Home staging: the tricks behind a successful sale

​You always wanted to sell your property and hopefully sell it at a higher price than you bought it to earn your investment back. Home staging can help you making your home looks gorgeous and attract many potential buyers and, therefore, a higher chance for a big sale. 

Which are the secrets behind all those perfect houses we often see on real estate ads?
How can we prepare our home for sale?
Let's discover together some DIY tricks for a stunning home staged property with before & after images.

Keep the decor simple
The most important thing to keep in mind, when home staging your home for the listing images, is to keep it very tidy and minimalistic. This doesn’t mean that it has to be empty, on the other hand furniture helps to buyers to visualise how to use the space. Just try to avoid too many personal stuff or things you use everyday, for example the cloth to clean the kitchen, cotton pads in the bathroom or kids’ toys.
The space has to look, as much as possible, ready to host someone else and therefore not be overwhelmed by personal items.

Before

After - everyday use items must be removed

​Do a total or partial makeover
If you have lived in the same house for a long period of time and you were not so keen into interior design, trends, renovation, etc. there is a risk that your house might not be decorated like the other listed properties, making potential buyers swap fast to fresher looking ones. You might consider then a makeover, under the supervision of a professional home stager that will be able to put together a new scheme with existing furniture. There are also companies that rent out different furniture for a couple of days or weeks, exactly for this purpose. This could be a fantastic solution if you don't want to buy new furniture for your old property.
​

A professional home stager will make your home ready for listing

​Take very good photographs
When you are finally done with the furniture, decor and your property looks tidy, it is time to start shooting. If you can’t invest in a professional photographer, try to take very good pictures as you can. This stage is very crucial as it doesn’t matter how beautifully your home is styled if you don’t catch it well with the camera. Try to find key corners where to stand and point the camera, always keep in mind the sunlight from the windows. Avoid pictures against that light if you cannot modify the brightness afterwords in Photoshop. If you have a small bedroom, photograph it from outside, so that the room feels bigger. If you have a bathroom without windows, light up any light to make it as brighter as possible. Catch anything that can be interesting, such as a chimney, a particular paint, classic designed furniture, lighting. They can be showed as details of the room, which are very loved pictures. Remember to have always some fresh flowers, nice vases, candles and candleholders that will make the house look cozy and beautiful.

Photograph each room with your camera facing the windows for more light

Photographing with doors opened gives a sense of depth and it makes the space feel bigger

Before to stage your home, do a research on the internet of other properties in your area, and check what other real estate agencies are listing. You can get an idea of how your house should look like for a successful and fast sale. 

For any question, I am here to help to prepare your property for listing. With my experience as interior designer, I can assist you to pull together an amazing scheme for your show days, with existing furniture or new ones. You can reach me at: interiorbyambrosi@gmail.com at anytime. You can visit my portfolio to find more example of my work as home stager.
I hope you found this blog post useful. I would love to hear your opinion and experience with home staging or the real estate market. Did you find it hard to sell your house? Did you earn your investment? Did you have a home stager? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hearing from you!

Thank you for reading!