If you’re selling a gorgeous property in one of South Florida’s most incredible neighborhoods, you want your property to stand out above the rest. For example, when your property is one of many homes for sale in Las Olas, Florida, expert staging your space to look its very best is of the utmost importance.
When touring your property, prospective buyers should be “wowed” by elegance and sophistication. To achieve this, you must strike a delicate balance between infusing your current living space with colors, textures, and eye-catching design elements and not overwhelming your rooms with your own preferences and personality.
Staging is an art. If you intend to take this process under your wing, you must master it. Mistakes in staging your home can delay your sale and underplay your home's most important features. That's why we're sharing these eight staging tips to make your home look like the magazines.
1. Have a plan
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Having a good eye for design doesn't necessarily mean you're skilled in home staging. Staging is intended to resonate with buyers both in-person and online. It's about drawing attention away from a home's less desirable features and showcasing the ones that you really want to stand out. Many people who attempt to stage their own homes start rearranging furnishings and adding statement pieces or other design elements without setting their goals and planning. Not only is this costly, but it's often ineffective.
Start by defining what you hope to accomplish. Do you want to showcase the vaulted ceilings in your living room or put your big bay windows on display? Are you hoping to downplay the outdated crown molding or draw the eyes away from a kitchen island that somehow breaks up the flow of the room?
Before you invest in any furnishings or artwork, or make major paint, lighting, or flooring changes, write out your budget, list your goals, and jot down a few design ideas. You can also use virtual staging apps to see how these tools would dress your property up for online tours.
These apps work great for staging virtual tours of homes and make it easier to
arrive at detailed, physical staging plans that get the job done. Gather recent editions of magazines with styles you wish to emulate, and choose your color scheme, preferred materials, and more.
2. Determine the focal point in every room
Walk through each room and decide what you want the focal point to be for each space. When you make a structural feature your focal point, you'll be less likely to make grandiose purchases that cover up the actual value and appeal of the building itself.
Even if you don't intend to take a minimalist approach to staging, avoiding clutter and excessive accessories shows you have nothing to hide. Prospective buyers can shop for knick-knacks and paintings on their own. They want to know whether the home you're selling is worthy of your asking price.
Having a focal point also shows you where to invest the most money. For instance, if your focal point is a large, central window, adorning it with gorgeous window treatments that don't detract from its natural appeal is a guaranteed win.
3. Pare down heavy furnishings
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What felt right in your home while you were living in it isn't necessarily the best balance for your home staging design. Clear out unnecessary furnishings to lighten up rooms and give the illusion of more space. Too many furnishings can
make your rooms seem smaller than they really are. Removing unnecessary items allows buyers to see what a room is capable of.
This is especially important when rooms have awkward shapes or layouts, and you want to show buyers how to use the available space effectively. After you've removed unnecessary furnishings, if the room feels bare, try rearranging everything. You'll discover countless ways to dress up a room without overcrowding as you leverage additional staging techniques that focus on lighting, color, and texture.
4. Create a dynamic statement with varying levels of height
One of the biggest mistakes that home sellers make when staging their own homes is decorating only at eye level. Once your design elements are put in, you don't want to have large bare spots on the upper walls. This creates an awkward look and can be a huge turn-off to buyers.
Overlooking your vertical space undermines the whole point of staging. Make sure you're using the upper walls well and tying your window treatments into your design. Buyers should be impressed when they look up rather than underwhelmed. Think about how florists design bouquets. The best arrangements have flowers at varying levels of height. You can add tall corner bookshelves, hanging plants, chandelier-style candle holders, or other elements that draw the eyes upwards.
5. Incorporate layers of lighting
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When staging your space, be aware that it should look good both in-person and online. The work that you do now will make brilliant photographs, videos, and virtual tours of your home possible. When it comes to dressing up the space for the camera, lighting is everything. Lighting is also important when welcoming people into your living environment.
Many waterfront homes for sale in Las Olas, Fort Lauderdale already have multi-layered lighting plans. These include track lighting, overhead lights like chandeliers, gorgeous fan lights, and wall sconces. If they aren't present already, add various options in task lighting, such as under-counter lights and a few strategically placed standing or table lamps. With multiple options in lighting at your disposal, you can create the perfect ambiance for both night and day. This way, no matter when your home is open for viewing, it will always have a warm, welcoming look.
6. Use pieces that anyone can love
It's easy to get carried away with your personal style when staging. Decorating from a personal place is the opposite of what home staging means, though. When staging, even as you're selecting and adding items to your home, you're actively depersonalizing it.
It's always best to go with a clean, classic look rather than one rich with the latest trends, filled with tributes to your personal hobbies or lifestyle, or likely to only please a specific type of buyer. Rather than painting your walls in your favorite shade or mauve or merlot, choose neutral tones as the basis of your designs and then bring them to life with clever pops of color.
7. Contrast is your friend
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Contrasting elements are of the utmost importance when photographing a home for online marketing campaigns. Without them, everything in the room has a tendency to blend together. However, contrast is also essential regarding texture and the ability to impress people during in-person tours. Texture adds depth and allows you to determine which features your guests will focus on.
8. Staging is an opportunity for your home to tell its story
Visually strip your home down to its bare bones. Then, remember what attracted you to the property and inspired you to make an offer. When you arrive at this memory, you'll have found the heart of your home's story. Was it the easy access to the shoreline, its wine cellar, or its light-drenched bathrooms that drew you in?
Staging is a chance to let your home speak for itself. Maybe you covered original hardwood flooring with a carpet you no longer love. It may be time to pull this carpet out and restore this feature to its original glory.
When homes are adequately staged, people tend to romanticize them. Young home buyers often envision themselves reading to the children they'll one day have when gazing at classic window seats. They think about all the intimate brunches they'll serve when walking through sunlit breakfast nooks and imagine all the busy holidays with their loved ones in cozy family rooms.
Rediscovering the romance that turned you into someone willing to submit a serious offer is the start of something special. It will give you a clear idea of the right focal points and the best design elements for leveraging their power.
Ready to get started?
If you need help polishing your home's look, the best way to stage a property for maximum appeal is by working with seasoned professionals in Las Olas Isles real estate and other incredible areas of South Florida. At
Sandra Tagliamonte & Associates, we know how to provide magazine-quality staging to set up your home for success. We've got an expansive portfolio of
sold listings, and we're always ready to take on new challenges.
Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you get the best returns on your luxury home investment.
*Header photo courtesy of Tagliamonte & Associates Real Estate
