Staging your house can help buyers get a sense of what their lives could be like in that space. And when buyers can imagine living their best lives in a home, they’re willing to pay more for it.
So smart sellers take advantage of strategic staging. And while some of the staging secrets used by professionals might seem silly, they work because they build the narrative of lives well lived in the home.
Here are our top five silly staging secrets (and why they work).
1. The Strategic Throw Blanket
If you look at listing photos, you’ll often notice throw blankets laying diagonally all over the house. You’ll see them at the foot of the bed (sometimes topped with a breakfast-in-bed tray), lying across sofa cushions, or draped over upholstered chairs. These throws serve multiple purposes.
First, they can warm up a space, making it feel pleasantly cozy and homey. They can also be used to break up large blocks of colors or patterns on bedding or couch upholstery. But why lay them diagonally rather than fold them neatly? It’s because it gives the impression that someone was just using the blanket and threw it aside casually when you came in. This makes it easy to imagine snuggling up there yourself. You might even see a book on the end table next to the chair or sofa to complete the scene.
2. Never-Used Fluffy White Towels
You might have “good guest towels” that rarely get used. But most of us don’t keep a neatly folded set of brand-new, perfectly white fluffy bath towels on display. So why do home stagers do this?
The main reason for the towels is that they change the vibes of a space from “bathroom” to “day spa.” They also draw the eye toward them, making the room feel fresh and clean, even if the fixtures are a bit dated or dingy.
3. Fake Plants
You might find fake plants and fake floral arrangements all over a staged home. But hopefully, they’re the high-end ones that buyers might think are real if they don’t look too closely.
Plants bring life into a house. They make the air feel clean and fresh, and they can provide a nice pop of color to contrast a neutral design palette. But living plants require some maintenance. They need to be watered regularly. And they need the right amount of sunlight, which means they can’t survive in dark rooms (the rooms that benefit most from their presence).
So stagers turn to fake plants. These can be placed anywhere and can be completely ignored for weeks or even months. Buyers walking through feel the fresh, clean energy of having plants present, but no one has to care for them.
4. Freshly Baked Cookies
Baking cookies just before an open house or showing might seem excessive. But that’s exactly what many real estate agents and sellers do.
Most of us have fond memories of baking cookies in our childhood homes. The smell of baking cookies is warm and familiar. And it generally makes a house feel more like a home. And with scent tied so closely to memories and moods, the smell of freshly baked cookies can create instant emotional connections to a home, making buyers more inclined to act.
5. The Host Spread
Have you ever toured a home where the dining table was fully set for a formal dinner? You may have even seen place settings on the breakfast bar or a picnic setting on the patio table. Or maybe just a simple covered cheese plate and a bottle of wine, ready to be poured into the nearby stemware.
These are all designed to help buyers imagine living in the space: enjoying family meals, hosting gatherings, or staying up for a romantic nightcap. Without these staged settings, buyers just see an empty space, and often don’t make the imaginative leap to envisioning how they could enjoy the room. But once they see the space ready to welcome guests, it takes no effort to fantasize about hosting in the home.
Buy or Sell With Sequoia
Whether you’re looking to stage your home for a quick, profitable sale or you’re looking to avoid paying more for your next home because of some clever staging, the real estate experts here at Sequoia Real Estate can help! We proudly represent home buyers, sellers, and investors in the Bay Area, with a focus on exceptional service and results. Contact us today for a friendly, no-obligation consultation!