LIFE

Home staging tips: Accentuate the positive

Kristie Barnett

If you are planning to put your house on the market, it’s crucial to make your property stand out from the competition in order to sell it quickly and for top dollar. For buyers, purchasing a home is more than just checklists and dollar amounts — it’s a decision full of emotion that is influenced by first impressions. Accentuating the positives is a way of drawing attention to the best and most unique features of the property.

One way to accentuate the positive is to decrease distractions by paring down other items around it. If you have beautiful natural stone counter tops in your kitchen, accentuate them by clearing them of all clutter and anything that distracts buyers from this positive selling point.

Heavy window treatments and sheers should be removed from windows to accentuate the natural light that windows provide. Reducing decorative items and bulky furnishings helps buyers appreciate a good traffic flow throughout the space.

Another way to accentuate the positive is to stage furnishings and accessories in such a way as to subtly draw attention to it. A large, attractive piece of art draws attention to the architectural feature of the fireplace below it. Strategically-placed decorative items in color draw the eye to different parts of a room, accentuating bay windows, niches, and other interesting architectural details.

If the property has a fireplace or fireplaces, make sure you stage the rooms in such as a way as to draw attention to that important feature. Even if a buyer would never use a fireplace, there is something innately and instinctively attractive about the hearth of the home. It is typically viewed in a nostalgic or romantic way, so draw attention to it.

One way to do that is to orient the furnishings so that it is the focal point of the room. Your fireplace mantel and surround should either be painted out trim color (white or off-white), or it can be painted black or almost black to make it appear more sophisticated.

Next week, we’ll discuss ways to downplay the negatives when staging your home to sell.

ABOUT

Kristie Barnett is The Decorologist. She is an expert in residential color, staging and decoration and writes about all of those things and more on her blog at www.thedecorologist.com.