The thought to sell a home typically comes in a swirl of other complicated obstacles in life. Putting your house up on the market, dealing with finances, and finding a new place to live are all huge tasks to go through.

That’s why actually getting your home sold can be a pain in the butt for a lot of people. It’s on the market, it’s being seen, but no one is buying it. Now what?

What you might need is some advice in staging, which is essentially prettying up your home in order for more people to want to buy it. We’ve compiled 10 home staging tips to help get your home off the market.

10 Essential Home Staging Tips

Each house is different, so you’ll have to take these painter’s principles with a grain of salt and apply them in your own way. These tips, however, should be enough to send you on your way and get your home looking right.

1. Less is More

Get rid of all unneeded clutter. You want to leave as much room as you can for the potential buyer to imagine their stuff in the house instead of them looking at all of your things. The place needs to look like someone lives there.

Except, someone who is tidier and aesthetically pleasing than any other human on earth. The idea is to furnish the place without taking away from any of the space or features of the home. This brings us to our next item:

2. Utilize All Space

Arrange your furniture with space in mind. There are ways to make a small room seem larger, and if you have a home full of larger rooms, be sure to accentuate that space.

Things like mirrors and windows give the illusion of space, making the home more appealing to buyers. Don’t over-clutter with furniture just because you liked the homey feel of a room full of couches. Leave the space open and let the buyers decide how to fill it.

3. Depersonalize

Try not to have any family photos or personal belongings out and on display. This seems harsh, but even if you have the most beautiful family ever, it’s not their house anymore.

While people might appreciate the beauty of your family, they will feel as though they’re intruding on someone else’s space, not looking at a potential home.

4. Focus on the Master Bedroom

Try and make the master bedroom feel homey to people of both sexes. In other words, don’t make it too feminine or too masculine. Landing somewhere in the neutral middle is ideal.

This way, any person can imagine themselves comfortably setting up their life in the room. It’s not going to be something that either person in a couple needs to compromise for; it’ll be a hit for both people in the relationship.

5. Update the Little Things

Some little elements of a home are cheap fixes but stand out as ugly flaws if they’re left untended. Something like an old fireplace can be easily spiced up with a good cleaning.

This also goes for outdated wallpapers, dents and holes in the walls, and undesirable light fixtures. Just try and make the home up to the standards of the time unless the rustic qualities it has are a selling point.

6. Don’t Update More Than You Have to

Some parts of the home are extremely costly to replace. Something like a kitchen cabinet set could be very ugly, but extremely costly to replace. This goes for a lot of things in the home.

In cases like this, take the second-best option and try to improve instead of replacing. The kitchen cabinets, for example, could be improved with a coat of stain. Leave the huge repairs to the new buyers.

7. Lean Toward Stainless Steel

If you’re in dire need of replacing features and appliances, go with stainless steel. It is a huge hit with potential buyers, and it tends to look great wherever it goes. One thing to consider if you’re pressed on cash is applying a stainless steel stick-on piece that makes any appliance seem more modern.

8. Replace Some Kitchen Appliances

Buyers also love new kitchen appliances. It may seem like a costly investment, but think about how much it’s costing you to keep your house on the market right now.

The appliances don’t have to be expensive, they just have to appear to be modern and nice. This will definitely improve your odds with buyers.

9. Clean, Clean, Clean

Make sure that you deeply clean every inch of your house. Some people won’t even consider a home if it isn’t clean, and this is for good reason. Having a cleanly house on the market signifies a few positive things.

First, it shows that you care enough about your home to make it presentable. Second, it gives the appearance that you took care of it while it was in your possession. This sets people at ease about more serious, structural maintenance problems that you could have been avoiding while owning the house.

Even if you need to hire a crew to come in and deep clean your house, it is well worth the investment to set your buyers at ease. We’re talking as clean as it was when it was first on the market. Even if it was in poor condition when you bought it, you need to clean it up and make it spotless before you put it on the market.

10. Set the Table

This one doesn’t seem like much, but it actually has an effect. Stagers swear by the fact that setting the table insights a lot of ideas into the buyer. It’s something about imagining family huddled around the table on holidays, enjoying a home cooked meal and good company.

Need More Help?

There’s a lot on your plate if you’re selling your home. Maybe you’ve never done it before, or you just feel clueless about what to do. Either way, we’re here to help.

If you need any information on ways to improve your home, need more home staging tips, or anything else, we have all the information you need.