says
It’s Glidden’s Gentle Tide. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Melissa says
My grandmother insisted we bury St. Joseph. We did sell our house really quickly — it can’t hurt, right?!
http://www.luckymojo.com/saintjoseph.html
Jackie G. says
Coming from a family of builders and real estate agents my entire life has been centred around building a unique personal home and then… selling it! Your house, along with the little touches you mentioned in this post, is perfect!
The key point is to emphasize the KEY features of your home despite it’s imperfections. Play up the good, downplay the bad. Perfect example is your closets – with recently cleaning them to maximize space you are showing how much room there is and how effective they are! I don’t think you need to strip a house, but it needs to be presented without clutter and potential buyers should walk into each room thinking about how they could live there – without being bombarded with current owners stuff/pictures.
Louise says
So interesting reading this because we have just bought a house and I’m trying to persuade my boyfriend to include finishing touches like rugs to add a homely feel! Funny how we feel more comfortable with those things around. Totally understand why you would want to show off those beautiful floors though!
Gina at Temporary Nest says
I hope I can find the Nate episode on Hulu!! I dont have DVR but I’m dying to see it!! :) Good Luck Guys!!
Oh and about the rug… I think the kitchen looks spectacular with or without out it! Your floors are gorgeous so its nice to show them off but the rug gives such a cozy home-y feel.
Colleen says
We finally sold our house a year ago and moved into our dream house. We moved totally accross town (35 miles!) and are so happier.
We’re not terribly supersitious but we were having a problem with flaky buyers and so we buried a St. Joseph figurine upside down in our flower bed. You can get them at Catholic stores or on amazon. His feet need to be upside down, and facing your house for it to sell. Dont know if it was coincidence, but after 8 months on the market and 3 failed offers we sold the house 3 weeks later. Can’t hurt!
Sommer says
I’ve been a realtor for 13 years, and definitely see certain perceived “must do’s” pop up in conversations with my clients since the popularity of home buying shows. People ask me about staging a lot, and in my experience it seems like people who know about staging don’t tend to need it, while people who do need it don’t know about it or find it to have any value. The staging rule I have never understood is “remove all your personal items and photos from the home!” and I think we’re seeing that change. There was a time when staging a home was a new idea, and people responded well to it. Now I think people feel like they’re being sold if they look at a home that is too staged. Folks these days want a home – looking nice and put together, yes – but they want a home, not a showplace. I mean really – do staged homes look very fun? (Live here! But don’t sit on the sofa!) We’re seeing a “back to roots” movement where people want to envision the simple (better!) things they can envision themselves doing – spending time playing with their kids, planting a garden, having a nice place to cook and make projects, and surrounding themselves with the people and things that they love. You can’t stage that stuff!!
Amber says
Our favorite selling tip is to make the house smell homey – For an afternoon showing, I bake a small batch of chocolate chip cookies right before or a batch of cinnamon rolls for a morning showing. We always get a lot of positive feed back from that little tip. I also have a clear plastic display that holds fliers for our house (like what is outside on many realtor’s signs) that I sit on the table or counter for people to grab. I also make sure that all of the blinds are open and I turn on every light and lamp in the house. I have fresh flowers in several rooms. I make sure that there is absolutely no personal items visible in the bathroom (including shampoo and items in the tub) and I put some nice disposable hand towels in the restroom. I agree with you that it isn’t necessary to put away all personalized touches, but you do want them to feel like they are in THEIR future home and nothing makes one feel more like they are in somebody else’s home than seeing their personal hygiene products. I also remove as much clothing and as many shoes as possible from our closets to make them look more spacious. Are you still FSBO? If so, make sure you give potential buyers space while they are in your house so that they can discuss it freely. Don’t give them the tour. I keep important documents, valuables and irreplaceable sentimental items in a box and throw them in my trunk during a showing to give me a little peace of mind.
Your house is beautiful and the only thing that I would consider changing would be the sprayer for the cloth diapers on the toilet. You don’t want to scare away potential buyers who may not want to live with that but who don’t realize that you can take it down and take it with you. Plumbing is something that scares a lot of people. I would also either plan on leaving the touch faucet or go ahead and change it back to the old faucet. It make be a huge selling feature for somebody and I wouldn’t want to disappoint the buyer when the walk in and it has been changed.
If you don’t get an offer soon, I would also consider painting your ceilings back to a ceiling white. Ceilings are a pain to paint and although I believe your rooms are beautiful, the current ceiling colors may not go with potential buyer’s color schemes and they may not want to tackle painting ceilings.
Lots of luck! Sorry if my comment was redundant, I didn’t take the time to read all of the prior posts.
Susan says
I have heard that a plate of freshly baked cookies help to give a “home-y” feel. It makes the house smell good and you always can eat the “prop”.:)
jja says
You are improving your home almost every single day, there are for sure not much homes outside being kept that well, so it would be suprise to do anything more besides all those regular DIY projects.Bravo for removing rug, it really made kitchen less pretty.
nikki says
I don’t have any advice, since this is our first home, and we’re not at a point to sell…yet. But, I have to admit, I’m locking away all of your advice and tips because they are excellent! My favorite is the car stash, I am totally doing that for quick de-cluttering!
Karla @ {TheClassyWoman} says
I stage homes for a living and I have to say good call on the rug. Your kitchen not only looks bigger now but they can see the beautiful floors. I’m sure your home will sell in no time!
Lindsey says
Always close toilet lids and open all drapes. Fresh flowers or fruit in a bowl never hurts!
Sarah says
Just watched you guys! Fabulous! I might implement some of your suggestions when I get home from work today! :P
http://www.thenateshow.com/videos/detail/435/nates-crate-one-hour-studio-challenge/
Julie says
Other than making sure it was super clean, we moved the dogs out for showings, always had fresh flowers in most rooms, packed up everything we wouldn’t be needing (xmas decorations, etc) and got them out of the house, opened all window coverings and turned on lamps. We took down some pictures, but strategically left others. When I went through houses I found myself spending more time looking at peoples “stuff” in some houses than the houses. We sold in 8 days in this tough time, so something must have worked!
Wendy says
I think ditching the rugs was a good idea…it shows off the floor and makes both spaces look larger….willl have to remember that in the future.
Liz says
Put yellow flowers at the front door. That’s a small thing, but evidentally it is something potential homeowners find to be inviting. When we sold out last house, that is one of the staging things the realtor told us to do. Now is a wonderful time for yellow mums.
Misty says
Hi Sherry:
Do you remember where you got the scalloped bowl in the bathroom shot above? LOVE all things white scalloped! I looked in the source list – ddnt see it. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Misty,
That’s from Target a few years back! Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Laura says
I saw your bathroom towels in an episode of Modern Family!
YoungHouseLove says
Woah- they’re famous!
xo,
s
Caitlin says
Moving out of our house was a one and a half year nightmare! The first Realtor we used was inspired by us to move out of the same town too; giving us competition (!) and making herself too busy with her own house!
Bad memories all around… I still remember that time some visitor locked our cat in the attic, and how many people actually USE YOUR TOILETS while looking through the house.
And the first people who decided to buy dropped out at the very last (like, sign this paper and we’re done) minute.
OOF!
I hope your area has a better (or less picky) real estate market!!
That whole spiel was me saying I am a little worried about your personal touches… while it might be nice to have them for yourselves, sometimes a home buyer doesn’t have the imagination to picture the home with their own touches… so watch out!
Annisa says
I swear these things worked for us. I put all of the TVs in our house on the music channel with Love Songs. I thought it would make them fall in love with our house! The music played softly in the background. The only TV I changed was the one in our media room and I put that one on a fun kids movie. I figured if they had kids, the kids would be likely to plop down in front of the cartoon and the parents would be more likely to stay longer. The longer they were there, the more likely they would be to picture themselves in our house. I also swear by baking fresh cookies. Even if you don’t leave them out, it still makes the house smell good. I bought the premade dough and sliced off a few when we had a showing.
Gretchen says
So, my question on kitchen rugs…what if it serves to hide ugly floors…Should I still remove it for showings?
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, that’s a toughie. Maybe take pics of the room both ways and see which photo looks better (sometimes pictures are more “objective” and easier to analyze for some reason). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Evergirl says
Staging is very common here (I live in Sweden) and I once heard a great tips:
Think of a hotel – it should feel warm, welcoming and homely, and like you are the first person to live there.
It does make sense. While people want a house to feel personal, it must not be too personal.
Christie says
You don’t have this trouble since you have a stainless steel fridge, but I’ve heard you should always remove all magnets and clutter from your fridge door. Once I did that, our house sold within days. This was 8 years ago and the house had been on the market for 6 months (a long time even then, but our location was kind of remote).
Jules says
I think your house looks great! We toured open houses and did a few showings to some and we bought the dirtiest house we saw. He had a husky and apparently was not too keen to pick up the giant fuzz balls covering everything. I had a harder time looking at staged homes because I focused on the design aspect and didn’t look too much at the house. Plus I was constantly wondering if things were placed to hide imperfections. I’m sure we’re not the norm, but it was easier for us to see a lived in place than a fake family’s place.
Erica @ Erica's Inspirations says
Great move on removing the rugs! I have thought the same thing that if we were to sell our house I would remove the rug in our foryer and breakfast room to showcase the hardwoods.
Can’t wait to watch The Nate Show tonight! Ours comes on at 6pm.
Ami @ beyondpeasandcarrots says
ohhh great tip on removing the rug! Amazing how such a simple thing makes such a big difference! I am actually watching you guys on Nate right now :). Great work! Is it weird that I feel like I am watching someone I know on tv??
YoungHouseLove says
Ahhhh, we’re so nervous to see it!
xo,
s
Megan says
The one thing we did when we sold out 1938 bungalo was set up a historic architecture book on a stand with the page opened to our neighborhood. We wanted to remind the buyers what was great about out area.
It’s hard when you are competing with brand new houses with double the square feet and storage at the same price point.
So if you have any ranch architecture books or ones that highlight your particular neighborhood put them out.
Amy says
Taking the rug out definitely opens up the kitchen! Good call.
Unfortuantely, I have no words of wisdom for you. Our little family of 3 has been trying to sell our home for, get ready for it….3 years now! We also burried a statue of St. Joseph quite a while go. Hasn’t help. =(
Good luck!
Tommy says
Two things
1) REALLY? People are advising you to remove personal items? Thats amazing to me. When I was selling my mothers house we were advised that keeping the place looking as lived in as possible would be a major draw. People want to see the place as a home, not as a brick and drywall shell. And it actually having the place furnished your way will suck them into thinking about it because theyll spend so much time imagining how theyd rearrange the furniture. Anyway, thats what we were told by the people at Sothebys, and I assume they know what theyre talking about.
2) Regarding kitchen rugs. You know what works great? Yoga mats. In my kitchen I just buy cheap colorful yoga mats and literally cut them to the perfect size. They give you a little padding underfoot, theyre bright, they protect your floors from getting dented when you drop heavy stuff. The best thing tho is that when they get dirty you just take them outside and hose them off.
Christine says
As much work as it was every day, I loved how CLEAN our house was when we were selling. Nothing like a little motivation to make your bed and give the bathroom a quick wipe before you head to work! Unfortunately, that definitely didn’t last!
I always tried to have some fresh flowers kicking around for our showings. Buy the grocery store kind (lillies of some sort) that last forever! I can never remember what they’re called!
L says
Open the blinds, and turn on all the lights!
It sounds like a no-brainer, but a lot of the houses we looked at were buttoned-up tight. I think a house looks so much better when it’s bright and welcoming than dark and cave-like.
Deb says
I’m a realtor in another state, sure wish I was licensed in VA, I would LOVE to help you guys out. But since I’m not and since I am addicted to YHL here are some things that I find are helpful when showing your home. It’s ALWAYS good to have the smell of cookies in the oven and have some sitting out on the table for samples along with bottles of water. Believe me it’s these little things buyers remember. Also, put out a notebook with all the upgrades you’ve done to the house along with any warranties and especially put out in the same binder a sampling of your utilities so they know what to expect for the cost. Do a flyer and offer a HOME WARRANTY (only about $400) and well worth every penny to a prospective buyer, also on the flyer make sure you list all the upgrades that you’ve done. If you have any other questions you’re welcome to contact me anytime and I promise I won’t charge a thing !!!!
Leigh says
Nice job “Simon” and “J-Lo”!
Tiffany says
I think you guys are fine since the majority of your personal items–like the “P”, the keys, the map, etc.–are beautifully decorative too.
Can you talk about the decision to stencil the sunroom–and it a non-neutral color–before selling? It seems like a lot of work and a fairly style specific choice right before moving.
YoungHouseLove says
We’re never afraid of paint projects! It can always be repainted and many people in Richmond love Sunny’s Goodtime Paints (her stencils are iconic here, so we figured they might just make the sale, but probably wouldn’t break it). So far we’ve had lots of positive feedback at showings (from realtors and house hunters alike). Fingers crossed…
xo,
s
Laurie at House to your Home says
We recently sold our home and the market is tough these days but I think keeping the house spotless, making sure everything is in working order, even small things like making sure all the lightbulbs are working and changing the filter in the furnace (dads look!) helped us sell the house. I packed up some of the clutter but kept some personal items out, I’m with you I wanted people to know we lived there and made memories. Another hint, turn all your lights on before you show your house, my realtor taught me this years ago and at first I thought it was strange but it really brightens the house!
Lindsay says
Definitely a good idea for you guys to remove the rugs for house showings. When we were house hunting (and looking at houses about the age of yours), whenever there were seemingly nice floors with rugs, our first thought? HUGE scrapes/damage/spots hiding underneath. ;)