Archive for category: Home Staging

If you’re planning to sell your Scottsdale area home, there are a lot of things you need to keep in mind. You may start to feel pretty overwhelmed with all the ins and outs of selling a home, and you might overlook one of the most important steps: staging your house before you ever start showing it. Home buyers are much less likely to purchase a messy home that hasn’t been properly staged, so putting a little effort into the look and feel of your house is sure to go a long way toward helping you make that sale quickly. Below are our top 4 tips for perfect home staging, even if you’re working on a budget.

De-Clutter Your Space: Cut back on the clutter throughout your home to help make the space look a lot more inviting. Even if it seems comfortable and cozy to you, others may not agree, and you’ll be a lot better off and make a better impression on potential home buyers if you reduce the clutter. Even if you have to put it all in boxes in the attic or garage for the time being, try to get it out of the living spaces.

Work on Curb Appeal:  Although the weather in Scottsdale can make a big difference when it comes to what you can do with your yard, be sure you showcase the beauty of your home and how it fits into the excellent natural mountain and desert surroundings. Clean your house with a power washer, be sure it’s freshly painted or at least doesn’t show signs of a lot of wear and tear on the outside, and prune any plants in your yard. Plant fresh flowers if your yard is a little barren.

Set the Table:  There’s no need to lay out a full-course table setting for six or eight people, but if you set your table in an inviting way, this is sure to drive more interest in your home. Keep the dining area clean and clear of clutter, and put out around four table settings with an interesting centerpiece that matches your room’s style. This is a little design trick that can make a big difference.

Stage Around Area Events:  Let local events do the talking for you, or at least work with them to help drive more interest in your home. Plan an open house or be sure your home is on the market in time for big area events that draw large crowds, or pick up some interesting décor to place around your home during smaller local happenings. Head to the Old Town Farmer’s Market, for example, and bring home some fresh fruit or flowers grown locally to help spruce up your interior for just a few dollars.

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The proportion and placement of items in your home results in good interior design.  The following design principles will help you get ready to stage and list your home for sale, as well as help you set up your new home for optimal living and enjoyment.

Area rugs are a very large component of interior design, where placement and proportion are particularly useful.  In the living room, if you have placed your furniture against the walls, you can either pick a rug size that will allow your sofa and side chairs to rest half on the rug and half off of it, or you can choose a smaller rug where no seating touches it.  If your living area is larger than average, you’re better off with an area rug that’s large enough to have every piece of furniture fully placed on it.  In the bedroom, your aim is to make sure you are stepping onto a rug from the bed.  Therefore, you can position your area rug under the bed so that it peeks out two to three feet on either side and at the foot, without the nightstands resting on the rug.  (A good guideline to follow is 8 by 10 feet for a queen bed and 9 by 12 feet for a king).  Alternatively, consider placing a runner or smaller 3 by 5-foot rug on each side of the bed.

Another area where placement and proportion are important is hanging artwork or design pieces on the walls of your home.  The basic rule of thumb is to keep artwork at eye level, just as museums do.  If most members of your household are on the short side, hang art so the midpoint is about 57 inches from the floor.  Or, in rooms with ceilings higher than 8 feet, hang any artwork a bit higher than 60 inches from the floor from the midpoint of the art.  The exceptions here are if you are hanging your artwork over a headboard or a sofa.  In these situations, make sure the bottom of the frame is 8 to 10 inches above the piece of furniture.  This ensures the artwork is visually connected to the furniture and not free-floating above it.  Finally, if the artwork is very large (taller than 10 feet), disregard the midpoint rule and just position the bottom edge of the piece at least a foot from the floor.

Finally, the placement of lighting is a critical component of good interior design.  For pendant lights over a kitchen island, or a chandelier over a dining room table, for example, aim to hang these lights so the bottom hangs 30 to 34 inches from the table surface.  With regard to floor and table lamps, ensure the bottom edge of the lampshade is at eye level or just above when you are seated.  For a lamp on a nightstand, make sure the bottom of the shade is at chin level when you are seated in bed.  Finally, with sconces, the placement between them is the critical component.  For hallway sconces, position them 8 to 10 feet apart, and for bathroom mirror sconces, position them 36 to 40 inches apart, to ensure an even display of light.

These interior design principles are tried and true, and work in every type of home.  I hope they will serve you well in your home selling or home designing adventure.

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How important is landscape design when staging and selling your home in North Scottsdale?

While most people know the importance of staging a home in preparation for sale, the exterior landscape of the home may not be given the importance that it is due.  Curb appeal is the initial advertisement of the home for potential buyers.  If it’s not up to par with the neighborhood, for example, that showing may turn into a drive-by, with the potential buyers not wanting to step inside to see the home itself.

You can avoid this lost opportunity by taking a few simple steps to update and maintain a beautiful exterior, inviting home buyers to come closer to check out all that your home has to offer.  First, clean up your landscaping.  It sounds simple, but nothing says deferred maintenance like a shaggy lawn, or a desert landscape strewn with weeds and overgrown trees.  This cleaning should also happen to your driveway and paths, with a good hosing or power washing of these areas.

If you’re lucky enough to have a patio area or large entry way, place a chair or two here, to showcase a conversation area to your potential buyers as they are walking into your home.  However, the decluttering and simplifying rule that applies to the interior of your home also applies to the exterior and landscaping, so be sure to remove any yard or lawn art from your front yard and entry way.  Keeping the door clean of decorations is another way to showcase the architecture and beauty of your home without distracting potential buyers unnecessarily.  Finally, be sure that your windows sparkle in the Arizona sun, so buyers looking out to the front yard can appreciate and enjoy the fruits of your labor.