Small But Savvy -- 6 Staging Tips To Make A Tiny Home Feel Bigger
Posted on: 25 April 2017
Prepping your house to show to potential buyers can be daunting when the home is less than ideal. How do you cultivate interest, for example, in a house or apartment that's smaller than many on the market? If this is your quandary, here are 6 staging tips to make any home feel -- and look -- larger than it really is.
Remove Furniture. One quick way to make a room seem smaller is to cram it with furniture. You may not even notice how much furniture is in a space after living with it for a while. So, assess the base furnishings in each room -- couches, chairs, tables, lamps, and the like -- and remove about 1/3 of them. The same may go for decorations, too.
Slim Down Furniture. Another furniture staging trick is to trade out bulkier pieces for slimmed-down versions. Chairs and sofas with slender or longer legs on the base tend to leave a smaller visual footprint. Wooden furnishings often appear smaller than heavily-upholstered ones, and single items appear leaner than multiples of the same thing.
Neutralize Colors. Cooler and more neutral color palettes often recede visually, allowing the room to feel larger. Look for soft and pale varieties of cool colors like green or blue to make walls less claustrophobic. Get rid of most brightly-colored wall colors and trade them out for a fresh coat of neutral ivory, gray, or beige.
Open Traffic Patterns. Rooms should be easy to move around in, as opposed to having to go around the kitchen table or sofa. There should be straight traffic lines between all entrances and exits from each room, and especially around the master bedroom suite. Getting to and from the entrance, the closet, and the master bath in your main bedroom makes the buyer feel that the suite is larger. Make sure you can move easily around all three sides of the bed.
Keep Sight Lines Clear. As you enter each room, assess what's blocking the view of the arriving guest. Avoid placing furniture so that you face the rear of any large pieces upon entry. Keep hallways clear of unnecessary clutter. Ensure that things like the kitchen table or countertop accessories don't block a "long and lean" view of the kitchen from its entrance.
Add Light. A dark room feels like a small room, so open up windows and add lighting to supplement. Trade out heavy or dark window treatments with lighter, breezy options like sheer curtains, cellular blinds, and unadorned valances. Make sure all overhead lighting works in each space, and feel free to turn on all the lamps when showing the home.
If you're having trouble determining how to stage your house to show off its best side -- and minimize its flaws -- it may be a good investment to work with a professional staging service or interior designer, such as those at Maison Rose Interiors. Their experience in creating a work of art in any house can add thousands of dollars to your sale price.
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