Before I even begin this one, I must carefully preface my following “pet peeves” with something revealing about myself – I am by no means perfect and neither is my home. Surprise!
If you came over right now and took a stroll through my home, you would find the following: art canvas I got for my birthday still sitting in the same place in my den (from a month ago), my husbands button-up shirts adorning the stair rail (seriously need to take those to the cleaners), today’s mail scattered about on the kitchen counter top, a Taco Bueno cup (half full with coke) sitting on the coffee table, a horribly messy, un-made bed, a trashed office (I have been doing a lot of work lately) and the fabulous Jacuzzi Bathtub that has established a permanent residence on the floor in our spare bedroom (yes, I said bathtub…still working on re-doing that bathroom)!
I say all of this to nip in the bud the inevitable “Oh, Amber, I bet your house is just perfect” comment. And to let all of you know that I am not this organized, clean freak of a person all of the time.
However! There is one tiny different between myself and all of you sellers out there: my home is not on the market. And if it were, you could bet your bottom dollar that all of the above would be remedied ASAP! (Better get started on that bathroom right now though. Ugh.)
So, now that all of that is out of the way, let’s get to the point. I have been strolling through the MLS lately, scouting out homes in need of staging. (I enjoy this every now and then. Yes, I am a dork.). I couldn’t help but to yell (really) at certain things that I saw. So I starting compiling all of these things in my brain and determined a few of my minor pet peeves. These pet peeves are worth taking into consideration, because it’s the tiny things that make a big difference when selling a home.
So here’s a list of a few of my “Home Staging Pet Peeves.”
- First and foremost: Photography! I am going to get on my soapbox here. We are quickly becoming a technologically savvy culture and if you are not on that boat, you are missing out. I don’t know the statistics on this, but I would guess that around 75% of buyers look for homes online or visit the MLS to see what the inside of a home looks like before calling to set up a showing. Some of the photos I saw literally disturbed me. It looked as if the photographer was either shaking uncontrollably or took photos with their phone. This is my biggest pet peeve of all! It’s so critical that photos are at least viewable online, if not taken professionally or taken using proper equipment.
- Straighten it up! Now this one is really minor. You know that towel on the stove handle or rod in the bathroom that you use all of the time? If it’s in a photo, please make sure it’s straight and that it doesn’t look like it should have been thrown away five years ago. And you know all of those throw pillows on the couch or bed? They may call them “throw pillows,” but please take the time to “place” them neatly into their proper positions before taking photos or showing your home. This same theory applies to almost anything in the home that is going to be visible to a potential buyer. This takes moments and can exude a sense of order, organization and cleanliness.
- Wall décor. If you are a reader of my column, you know my thoughts on too much wall décor. But too much wall décor that looks as if a massive earthquake tilted them all about is 100% worse! Go to the store and buy some ticky-tac and apply a little ball of it to the corners of wall décor to secure them into place…but make sure they are level. Then you don’t have to spend time straightening them later
- “Staging-ish.” This one gets under my skin like nails on a chalkboard. Let’s just face that not everyone can “stage” a home…no matter how much HGTV you watch! I ran across some homes that were obviously “staged-ish” and the furniture looked like it came from 10 different shops and was just thrown together like a Picasso painting. (Let’s leave the creative “throwing together” of elements to brilliant painters). HGTV can be a wonderful source of knowledge for those who are selling a home, but it’s easy to get carried away. There is an art to home staging that includes creating a blank canvas, not Guernica. (You’d have to know a little Art History to appreciate that one…look it up).
- Is that ivy growing above your kitchen cabinets? I totally appreciate any time someone brings in something organic into a space. It adds life to a home. But plastic, dust-caked ivy adorning every ledge in a home is a turn-off. A little ivy/greenery goes a long way and I would rather see large items warming up ledges and such rather than Jack’s beanstalk. It just complicates a space. Remember to simplify.
Ok…so there’s five pet peeves. I know they may seem minor in some ways, but they are well worth consideration when you are selling a home. Now, I have to get to work on re-doing that bathroom so that I can enjoy my Jacuzzi tub. Did I mention that the tub was a wedding gift from almost four years ago? Yikes.
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