SILLY HOME STAGING TRICKS THAT DON’T WORK!
The ultimate goal with home staging is to
evoke a mood that home buyers can relate
to, but these days, potential buyers are
getting smarter. More often than not they
see through staging tricks and can tell when
there are tricks in place to make a house
seem more appealing.
Let’s dive into some tricks that we’ve all seen
in open homes that just don’t work if you
want to convincingly market your home.
Taking Shortcuts with ‘Minimalist’ Staging
Minimalism is a design trend that utilises
blank or empty space in an area, and only
places necessary or functional items in
a room. This can look very sleek if done
properly, but true minimalism isn’t as easy as
many home stagers think. What happens a lot
is that stagers will take shortcuts and place
less furniture or fewer items in a room. This
has a tendency to look more like a room is
unfinished and can be off-putting to potential
buyers. It can also highlight flaws within the
room that would otherwise be overlooked
when staging is done well.
Although home staging never aims to
purposely disguise flaws from potential
buyers, the goal is always to make it look like
the house is liveable despite small flaws.
If you are going for a minimalist look, try to
use monochromatic colours or sleek, straight
lines with furniture in order to achieve it.
You can achieve minimalism without taking
shortcuts or putting less furniture than
average in a room, and this way it can be
much more effective.
Excessive Bathroom Décor
Bathrooms are generally a room for
functionality, and while it is extremely
important to have a beautiful and clean
bathroom, the way to go about this is not
through décor and accessorising. If you think
about bathrooms in most homes, the décor
is usually lead by the function: decorative
soaps, towels, and showerheads. There isn’t
much place for ornamental accessorising
in a bathroom, and it can be distracting for
viewers when they see these.
Transparency is key when staging bathrooms.
This, however, does not mean that you
shouldn’t take your bathroom heavily into
consideration when selling your home. If
you think your bathroom might not be up
to scratch, you may want to consider what
the return on investment of renovating or
upgrading your bathroom’s features will be
once you sell.
Strong Perfumes
We’ve all been to an open home where we
are greeted with the smell of freshly baked
cookies or a luscious rose garden to entice
us inside – when the objects of the identified
scent are nowhere to be seen. Perfumes and
deodorisers are a common staging trick used
when selling homes, but it is one that is not so
often successful.
Strong scents, more often than not, will
have negative effects on many people. It
can be overwhelming to walk into a home
with a strong odour in the air – whether it is
a pungent floral scent, or the sickly-sweet
smell of baking. Furthermore, what some
people may find enticing and delicious to
smell, might cause other people to turn their
noses up.
Of course, it is important to present a nice
smelling home when people come to view it.
A way to go about this safely is to let fresh air
in and perfume the home naturally, or spray
a neutral scented room spray, just a touch
though – lemongrass, and cucumber are safe
scents.
The key here is to make sure you are using
perfumes to freshen up the house for the right
reasons, and not trying to disguise the smell
of dampness, mould or stale cooking odours.
If that’s the case, you may have bigger issues
than staging when it comes to selling.
If you’re looking for someone who knows the
ins and outs of Wellington home staging, and
can stage your home exceedingly well, look
no further. At HomeStaged, we are experts in
staging homes for modern buyers. Contact us
today to talk about your staging needs!
Article Contributed by Megan Hand
Home Staged Wellington
For all of your staging needs head to
www.homestaged.co.nz
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