Tips for Living in a Staged Home

So you've had a professional home stager come to your home that's for sale and you've implemented everything that he or she recommended to get your home sold fast and for top dollar.

You've removed your family photos so that buyers can imagine themselves living there rather than feeling they are encroaching on your private space.

You've decluttered and have discarded, donated, given away or stored off-season clothing, extra furniture, toys, files, papers, books, magazines and other items so that buyers will feel like there's adequate storage in your home.

You've organized your kitchen cabinets and closets so that buyers will get the impression that you are a homeowner who really takes care of the home.

But now what?  You're thinking "We live here.  How can our home possibly continue to look like it's show-ready all the time?"

Well, relax, it doesn't have to look show-ready ALL the time, but there are some things you can easily implement so that you can become show-ready at the last minute.

• Now that you've pared down to what is necessary for living in your home for the next few months, this is not the time to be buying more toys and kitchen and electronic gadgets, etc.

• Don't shove everything you don't want to be visible into kitchen cabinets and closets at the last minute.  Buyers will open every drawer and door unless it's a piece of furniture.  Remember, we want buyers to think that there is adequate storage and you are an organized homeowner.
• Purchase a basket or box with a lid that you can put keys, today's mail, bills, calendars, unread newspapers, etc. into and keep it in an out-of-the way place such as a shelf in a closet, or in an appropriate place, like on a desk.  Besides eliminating a cluttered appearance, doing this will also protect your privacy.

• Buyers don't want to see your toiletries or hairdryer on the sink vanity in the bathroom.  If you don't have a closed cabinet under the sink in which to store these, purchase baskets to store these items.

• Buyers also don't want to see your half-used bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash and soap bars in the shower or bathtub.  Think "hotel".  Would you want to check into a hotel room and find that? Purchase one or two of those plastic or metal shower totes with a handle so that you can easily put all of these items into it and store away under the sink or in a linen closet.
• Your home stager most likely recommended that nice, new and fluffy towels be displayed during showings (remember, think "hotel"). So, you have two options:

                      - Keep the "nice" towels, neatly folded, on the towel bars, and hang your towels on a hook or hooks on the back of the door. Remove the latter and put in the washing machine or laundry bin prior to a showing.

                     - Fold the "nice" towels neatly and then roll them up.  Store them in a linen closet or under the sink.  Then prior to the showing, remove your daily towels from the towels bars; then unroll and hang up the display towels.

• Since children only play with probably 20% of their toys, and you've pared them down (the toys not the children) at the suggestion of your home stager, make sure you have storage bins or chests in which to put these items.  They make for a much neater appearance.

• Whether you're selling your home yourself, or have enlisted a real estate agent, pets and all evidence of pets, need to be removed before a showing. Not every buyer is a pet lover, and some are allergic to pets, so for these and other reasons, take the pet and food bowls, leashes, beds, litter box, toys, cages, etc with you if possible or bring to a neighbor's, friend's or family members' home while yours is being shown. 
• If you make the beds and fluff up the pillows every day, you don't have to scramble at the last minute in case you get a call that someone wants to see your house.
• If you and your family get in the habit of putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher immediately after using them, this makes for a much quicker last minute clean up of the kitchen.
• Another suggestion is to take a laundry basket and walk through the home and put everything in there that you don't have room to store away.  This works best for a home in the suburbs rather than for a city apartment. The laundry basket can be stored in the basement or garage.

There are many other things that should be done prior to showing your home.  Keep an open house checklist handy so that you know exactly what to do.

© Copyright 2011 Designed to Appeal, LLC.  All Rights Reserved.  

About the Author:  Donna Dazzo is president and owner of Designed to Appeal, a home staging company serving New York City and the Hamptons.  Designed to Appeal helps homeowners and real estate agents sell homes quickly and profitably, by expertly creating an environment that buyers want to live in. Designed to Appeal also helps homeowners not looking to sell with interior redesign, which involves using mostly what the homeowner already has.  Donna writes frequently on home staging and interior decorating and design topics.

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