Home Staging Tip: Fluffy white towels can mean more than you think

By
Home Stager with Chicagoland Home Staging LLC
Look through bathroom photos on Pinterest, Houzz, and any other online magazine and you'll see that part of the mystic of a beautiful bathroom is a stack of fluffy white bathroom towels. As a professional home stager, we employ this trick from time to time. We know that most people see a neat stack of fluffy white towels as a sign of luxury. 

 Why does a perfect stack of towels mean luxury?

 
I'm not really sure we can over analyze this question since understanding the answer can mean more money for our home sellers and as a professional home stager in Chicago, that's my job. Fresh, fluffy, white towels always represent clean. Stacked perfectly on the shelf they represent the life we want. The life we strive for in ever pinned image that our ideabooks can hold. Creating the image of this life can help potential buyers believer that they can have it here, in this home. 
 
 
Most people don't live this way. Most of us live with a hodge podge of towels. We have some that we know we should have thrown away years ago, and we've bought new ones to replace them, but there they are, all stacked together, a variety of colors and sizes, packed in our closets. Frayed edges, sitting in lopsided piles, we yearn for a more organized life, someday. Maybe if we just had more space. 
 
 
When selling your home, it's important to understand that the perception of home buyers can mean the difference between a quick home sale, and the offers that are presented. By using imagery represented in digital dream homes and spaces, you can help buyers connect and want to buy. Small changes can make a big difference. 
 

Read more of our organizational tips: 

 
Call Margaret Gehr or one of our Chicago area home staging professionals to find out how we can help sell the sale of your home 815-530-3566.
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Margaret Gehr is the principle owner of Chicagoland Home Staging, servicing the greater Chicago area for home staging, redesign, and design projects. We work in both occupied and vacant homes. 

 

Comments (20)

Edward & Celia Maddox
The Celtic Connection Realty - Queen Creek, AZ
EXPERIENCE & INTEGRITY - WE TAKE THE HIGH ROAD

A very good tip.  Amazing that some home owners leave stuff all around and messy.  Guess they think they will sell to a piggie.

May 08, 2013 12:57 AM
Captain Wayne - Rowlett Real Estate School
Rowlett Real Estate School - Panama City, FL
Rowlett Real Estate School / Owner and Instructor

We buy all white towels and linens.  It is easier when washing and I just like my whites.

May 08, 2013 12:58 AM
Brad MacKenzie
Brad MacKenzie - Duxbury, MA
Turning Houses into Homes on the South Shore

I agree. There is something mystical about something so simple.  Good tip, and thanks for pointing it out.

May 08, 2013 01:20 AM
Dan Hopper
Dan Hopper - Gold Way RE - Westminster, CO
Denver Broker / Real Estate Advocate

Great tip for a simple staging item, Margaret.  Yes, I do see why the "white towel" would come across as representing a CLEAN quality!  SO many buyers when seeing a kitchen that might be OVERLY white with cabinets and appliances, will make the comment, "it looks like a hospital room or a clean labratory".

May 08, 2013 01:22 AM
Julia Maher
Nestings: Connecticut Home Staging and Model Homes - Fairfield, CT
Connecticut Home Stager

I just HAD to SUGGEST this post, Margaret!!!  Fluffy white towels do evoke that image of what we all want in our lives.  Now, stop peeking in my messy linen closet!

May 08, 2013 02:46 AM
Maureen Bray Portland OR Home Stager ~ Room Solutions Staging
Room Solutions Staging, Portland OR - Portland, OR
"Staging Consultations that Sell Portland Homes"

hi Margaret ... it's true, white towels evoke a real "Spa" feeling for most of us.  I like using white towels and a few spa bath accessories, along with an orchid.  Buyers seems to love bathrooms that look so serene!

May 08, 2013 10:30 AM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

Hi Celia - your comment made me laugh but it's so true. It's so simple but some people just dont get it.

 

Captian Wayne - I love all white as well...feels more organized & clean.  Colored towels fade and look old just after a few washings. 

 

Thanks for your comment Brad. It is so simple...:)

 

Hi Dan - can't go wrong with clean looking in the bathroom. Kitchens are another story :)

 

Hi Julia - LOL Thank you. looks like mine sometimes to. 

 

Hey Maureen - I set up many bathrooms just as you described....always relaxing. I need to get to the spa..

 

 

May 08, 2013 12:11 PM
John McCormack, CRS
Albuquerque Homes Realty - Albuquerque, NM
Honesty, Integrity, Results, Experienced. HIRE Me!

Too great not to re-blog!

May 08, 2013 12:47 PM
Cheryl Ritchie
RE/MAX Leading Edge www.GoldenResults.com - Huntingtown, MD
Southern Maryland 301-980-7566
I did not know that technique. I do have show towels plus use towels.
May 08, 2013 12:53 PM
Wayne Johnson
Coldwell Banker D'Ann Harper REALTORS® - San Antonio, TX
San Antonio REALTOR, San Antonio Homes For Sale
Margaret-That is a great suggestion on the towels. I'll check your other organizational tips too.
May 08, 2013 12:54 PM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

LOL John, thanks

Hi Cheryl - years ago I saw Martha Stewart fold her towels like this and I tried it, it was so easy it just stuck.  I now have my 3 teenage boys folding them this way.

May 08, 2013 01:02 PM
Tammy Lankford,
Lane Realty Eatonton, GA Lake Sinclair, Milledgeville, 706-485-9668 - Eatonton, GA
Broker GA Lake Sinclair/Eatonton/Milledgeville

A few years ago I gave my mother in law some awesome white spa towels.  Then I went to visit and got to use them.  Now I have spa towels at my house.  I'm worth it.  And yes, I agree, they look great.

May 08, 2013 01:04 PM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

Thanks Wayne, nicely folded white towels go a long way in a house thats for sale.

May 08, 2013 01:07 PM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

good for you Tammy! There is something about using a new fresh white towel that just makes you feel good. 

May 08, 2013 01:11 PM
Beverly Carlson
Carlson Properties 325-721-2429 - Abilene, TX
Abilene's Staging Realtor
A stack of three towels looks nice on top of the dryer or if laundry room is empty, place on any open shelf. No shelf. Stage with a wicker basket with three white towels and a green plant.
May 08, 2013 01:56 PM
Al & Peggy Cunningham, Brokers
RE/MAX West Realty Inc., Brokerage - Brampton, ON
Our Family Wants To Help Your Family!

Subliminal techniques. White fluffy towels folded just like that does just give a soothing 'ahhhhh' feeling. Great tip Margaret!

May 08, 2013 11:01 PM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

Exactly Beverly. Simple but effective. Thanks for your comment.

 

Hi Brampton Homes...those little subliminal techniques really help buyers feel welcome and connect to a space. thanks!

May 08, 2013 11:16 PM
Sharon Tara
Sharon Tara Transformations - Portsmouth, NH
Retired New Hampshire Home Stager

Funny how such a small detail can add up to such a big difference in perception!

May 13, 2013 09:23 AM
Margaret Gehr
Chicagoland Home Staging LLC - Naperville, IL

We're all about the details aren't we Sharon. I think when working with sellers it's something they always understand.

May 13, 2013 01:38 PM
Linda Barnett
Home Matters Property Stylist Group, Indianapolis, Indiana - Indianapolis, IN
Home Matters Indianapolis Indiana

Margaret - This is a great blog for buyers to understand the importance of the little things we do as professinal home stagers. Nicely done. 

Jun 05, 2013 02:44 AM