Home Staging Checklists (5 Part Series) Part 4: Dramatizing Checklist

If you've been involved with this Home Staging Checklist series from the beginning your bound to see a big change since you started.  Now, we're going to focus on the sensory connections that emotionally attach would be buyers to you home specifically.  You'll probably find this part of the series more enjoyable than the last one. 

Now for the fun work.  It's time to put on your creative hat and get going.

Part 4 - Dramatizing Checklist

INTERIOR

Smell

• Buy thyme, basil and sage and plant them in three small clay pots. Place them on a windowsill to clean the air and to provide a visual still life.
• Place a heaping bowl of fresh lemons and limes on the kitchen counter to give off a clean, fresh scent
• Dispense four to five drops of vanilla home fragrance oil in a sculptural scent diffuser heated by a votive candle to release into the air of any bedroom or bathroom.

Sensation

• Drape a soft chenille, wool or fur throw on the couch, chair, or bed to add a delicious layer of texture
• Lay a soft textured rug or a sumptuous bathrobe casually over the tub. Soften the clean lines of a bathroom by folding a pile of fluffy towels on the countertop.

Visual

• Opt for a great look in flowers and greenery. Go big and simple. Display oversized tropical leaves in ample vases or float a large bloom in a shallow glass bowl.
• Highlight a kitchen desk by keeping it tidy and show that it is a working area for paying bills, organizing schedules and answering phone calls.
• Aim a task lamp down at an open book placed on the seat of an armchair.

Auditory

• Add natural melody and rhythm with an indoor fountain on the kitchen counter, home office desk, or bedside table.
• Fill the hot tub or Jacuzzi and turn on the jets.
• Play music softly in the background. Choose something that enhances the mood that you are trying to create. Classical music for the stately home, jazz for the sophisticated condo, or easy listening for a family infill.
• Taste Association
• Set a basket of biscotti beside the cappuccino maker or coffee press to evoke images of leisurely weekend mornings
• Display a tray of specialty hot chocolate packages and mugs to inspire thoughts of long winter evenings spent with family
• Set a huge bowl of popcorn on the coffee table in the television viewing room. Buyers will easily imagine themselves spending fun, informal evenings with family or friends

EXTERIOR

Summer

• Hang up a hammock beneath some trees to give a sense of unhurried relaxation and unplanned naps.
• Embellish a picnic table with a pot of flowers, a hurricane lamp and a basket of dinnerware so buyers can envision slow dinners on soft summer nights.
• Choose a decorative architectural piece like a stone urn, ancient sundial, birdbath, stone sphere or a fountain to create a character-filled focal point for a blooming garden.

Winter

• Drape clear holiday lights on trees or drape net lights on shrubs to give a sense of depth after dusk
• Mound pinecones or set evergreen boughs in your window boxes. If you don't have window boxes, they are easy to install on brackets and dress the façade of your house immediately.
• Make a luxurious woodsy arrangement with an urn filled with cedar or pine branches, accented with red dogwood branches.

Spring

• Grace a front porch with attractive willow, wicker or teak outdoor furniture to set a scene of casual comfort.
• Bring the feeling of a large garden to a small area with decorative architectural pieces. A stone urn, sundial, birdbath or fountain tucked into plantings creates a compelling element of interest.
• Arrange multiple garden chairs under outstretched branches to invite images of friends and family gathering. Drape a shawl casually across one of the seats to suggest guests lingering a little longer to enjoy the visit.

Fall

• Fill bird feeders or purchase a birdhouse to lend personality to the yard
• Set up a croquet game in the backyard to suggest hours of family fun.
• Dress up a balcony or deck with inexpensive globe lanterns along the ledge or on the ground creating a wonderful, soft glow in the dusky evenings.

After you've completed this checklist series, you'll start to realize how far you've come.  In our final series we will be covering e still have a little more to get done.  In part four of our checklist series we will be going over "Dramatizing" your home.  If you have questions or need professional assistance, please Emal or call us at (813) 968-1414.

* Please contact us if you would like to share this checklist with your clients.