Have you ever been to an open home and felt it was all posed and poised? Was everything positioned “just so” to produce a showy and unnatural facade? Did it leave you wondering just what the seller might be hiding? As more and more properties strive to provide a comprehensive package, they occasionally overextend themselves.
However, the last thing you want to do is turn your buyers off, so keep in mind these six tips for avoiding the cliches of home staging.
Step Away From The Cookies
If ever there was a cliche, it would be walking into a property seemingly haunted by the Cookie Monster. There’s a waft of baked dough at every turn. For advice on how to do ‘less is more,’ seek the experts like these Melbourne property stylists.
If anything, going to town on the baked aroma thing only serves to induce your potential buyer’s appetites (you might just find them leaving your property in no time at all for a spot of lunch!). It’s really not the right way to go about capturing genuine interest and undivided attention.
Avoid Smoke And Mirrors
Smoke and mirror marketing is never a beneficial idea. Sometimes, it’s not about adding frills and all the bells and whistles. It’s about stripping things back. It’s all about styling in a way that is perfectly suited to your space. Stay away from extreme colors and busy patterns on walls, floors, or furniture. This will allow buyers to envision a blank canvas on which they can add their personal touch. Maintaining a delicate equilibrium is crucial. You don’t want a home to look too sterile, but you don’t want it to look too overdone either.
Don’t Be Pretentious
Maintaining a well-presented home is one thing, but there’s a subtle difference between this and making your home feel intimidating. Don’t try to make your kitchen look like the set of MasterChef. And don’t strategically place items around your home that scream pretentious.
Avoid the common cliches. Buyers are interested in what your property has to offer from a real estate point of view—and not what books you read, what crystal you drink from, and the smell of some pricey vanilla orchid soy candle!
Think Clean And Clutter-Free
Sparkling clean interiors are the best way to make a favorable impression. Remove clutter to present a home at its simplest and finest. This will maximize a feeling of spaciousness and showcase your original floor plan.
Make sure everything is neat and organized—you’ll be surprised at what this can do for the flow of living space. Do away with clutter and avoid things that make interiors look smaller, e.g., dark heavy furniture. Let in natural light by opening blinds, curtains, and drapes.
Depersonalise Your Space
Remove items where possible that create a heavy personal vibe, like family pictures, kids’ artworks, toys, and anything else that looks overly messy and ‘lived in’ to give potential buyers the freshest sense of your property. This is referred to as depersonalizing.
Think about it: if you were buying a property, how would you feel? Walking into a messy, dirty house with all the remnants of someone else’s day-to-day life is certainly not the way to impress and create that dream home vibe.
Be Odour-Free
Please don’t overdo it with the air fresheners and synthetic smells. While you may think that this is a beneficial way to eliminate odors, it only serves to mask them and will have visitors wondering what you might be trying to cover up.
Use odor neutralizers, e.g., baking soda, citrus, and ‘green’ scents. Keep away from the potpourri, incense, and anything musky. This will avoid the general feeling that there might just be a dead body sandwiched between the floorboards!
Don’t Be A Cliché
Think simple when it comes to home staging—and, when in doubt, call in the experts. This will ensure you don’t become a cliche and help you realize your best chance at success when selling your property.
