Tag Archives: Home Stager St Paul MN

Ready, Set….SELL!

Spring is here and that means the housing market is warming up and getting ready for busy season! If you are thinking of putting your home on the market this season, consider these top tips for readying your home:

Clean, clean, clean! I’ll say it again, clean! We cannot emphasize enough the importance of a pristine home when putting your house up for sale. That means windows, bathroom drawers, appliances, porch webs and debris, and every other nook and cranny you can think of. We even encourage sellers to dust their basement appliances like water heaters and softeners, as well as furnaces.

Depersonalize and neutralize your space. Pre-pack all family photos, anything with your name on it, calendars, and other items that are very meaningful to you. Imagine you are creating a blank slate for a buyer to tour your home and be able to imagine their life there. I often tell clients, “no signs of life in your house! People know you are living here but they don’t want to know you’re living here.” That means taking laundry hampers and garbage cans with you when you leave or out to the garage, tucking away toilet brushes and plungers, removing any dish towels, rags, soap and accessories — even the cute, just-for-decoration, dish towels!

Repair is essential to preparing your home for market. The goal is for buyers to feel like your home is truly move-in-ready and that they can’t find a single project they must do. Improvements that make a difference, but sometimes get overlooked, can include:

professionally cleaned carpets
freshly painted front door (no chips or signs of ware)
closet doors that open easily and quietly, and shut correctly
walls and closet interiors free of scuff marks
demineralized faucets and shower heads
conditioned wood, especially in areas of high use or next to water sources such as railings and bathroom and kitchen cabinets
working lightbulbs with matching hues in all fixtures
patched and painted walls as needed

Refresh your home before taking photos or offering open houses. Add crisp, new white bath towels and hand towels to bathrooms. Pick up a few house plants from Trader Joe’s (or fake one’s from Ikea!) to add some life to your space. Toss lemons and limes in a wooden or ceramic serving bowl and set it on your dinner table, they’ll last for weeks! Pick out a fresh, colorful bouquet for picture day and display it on your kitchen island. Perhaps you want new bedding for your next home, buy it early and make your primary bedroom look extravagant for showings. Updating or adding hardware throughout the home can make oak cabinets look new again, and replace yellow-gold fixtures with black or oil rubbed metals. Small, less expensive changes such as updating light fixtures or replacing outlet covers, can make all the difference in the end!

It’s reasonable that preparing to sell your home feels overwhelming. You’ve built a whole life in your home and it can be a lot of work, both physically and emotionally, to prepare to let it go. I find it can be helpful to imagine you are setting up your home to bless the next family to live there. What can you do to make your home the best it can be for them? Or imagine you are a buyer for your home. What would you want to see or not see? What would feel like projects if you were just moving into the property? Put yourself in the buyers’ shoes and you’ll know just what you need to do. Of course, if all else fails, just clean, clean, clean!

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

Wood, Wood and More Wood. But Should They Match?

In the 80’s and 90’s the trend was for all woods to match. Your floors matched your trim, which matched your doors which matched your kitchen cabinets and even went as far as having all the wood pieces in your furniture being the same color.

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At that time Honey Oak or Golden Oak was the big deal and there really was a sea of oak when you walked into homes from that era. You still see a lot of these oak stains in cabinetry and trim but many people are tired of it and it is considered very dated.

What you want to see in a home now is contrast. So if you have two wood pieces next to each other one would be darker than another.

For example:

If you want a dark stained island, make sure your floors are lighter.

If you want wood cabinets, make sure your floors are lighter or darker than your cabinets.

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It’s okay to mix in painted pieces as well. A white kitchen, gray island, and dark floors.

The same rule applies to your furniture. If things don’t match they add character, interest and bring depth to a home. It makes it feel like it has been acquired over time rather than purchased all in the same section of a furniture store. Note the dining table above contrasts with the floor.

Below, the cabinets don’t match the island, which doesn’t match the floor, which doesn’t match the kitchen table, which doesn’t match the locker system way in the back and so on.

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It is difficult for some to get past the rule that all the woods should match. I get that. But start slow and practice. Perhaps it is as simple as adding an end table that is different in stain color or is painted. If a couple things match that’s okay. Just try to have the larger pieces show a contrast, each piece standing out instead of blending in.

Whether selling or dwelling, if you need assistance in making new wood selections call in a professional designer or home stager to walk you through the process.

The Top 3 Staging Items to Purchase

Most people associate Home Staging with the dreaded ‘D’ word. Declutter! They think that a Home Stager will come in and tell them what they need to take out and remove.

That is part of it but most of my home staging consultations also include tips for the homeowner of items to purchase to make the home shine a little brighter. There are three top items I seem to always be recommending. These three things are not updates to the house or upgrades. They are items that you can take with you when the home sells.

1. New Towels

New towels are the best way to freshen up a bathroom. You know when you buy them and they are all soft and fluffy before you wash them a few times? That’s what you want hanging on your towel bars.

They will become your ‘pretend’ towels that will only be hung for photos and for showings. Don’t wash them and don’t use them until your house sells. Then pack them up and take them to your new house because who can’t use new towels!

2. Lamps

No one likes a dark house. Even if your home has a ton of natural light or many recessed lights, table lamps on end tables and nightstands warm up the space and makes it feel more cozy.

Be sure to turn on all your lights whenever possible when you have showings, even if it is a bright sunny day. And again….you get to take them with you when you move!

3. Throw Pillows

Most sofas are a neutral color like brown or tan. These aren’t colors that photograph into a great statement for your MLS photos. By adding throw pillows you add color, pattern and texture to a room. It’s also a perfect way to make a tired looking sofa look more alive!

This applies to beds as well. A bed shouldn’t be just a comforter or bedspread with bed pillows. It too needs some interest and throw pillows are an inexpensive way to do so. This is most important in the Master Bedroom. A queen size bed should have three pillows (two matching and one accent in front) and a King bed may need as many as five but it does depend on the size of the pillows used.

Take a look around your home and see if these three things may help to make your home show better to both the camera and the buyers walking in your door. A professional Home Stager will be able to give you specific guidance as to color, lamp size and the number needed.

And remember……these items are not a sunk cost as you get to take them with you to use in your new house!