Everyone has heard about the enormous impact that staging your home can have on selling your home. From helping to improve the overall look and feel of your home to its final sale price, home staging is definitely important.

At Royal City Realty, we know that some homeowners are concerned about the costs associated with staging their home. We understand that not everyone is in a position to rent furniture or hire painters and cleaners, so we have put together some tips on how you can stage your home without breaking the bank.

Home Staging Tip #1: Organize, Organize, Organize

People appreciate a clean and well-organized home. Not only will organizing your home help to reduce clutter, it will also help to open up your space and make your home look and feel larger.

Remember to organize every area. Don’t tuck extra belongings into closets, hoping they won’t be seen. One of the first things people do when touring a home is to peek into closets and drawers — they want to know that there’s enough storage space in the home for their belongings.

Organizing is also about decluttering. Take the time to reduce the number of items you have on display, on your bookshelves, in your closets, and around entry points to your home.

• Remove footwear and miscellaneous accessories from the floor area by your entry doors.
• Reduce the number of items on your kitchen counter. If possible, only showcase those items that are in good condition and look clean, like a coffee machine or mixer.
• Reduce the number of personal items from your home. Remove extra bedside items, kitchen table decorations, coffee table items, and photos from fridges and walls (if appropriate).
• Remove partially-burnt candles and replace with new, unused candles.
• Ensure your bookshelves, mantles, and other storage or shelving areas are tidy and free of clutter — and make sure your books are straight and aligned on the shelves.

Expert tip: People will also look in your fridge! Don’t forget to organize and declutter your food too!

Home Staging Tip #2: Clean, Clean, Clean

While this tip might seem obvious, what’s not obvious is to clean areas beyond tabletops and counters. It is really important to clean areas that you take for granted, but prospective homebuyers will notice — and you don’t need to hire a professional to do this work.

We highly recommend cleaning the following areas:

• Baseboards
• Visible ducts/vents
• Cupboard doors
• Closet doors
• Fridge doors
• Windows and frames (inside and out)
• Knobs, pulls, and door handles
• Faucets
• Mirrors
• Lighting

Expert tip: When cleaning your lighting, be sure to dust inside the shades (especially those hanging from the ceiling, as they will catch the dust) and clean the lightbulbs. Clean shades and bulbs will cast a better light in your home and help make it look bright and clean.

Home Staging Tip #3: Add Fruit and Flowers

We’ve all seen the magazines showcasing rooms that are open, clean, and trendy. These rooms all seem to feature bowls or stands with fruit and lovely vases with flowers.

You may wonder why they always seem to include these items in the photos — it’s because they look good and they help to make your home look polished and on trend.

• Use a nice bowl or metal stand to hold colourful fruit — ideally lemons or limes.
• If you don’t have a nice bowl or stand, you can get a simple glass container at a dollar store that won’t break the bank.
• Use a nice vase to show off fresh flowers in neutral colours, like white, to help make your space look clean.

There are lots of inexpensive tips and tricks that you can do yourself to help stage your home without breaking the bank. For more expert help, contact the team at Royal City Realty.