Tag Archives: Staging

The thought of packing up all of your collected belongings can sometimes damper the excitement of a new home.  Here are a few tips to get excited about “The Big Purge!”

1.  Got kids?  Get them involved!  Set up an area or a basket for your little ones to purge their own things.  If you set the tone, most kids will really get into sorting through their things, especially if you let them know that what they give up will go to a child who may not have as much as they have.  Really make it a positive thing for them and they will want to continue the tradition.

2. Set small, attainable goals.  Don’t try to de-clutter your home all in one day.  One room, even one closet at a time!  Set aside just an hour at a time if you need to.  If you are on a short time frame to get your home ready for listing, you might have to work a little harder, but you can still set and accomplish 1 small goal at a time.

3.  Keep it clean as you go!  It used to be, when I was spring cleaning, my house would look like a tornado went through it while I was purging and it was so overwhelming to get it all back in order.  Fortunately, I have learned from my own mistakes!  I use the “touch it once” rule.  Instead of making piles as I go, I designate areas for giving, trashing, & putting it in its place.  If it goes to any other room than the one I am in, it goes in a basket until I am done with that room.  Then I take that basket and put everything in its place immediately.  If it goes in the room I’m cleaning, I put it away right then and there. 

4.  Know what to keep and what to get rid of.  Have you ever seen the shows where they take super messy homes and in two days it is completely organized and clean?  Yeah…don’t we all wish.  But they do have that brilliant idea of sorting (which I mentioned above.)  Sorting is amazing.  Keep, toss, give.  The only three piles you need.  The key is….don’t go into the keep and give piles and take stuff out:-)

5.  Pre-pack anything you can.  If you are listing your home, here is a tip.  Whether you chose to hire a professional Home Stager or not, do yourself a favor and pre-pack!  Some of the things to pre-pack before you even start with staging: personal photos, anything that has your child’s name or your name on it, very personalized art, if you have a lot of knick knacks, pre-pack at least half of them.  Put all your mail away.  Don’t leave anything out or in the top of a drawer with your name or personal info on it.  If you have an abundance of extra sheets, blankets, or towels, pack some of them.  Your closets should be at about 70% capacity. 

6.  **staging tip** As you are pre-packing, set aside neutral accessories to use for staging your home.  Neutral wall art, vases, throw pillows, etc.  Once you have pre-packed, these items can be used by either your or your staging professional to stage your home for showings.

Happy Packing!!!

Kimberly, Model My Home

In our business, one of the things we stress to a seller is to detach themselves from the home.  From the moment they decide to sell, they have to think of it as a house….not their home.  We all know why this is important.  They need to be able to de-clutter, remove the personal items, and maybe even change “the look” of their home to something that other people will like.  Something that may be a bit confusing, is that while they are busy becoming UNemotional about their house, we are busy preparing it for someone else to get very emotional about.

HUH?  Have I lost you? 

Take a builder for example.  They understand the importance of creating an emotional response in a buyer.  Oh, yes they do, or they wouldn’t spend their hard-earned money on Model Homes!  But, guess what?  That price tag comes with a huge payoff.  Don’t believe me?  Just go out some afternoon and visit some models.  Pick any model, anywhere and I promise….you will have an emotion.  Love it or hate it, that home is going to make you FEEL something. 

When we are staging, we want that potential buyer to emotionally “live” in that HOME.  That house needs to become a HOME.  Let’s take a look.Here we have a model home we did for Holiday Builders and it’s a great house. Walking through the home we will visit what will be the little girl’s room, and had this builder not invested in our staging service, this is what their buyers would see:

Is it a great room?  Sure, but where is the emotion?  It’s just some walls, and that pink?  Your client might be thinking, baby girl will love the color, but what in the world would I do in here?

Well….let’s show them!Now!  I can see my little princess sleeping here!

Let’s take a room the family is going to use every single day…

It’s a great space, but walking through it, well, it’s just a room.  We need to create a response!

And, one more room for good measure:  First, it’s just empty.

And now, full of character.  You see, buying a home is hard.  It’s stressful and exciting, and scary, and amazing all at once!  Give your potential buyer something to be passionate about!  Give them something to get excited over!  You have a great product!  Market well, and showcase with style!

Visit our Facebook albums to see more of this home and many, many others!

Thanks for stopping by!

Kimberly Hartley, Model My Home