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?
Michelle Z. says
(It’s probably already been said, but…) Even on a bright, sunny day I turn on EVERY light in the house before a showing.
Amanda says
You guys were great today on The Nate Show. I’ve always said you two need more “air time” from networks/shows. You have great on-screen presence!
amy goodhouse says
I think the standard advice to remove all personal items started as a polite cover-up to persuade sellers to clean up their messy, cluttered homes!
That being said, I think if a house is neat and organized, such as yours, it isn’t a problem to have personal photos and items displayed.
I was wondering if your blog has actually drawn any potential buyers to your house?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Amy,
We actually have had a few blog readers express interest but so far no offers! We keep saying that it’ll be interesting to see if someone who has read about our house for a while or someone who has no idea about YHL will buy our house. Of course we plan to tell anyone before they put in an offer, just so they know about the site. Seems fair since photos of the house with our furniture will remain on the blog.
xo,
s
The Modern Gal says
Really, the most important thing in staging is showing off space and highlighting the home’s best features. Your home is already free of clutter — and that’s the problem most people have. The point is to make people feel comfortable when they’re inside — like they’re already home — and to make sure they see the best parts of the house.
liz @ bon temps beignet says
Y’all were great & the ‘Jim/Brian’ thing was hilarious. I was confused right along with poor Nate. I kept giving the side-eye to the TV. Very funny.
Awesome job!! I was hoping Clara would pop out at some point. ; )
YoungHouseLove says
I know! Clara would have stole the show! She was living it up in the green room with my mom.
xo,
s
Emily E. says
A superstition that has worked for us: Bury a small St. Francis figurine outside. I think you are supposed to bury him upside down and facing the door!
Emily E. says
Woops! I meant St. Joseph!!
Abby says
You guys were AWESOME on the show today! Well done!
I’m getting ready to get married and set up an apartment for the first time. I can’t get enough of your website!
Ann says
We’ve sold 4 homes in the last 8 years in different parts of the country. Some sales took longer than others. I did hire a stager one time and she said buyers spend more time at the front door waiting and looking around so it is important that the front is in tip-top shape. Secondly, she said the minute they walk in the front door, you want the “wow” factor.
I think your house looks great. It’s fairly neutral (except for the baby’s room and I don’t see that as a deal-breaker), it’s updated, clean, and appears as though it has lots of natural light.
My one concern is when you sell it yourself, you will not reach as many buyers as you would listing with a realtor.
eileen marie says
I don’t have to tell you to bury St. Joseph out front, do I? Works EVERY time. Just make sure he’s upside down. Oh, and remember to dig him up (after you seal the deal!), and give him pride of place in your new home, or he’ll put the hoola boola on ya!
Andrea | HomageStyle.com says
I’ve done some home staging, and your house is perfect!
The only thing I would do differently would be to pack up the family photos. It can distract people at the showings. They may get caught up looking at your lovely photos & miss the gorgeous house!
And no need to bake an apple pie! Just buy a candle! They have birthday cake & sugar cookie & apple pie. Pick the best smelling one & burn it for a while before the showing, then blow it out right before the showing arrives. It’ll give the scent of “Home Sweet Home” without the work! Or the calories!
Crissy says
One of my pet peeves when I was looking for houses was when people would have their blinds/curtains closed! I hate mini-blinds with a passion, but even if you can’t yank them down for a showing, the very least you can do is let the light shine in.
kristin says
Not a tip, but a question. How do you clean your oh so white cabinets? We painted our cabinets white 2 years ago and I have such a hard time cleaning them. I don’t know if it’s the paint job, but it seems like gunk collects in the grooves and nothing I do makes them pretty. I forsee repainting them in my future.
YoungHouseLove says
We just use a moist microfiber cloth and drag it across the grooves from time to time to grab dust. Otherwise they stay pretty clean (and can always be wiped down if there’s an errant drip). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Mary Lynn says
I am also a newbie here and have enjoyed reading your blog! I was wondering what type of maintenance you had to do outside to get your house ready to put on the market?
We are getting ready to put ours on the market as well, and my current projects outside are staining the deck and cleaning up flower beds (new mulch, de-weeding, etc.).
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Mary Lynn,
Yup, that’s a lot like what we did. We mulched, blew the acorns out of the driveway, planted some pretty porch plants in pots, weeded, mowed the grass and reseeded, etc. Good luck!
xo,
s
Celestte says
When showing your home, turn on all of the lights (even in closets in any), open any curtains and blinds; open closet doors so people don’t feel awkward opening them, declutter, declutter, declutter. A kitchen looks so spacious, no matter how small, when nothing is left on the counter. I don’t use my toaster everyday so I don’t keep that on the counter, but in the cabinet below. Just me…I like to be able to wipe the counter without moving “stuff.” And those Wallflowers from Bath & Body Works are great. They have yummy smelling holiday ones right now; my personal favorite is kitchen spice. Smells like an apple pie and pumpkin pie are baking. Good luck – your house looks inviting and homey.
Erin says
Watched you guys on the Nate Show yesterday and thought you did a superb job!! My husband and I always find your little projects like the ones you did on the show very helpful!
Jayme (The Random Blogette) says
Your house is beautiful and I can’t imagine you having any problems selling it. I used to work in real estate and the only tip that I have is to make your house look as neutral as possible. Do not have a ton of family pics around. Potential buyers want to imagine themselves in your home, not you in your home. I am sure that you probably already know this though. You did a great job removing the kitchen-ey items from the counters. you have to make everything look as big as possible.
Also, where did you get those adorable towels in the last picture? I love them!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jayme,
They’re from TJ Maxx. Love them.
xo,
s
Erin says
Whenever we sold a house when I was growing up, my mom would ALWAYS have a pot of homemade tomato sauce simmering on the stove- helps make the home more “homey” :)
r8chel says
So do you guys have a little checklist of things to do before each showing?
I only had to prepare my house for showing once. I was out of town the weekend it went on the market. While I was gone, it was shown a number of times, and before I returned, I had accepted one of the offers I received. So crazy!
Also, while it’s always good to have a house looking nice, I think people who want to see perfectly-staged houses lack imagination. Fortunately for some sellers, there are plenty of people (me, for example) who are able to look past the sports bra lying on the bed and the furniture polish sitting on the mantle. Oh, and the ladder propped up against the wall next to the table with a plate of cookies… :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey r8chel,
We were actually contemplating posting our list before people come for a showing. We’ll have to do it sometime soon!
xo,
s
John D says
Presenting a beautiful home that a buyer will want to live in is important, but remember it is important that they want to see the home. The internet is the place buyers (80%)go to search for homes and well composed and pleasing pictures are critical. Certainly when you or your real estate agent take photos for the listing each room should be heavily decluttered. Cut about 50% of the items on tabletops and flat surfaces. Also, it may be necessary to move furniture around, even temporarily remove furniture to make sure the photo of the room is pleasing and shows off features of the room. The camera sees details that you don’t notice in reality. Try taking a photo of your room before decluttering. After taking the pictures you can return the room to normal. You may want to pack up some of the clutter instead. If you are selling your home, you should be thinking about packing stuff up anyway. Now is a good time.
Michelle Lynne says
Hey there! I happen to be a professional stager and can tell you that there are some key points that I think you have already covered in the way you guys live in your home that will work to your advantage while selling it. For example, your style is universal and not totally taste specific, it’s not over-cluttered with furniture stealing your square footage, you haven’t gone with BOLD colors but have remained in the neutral pallet, etc. I don’t remember seeing your wedding portrait hung above the fireplace with a flashing neon spotlight on it, so you are right in such that leaving some of your photos & personal mementos out should not distract the potential buyers…although little Clara IS super cute!
If you need any tips just to compound what your instincts are telling you, I have a handout from a recent speaking engagement that I’d be happy to send you. Best wishes!
Katy says
Ikea me, pretty please!
Kristin says
I have no experience in staging, but agree with Michelle above. Your house is clean, organized, and well decorated. Even if its not a specific buyer’s style, it’s done so nicely that they could look past it and picture their own stuff in your house. Also, when we were house hunting, I preferred the houses that looked a little lived in! I wouldn’t take my pictures down either. :)
Liz says
The removal of the bathroom rug is good – our stager that helped sell our last house told us to always remove bathroom rugs – people won’t step on them, and they get a visual picture of you standing there naked and dripping wet. Nice visual? She also told us that the magic quotient is showing the space where the baseboard meets the wall. The more baseboard you show, the more spacious everything looks, the closet, the room, etc. Pile as high to the ceiling as you want, but get things off the floor. Love you guys! Watched you on Nate – so cute are ya’ll! Good Luck with the house sale!
Megan Yarmuth says
Call us superstitious but a week after we “set the table” we were sold! Placements, wine glasses, the whole bit!
Claire K Creations says
Considering your house looks magazine perfect most of the time anyway I don’t think I could offer any suggestions! I wish I was house-hunting around your area instead of in Brisbane, Australia. Best of luck.
Fernanda says
Funny how culture works. We do not have this staging thing here in Brazil. And even worse, people do not really care that much to show a perfectly clean/decluttered house. I’ve seen all kinds of scenarios while house hunting. I think your house looks just perfect as is. I don’t enjoy seeing magazine-looking houses. It feels as if no one lives there.
As for superstitions, as some people mentioned, bury a st joseph upside down (wherever you want, even a pot) with the key of the property you want to sell. It works like a charm. Of course, remember to unbury the image and thank him afterwards.
Good luck!
PS – If I wasn’t so far away (Sao Paulo – Brazil) I’d move into your house anytime….
bfish says
Having sold several homes in the past ten years, I think it’s important to know your audience. We are only interested in working on older homes and they have a different appeal than brand new homes — and aren’t usually in a development with HOAs, covenants, etc. The newest house we’ve sold was a ranch built in the mid 1950s, the oldest were a bungalow from 1914 and a foursquare from 1917. With the oldest, you can get away with some bolder colors and decorating choices if they’re reasonably period-appropriate. Most people aren’t expecting antique white in every room of houses built in the teens and twenties, so sellers shouldn’t have to repaint everything to the point of sterility. In 1950s and 1960s houses, I’d go for mostly neutral. As you guys have done with your house, modernized kitchens and baths are very important though; only a purist wants a 1920s or 1950s kitchen. I also wholly agree with your choices to paint your fireplace bricks and panelled walls because few people want that old dark look.
We like to leave out notebooks that show before and after pictures of all of the exterior and interior renovations. Buyers will see how much effort (and love) you’ve put into the home and feel they’re getting a good value. Of course don’t forget to point out all of the mundane but necessary improvements such as new/upgraded electrical and plumbing, new fixtures and appliances, and new HVAC and roof. Also in the central VA area improvements to keep the basement dry are important to sellers.
Also we like to use as an advertising hook “every modern-day convenience with the charm and quality construction of an earlier era” or the like. Buyers want the internet and cable hookups and multiple receptacles in each room that they would get in a new house, as well as new breaker boxes, modern (even if in vintage style) light fixtures, and the like.
I agree with others that good smells in moderation are the way to go; do not overdo the scented whatevers. Also, as others note turn on lights everywhere (a must in the kitchen because even if it’s bright from sunlight people will want to know what lighting they’re working with after dark) and open all curtains/raise blinds. Clean out the fireplace(s) thoroughly and paint the inside of the firebox flat black (with paint for wood stoves or barbecues). This gives a very clean and inviting look to an important selling point. Put in a nice log or two if there aren’t gas logs.
My belief is that if you can appeal to buyers’ emotions through a few spectacular features (doesn’t have to be expensive; we’ve done wonders with hanging small stained glass windows in odd windows to take something that was ugly and make it an interesting focal point). Sure, many people are practical but you want to have it all — lots of charm + function = sale.
Dayna Coronado says
“IKEA me” so I may purchase lovely bedding for my children’s room and two chairs for my living room. thank you! :-)
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
This is SO hard, because I think your house is PERFECT! :-) Moving the rugs was a good thing, I think. Ditto what other people have said about opening shades/curtains and turning on lights. Fresh flowers are nice, but I’ve also heard not to go overboard with “smells” from cooking or whatever. as long as the house smells “clean”, I think it’s good.
and of course you guys know the obvious stuff about making beds, putting clothes into hampers…you would not BELIEVE what kind of messes we found when we were looking at people’s houses!! Dirty bathrooms (DIRTY!), unmade beds, clothes everywhere!! ugh! I don’t know what people were thinking sometimes!! I would LOVE to be a buyer and find a nice, CLEAN house like yours! :-)
Amber says
Whenever we had a showing, we turned all the lights on & turned on some jazz. If we had time, I’d also bake some break and bake cookies to make it smell welcoming too!
Danielle says
Thanks for keeping us up to date with all your events! It must be hard staying on top of everything in “public”! Just wondering your thoughts on where to put things that no longer fit into the style of your house or just seem to clutter it up. Donate, ebay, store? This may be something you will talk about closer to your move, but I am in the middle of decluttering my home and am at a loss. Also, will you be changing your YHL logo?
YoungHouseLove says
All of the above! We donate and consign whatever we no longer have a need for and only store things that we genuinely love and use. Life is too short to live with clutter and broken/useless items! As for the YHL logo, the line will definitely be changing because it won’t be our first house anymore. Stay tuned…
xo,
s
Brenda Mueller says
Funny, my husband and I are buying a house in the Northwest, in a city near Seattle, and we didn’t look at a single house that was occupied! I guess it’s the market, but every house we looked at was vacant, and many of them had never bothered to clean out their junk. The house we are buying, was one of the few that was CLEAN. Maybe it’s the reason we chose it. It was empty, but very clean, fresh paint and spotless, even down to the fireplaces and heating vents. Definitely a professional job. And the house was clearly well taken care of its whole life, though never updated.. Still, it was so much easier to imagine living there. Though it would have been nice to see a clean house with furnishings too.
Anyway, love you blog right, cause our new house has an awful 1960’s kitchen complete with orange countertops and dark brown cabinets, a finished basement with brown tile floor and wood paneling everywhere, and a family room complete with MORE wood paneling! Can’t wait to get to work!
KatelynLikesThis says
Hey there,
Don’t know if some of these were mentioned. Sorry if the were. I live in Toronto, and we sold our home in 24 hours to the highest of 6 bidders. And, I did all the staging myself with a few hints from friends, agents and online.
Basically, we had to make the house look like no one had lived there. So, the least items you can have in the house, the better. Goodbye anything on the counter-tops. I mean EVERYTHING. No dish soap, no toaster (wrap it in a plastic bag and put it under the cuboard), no toothbrushes, no sign that anyone lives there. Same with the laundry room. No clothes in sight. Also, we had to “depersonalize.” That means taking down every single personal family photo that was on our walls/tables etc. They had to come down. I kept up my florals and other non-personal art works. In spaces were I had family stuff, we just went to Walmart and added some extras or shuffled stuff around. Rugs. Same thing, got rid of them. We even went to the extend of getting rid of our buffet in the kitchen (even though you’d need it, it freed up space). We basically had to strip our home and “pretend” not to live in it. Lucky for us, as I had planned, we’d sold it within 24 hours. We ate out for those times so the house didn’t even smell like “other people’s food.” People like fresh bread, but not the lingering scent of onions from last night’s stew. You prob don’t need to be told this, but CLEAN, CLEAN, CLEAN. I washed all our floors by HAND. Yes. I might sound nutso, but it worked! Our house sold for well over asking price when the economy first dipped. Over a house that was 500 square feet larger. Simply due to staging I believe.
In my opinion, thanks to this, house selling was easier than house buying!
Good luck!!!
Jenny says
OK, I’m amazed that you guys have an answer to everything! I came to your site today (same as every day, of course) and was planning on emailing about staging a home. And then I searched “staging a home to move” and this came up. Of course you had already covered the subject – you’re YHL! :)
We’ve personalized our little bungalow so much since we moved in in June 2012 and I love it so much I literally want to just whisper sweet nothings to it each day when I get home. But I was talking to some one the other day that was like, “you’ll probably have to paint these walls and take down these frames when you go to sell.” I was like, “YOU’LL HAVE TO!” in the most mature way possible. And then I started thinking about it. I get compliments on our home all the time – why wouldn’t a buyer think it’s just as great, even without us repainting and taking down frames. And then this post confirmed it for me. Because I take your word as God. (extreme?)
Thanks, guys, for just being so super cool and giving amazingly fabulous advice that makes me feel way better about life in general. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Jenny, you’re so sweet! Good luck with everything!
xo
s