Tag Archives: Home Staging in St Paul

“Scent”sational Homes

Eucalyptus Arrangement Simple Modern DIY Flower Arrangement

After a lot of sweat, love and maybe some tears, you are finally ready to list your home for sale. The landscaping is impeccable, rooms pre-packed, every surface cleaned and the stager has done their magic. You realtor is arriving tomorrow afternoon for the first showing. It’s time to run to Target and grab some fresh candles and air fresheners, right? Absolutely….NOT! It today’s blog, we’ll go through the do’s and don’ts of using scents during the home selling process, and ensure your potential buys have a “scent”sational experience with your home!

COOKING

The longer we live in a home, the more used to our natural scents. Cooking can make a lasting scent in your home that is great during meal time but not ideal during a showing. Foods like seafood, curries, onions, hot peppers, cauliflower, spinach all taste great and have wonderful health benefits, but are not your friend for selling a home. Attempt to avoid cooking pungent meals a week or more before listing your home. We’ll talk about a few tips to freshen the environment if you do have lingering cooking scents.

CANDLES

I love candles — the way they smell, the way they look, how cozy they make my home feel. Candles are fantastic, except some people are very sensitive to scent, and any hint of a candle burning will send them into a migraine! The last thing we want is a potential buyer leaving your home because they can’t tolerate your candle’s fragrance. Try to tuck away candles at least 48-72 hours before a showing.

AIR FRESHENERS

Air fresheners might seem like a great idea, or you may have heard the hack of hiding scented dryer sheets around the house to freshen up the joint, but we’ll want to avoid both for showings. Air fresheners, especially when brand new, can have quite strong odors, and similarly to candles, could prevent a potential buyer from touring your home. Scent also tends to be taste specific — what smells great to me might smell terrible to you! Best to just avoid artificial scents and use some of our tips and tricks to refresh your home’s air naturally.

ESSENTIAL OILS

I would put essential oils in the same category as air fresheners and candles. Although the oils are natural, there are folks with sensitivities and allergies to the oils and what they’re made of. Let’s avoid allergic reactions and skip the diffuser for at least 48 hours before a tour.

PETS

Pets are another scent that our noses tend to adjust to overtime. You might not be able to smell Rufus, but potential buyers might be able to! Shampooing carpets, removing pet hair from furniture, and doing a general deep clean of the home is the best way to rid of pet scents. Try to have your pet sleepover with a friend or family member after the home has been deep clean since we won’t want pets home during showings anyways. For cats, use black light to identify any hidden areas where you pet may have pottied, and try an enzyme odor eater to elimate the scent.

WINDOWS

One of the easiest ways to manage scents in your home is to simply open the windows! Dead of winter? Open windows! Ninety degrees? Open windows! Of course, if opening your windows doesn’t feel like an option, you could always invest in an air purifier. They work wonders!

Baking Soda

If you’re struggling with odors stuck in carpets or soft furniture, sprinkle baking soda over the surface and let it sit for an hour or more. Vacuum up the soda and you should vaccum up the smells with it!

COOKIES

When sellers feel very strongly about have a pleasant scent wafting through their home during open houses or showings, I suggest they head to the store, grab some pre-made cookie dough, and toss it in the oven before potential buyers arrive! Who doesn’t love the smell of fresh baked cookies? Of course, consider avoiding nuts or peanut butter in case of allergies. Bonus — you can take the fresh baked cookies on the road with you for a tasty treat while you wait for the showing to end!

FLOWERS

Another natural way to improve your home’s air is to utilize fresh plants and flowers during the staging process. Of course, we don’t want too many sources of pollen (dang allergies!), but house plants help clean the air and flowers make everything better! My go to flowers are eucalyptus and baby’s breath. They dry nicely so you won’t likely need to replace them throughout the showing process, and they give off a subtle, fresh scent.

Remember, when it doubt, just give a good cleaning and open the windows! Happy selling!

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

April Showers Bring Staging Flowers!

It’s almost May here in Minnesota, and that means we are crossing our fingers and toes hoping that spring, and the beauty it brings, will be arriving soon! There is nothing better than the blooms of a magnolia tree, the bright colors of tulips and daffodils emerging once again, or the sweet smell of lilacs in the breeze. Close your eyes: imagine the scent, the joy, the warmth a fresh bouquet of flowers brings!

When staging a home, or during a staging consult, we suggest using plants and flowers to bring additional color and life to a home. It is a simple, lower cost way to add color, texture and freshness to a home. Consider these basic methods for sourcing and displaying greenery in your home.

Trader Joe’s is A Home Revival staff favorite for sourcing fresh flowers and house plants. They have a variety of sizes and styles of plants and flowers, and tend to have a reasonable price point! A few ideas for Trader Joe’s greens:

Grab some baby blue eucalyptus and baby’s breath, toss them in a simple, neutral vase, and you have yourself a centerpiece that will last for weeks! Center it on the dining table, an entryway credenza, or on the dresser of the primary bedroom.
Take home a few succulents to stage bathrooms. Set small succulents in the corner of the vanity along with a candle or soap pump for a fresh, spa-like effect!

Treat Yourself to Fresh Flowers - The Purple Hydrangea

The Purple Hydrangea

Toss a mixed bouquet of bright, fresh flowers in your cart and use as a focal point in the kitchen or dining room during your home photo session! A fresh bouquet is also a nice touch for showings, but should be replaced when blooms begin to wilt. Bonus? They smell great without the overpowering effects of fresheners and spray (which we do not recommend using for showings).
Use a variety of house plants on coffee tables, nightstands, sunrooms, etc. to add interest and livability to the home. Plants tend to reduce stress and increase creativity, just what a potential homebuyer needs to envision their new life in your property!

Maybe you’re not into live plants, I get it! For vacant staging, we use artificial plants and stems for the sake of maintenance and longevity. A few favorite spots for faux plants:

Ikea – low price point, good variety of plants and stems, and cute pots and baskets to boot!

FEJKA Artificial potted plant, indoor/outdoor/lavender lilac, 4 ¾ "

World Market – great for artificial trees and larger house plants.

Target – wide variety of styles and price points available.

Medium Ribbon Fern Leaf in Pot - Threshold™ designed with Studio McGee, image 2 of 10 slides

Nearly Natural – an online retailer that has mastered the art of the faux plant. At a higher price point, this is a great option for investing in faux greenery you can incorporate into the design of your new home.

spring captions when in doubt add flowers

Good Housekeeping

When deciding whether or not to incorporate greenery in your staging design, just remember, plants are lean, mean, selling machines! They are one of the simplest, low cost ways to freshen and brighten a space. Not up for the effort of purchasing and placing plants? No problem! You can always reach out to us to do the heavy lifting with an occupied or vacant stage of your home.

Guest Blogger: Katya Larsen, Stager, A Home Revival

A Couple Quick Tips when Selling Your Home in the Summer

There are a couple things I see in the summer when doing Home Staging Consultations that many times need to be addressed and are super easy to correct.

1. Cobwebs

For most of us, we go in and out of our homes through the garage door, very rarely using the front door or even taking a look at it. In the summer months a cobweb can appear in a matter of hours. Sometimes it seems like minutes.

Every day when I water the flowers on my front steps I see cobwebs in the corners of the house and around the door. I spray them off and the next day they are there again. If I don’t get out there for a couple days it looks like I have an abandoned house! There are cobwebs everywhere and they stick like glue. Even the jet force on my hose won’t get them off and I need to bring out the broom.

So please, when your home is for sale check your front door every day and wipe down any cobwebs. The is nothing more unattractive to a buyer than seeing these unsightly things and sometimes with spiders dangling from them to boot. It sets the tone that “if they can’t even take care of a few cobwebs did they take care of the larger things like the furnace and air conditioner?”

If you have a back patio area you may need to do the same thing there.

2. Flowers

Lately I have had a few homeowners not have a single flower by their front door, deck or patio. Their reasoning was “I’m moving so I don’t want to waste money on flowers.” I think this is a wrong mindset.

The flowers not only add color for the buyer when they are at your home, they add color for the exterior photographs online which is the first time the buyer ever sees your home.

Flowers add a sense of beauty and calm and it sets an emotion for the buyer to see the full potential of your outside space. You don’t need to spend hundreds of dollars on them, but a few pots in key areas will be well worth it. Plus you can take the pots of flowers with you to your new house to enjoy so it’s not a sunk cost.

If you are selling your home, walk around the exterior of your home with a very critical eye. Sometimes it is difficult to see our own homes so bring in a friend who will be honest or a professionally trained Home Stager.