As you prepare for selling your home, one of the most important things you can do is stage it. Essentially, staging means arranging furniture and decor in such a way that enhances the spaciousness and beauty of your property, making it more appealing to potential buyers. It’s especially important to do some staging before you take any photos, ensuring you’re really wowing the buyers who view your online listing.
When we think about staging, we tend to associate it with decluttering—getting rid of the stuff that just takes up space or makes your home appear more messy. In fact, we often advise home sellers to put some of their stuff into an external storage unit, freeing up room for the home to really shine.
But is there ever a time when you might want to bring more stuff into your home—perhaps even going so far as to rent some home decor as a part of the staging process?
We think so—and in this post, we’ll explain why.
Remember, if you’re looking for help you sell your home, the first place you should turn is to get your free SOLD.com seller’s report. In it, you’ll get some personalized guidance for listing your place and getting it sold.
Request yours today—and in the meantime, here are our thoughts on renting decor to facilitate better home staging.
Renting Decor to Help with Home Staging
Renting a Sofa
One of the first items you might consider is a sofa. This is especially true if your current one is old, beat-up, frayed, or covered in off-putting stains.
The sofa plays a big role in setting the tone for your house; it attracts the eye, gives a sense of how much space you have, and makes the property feel more like a home. So, if your sofa has seen better days, you may want to ditch it and grab a rental.
And if that’s the route you go, we recommend getting a sofa that will really make a statement; rather than opting for something modest, get a grand-looking sofa that will create a big impact in the room.
This is one of the few areas where we’d actually recommend against picking something neutral. A really out-there sofa style can help you knock the socks off your buyers, potentially getting the place sold quicker.
Upgrade Your Lighting
When selling your home, it’s critical to think about lighting. You want the place to be as well-illuminated as possible, creating a bright and cheerful look. The last thing you want is a home that’s dark and shadowy.
So, open up the blinds, roll back the curtains, and let as much natural light in as you can. And if that’s not enough, you may want to invest in some LED lights that can be brought into key areas to alter the mood and create greater visibility.
It’s a cliché but it’s true: Good lighting sells houses. If you don’t feel like the property is well-lit, invest in some temporary lighting that can help.
Get a Gallery
One additional recommendation: Consider renting some paintings that you can hang from your walls.
This can not only liven the place up with a splash of color, but it can also bolster your asking price. For example, some high-end art pieces make sense in homes with higher list prices. They enhance that sense of luxury; they make your home feel like it should be expensive.
And if you’re choosing a more modest list price, you might pair it with some more modest, homey works of art—simple pieces that add a little domestic flair.
Looking for Help to Sell Your Home?
The bottom line is that, while staging is often about removing decor, it can sometimes be beneficial to add some. In this post we’ve given you just three examples of what that might look like.
Staging is key, but so is working with the right data—and that brings us back to the SOLD.com report. In it, you’ll get an independent, unbiased recommendation as to how to sell your home. If you haven’t already requested your FREE seller’s report from SOLD.com, do it now!
