Easy Tips for Canmore Home Staging!
Easy tips for Canmore Home Staging!
CANMORE HOME STAGING. So maybe you’re considering the sale of your house, or maybe you’ve just been watching lots of HGTV (I know I have). You don’t have to be a real estate expert to know that well-thought-out spaces tend to sell better though!
Have you ever walked into a room, and immediately felt a positive energy? Usually, homeowners and tenants tend to try their best and exploit the natural light or flow of a space. Despite our best efforts though, when we dwell in a space day in and day out, we only look at it in terms of the functionality in our own life. We fall into patterns that fit our habits, and our rooms mirror that. This tends to result in crowded rooms, oddly-placed televisions, and closed off spaces.
When I walk into a home with a client looking to buy, the feeling of each room when you enter is what shapes their perception of the entire property. I’m not kidding – I’ve walked into properties where there is a set of bunk beds within 10 inches of the main entry door!
Sure, it can be good to show your property can “sleep lots of guests” or “fit lots of stuff”. In the minds of buyers however, it’s better to show them the absolute best side of your spaces, so they can make them their own. That’s why today I’d like to talk about a few easy tips for staging your Canmore home.
As always, I’m just a call or a text away if you have any questions on real estate, living in the rockies, or homes in general.
“Staging isn’t a cure-all, but it might just be the thing that takes your property from 1 offer to 10 offers, or from $1.75M to $2.00M!”
Key Steps for Home Staging Canmore:
- De-clutter and deep clean!
- Focus on the best attributes of the home (ie. view, outdoor space, kitchen)
- Make “moments” in each space and make them their own.
- Add mirrors, fresh flowers, and make sure you get the BEST photography!
1. De-clutter and deep clean!
Something that grinds my gears when I take clients into a property is when the place is full of clutter, or outright dirty. Now I’m not necessarily talking grime – most people tend to clean at least modestly before listing their home. What I really mean is things like dirty dishes in the sink, unmade beds, or moving boxes loaded with stuff.
Usually these things can be expected of renters who don’t want to leave. But as a homeowner, you have no excuse for leaving your bed unmade and those pots and pans in the sink!
Let’s talk clutter. Clutter is things like stacks of old newspapers on coffee tables. It’s piles of appliances and accessories on kitchen counters. Its mountains of products overflowing onto bathroom vanity tops. STOP!
Cupboards and pantries exist in kitchens for a reason – put that air-fryer/soda-maker Frankenstein combo away! Use tasteful magazine racks, rubbermaid storage bins, and clean wicker baskets to tidy up your spaces. Things look like less of a mess when you “compartmentalize” them into their own little boxes.
Check out some great tips on decluttering your house (and life) from The Minimalists here. I’m a firm believer that less is more – and buyers feel the same way when they walk into your house.
Maybe you can even take less with you when you move!
2. Focus on the Best Attributes of your Home!
Generally, when we place furniture in a room, we do it in the most functional way possible. This is because – surprise – we LIVE in our homes, and need to do certain things in our spaces.
So once you’ve been in your house for a decade, you stop noticing odd things you might do because they work for you. Maybe you’ve half-blocked a window with a vintage bookshelf, or thumped a treadmill by the stairs since thats where it lines up best with your TV. In fact… it seems like everyone likes to point all of their furniture at their TVs, all the time.
While pointing your entire living room at the television might be functional – take a note from the photo above. In this room, there is no TV – at least not in sight. The furniture faces inward, so that people can face each other. The profile of each piece is light and doesn’t obstruct the best feature of this room – the view out the windows! Think outside the box with your space, to put it in the best possible configuration for a buyer’s ideal life.
And please – even if you must put your TV in front of your gorgeous Canmore mountain view to block the glare – move it out of the way before buyers come through!
3. Make “Moments” out of Each Space
In the new-age of open concept living and micro-condos, it can be hard to have distinctions between rooms. In fact, most people don’t even have a traditional dining room anymore. Across Canmore, Canada and the World, walls have been knocked down to make way for grand all-in-one spaces for us to live in.
With this however, we have lost some of the distinctions between spaces. How can we go to the dining room to dine, when we the kitchen counter is 3 feet from the table? Why does the bathroom feel like its in the living room?!
The answer to this is to make “moments” of each space to make them their own. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is by adding well-fitted, quality rugs to each space. A nice rug under your dining set emphasizes that area of an open-concept living floor. A thick plush shag in a basement cozies it up, making it feel less like a storage room.
Another great tip to create “moments” is through distinct colours or decor for each space. Maybe your living room feels orange, but your dining room reads blue. Try things out!
4. Add mirrors, fresh flowers, and make sure you get the BEST photography!
Finishing touches, particularly around entryways, kitchens & bathrooms, will go the longest way. Dark rooms with one or zero windows can easily be made to feel light and open with the use of mirrors. Everyone likes to check their hair when they step into a million dollar listing!
Fresh flowers add the loveliest touch to bathrooms and kitchens. A beautiful bouquet in the centre of a kitchen island (even with an ugly countertop…) says “this is a loving home!” Small bathrooms become intimate with a vase of flowers or charming houseplant. Greenery adds a touch of life to homes that can otherwise feel lifeless.
The final touch is something that I always stress with my clients, and a key point of any marketing strategy that comes from my desk. PHOTOGRAPHY. Don’t skimp out and have a friend try their hand at photographing your house for sale. And please, whatever you do, don’t attempt to snap photos using your iPhone. If you have a REALTOR who suggests anything but the absolute best photography for your property – please promptly fire them. It simply won’t do.
This is because the photography of your home is the FIRST and LAST place buyers will see your property. It is the well from which they will return to drink, again and again, getting to know your home. With this in mind, wouldn’t you rather coax them in with an inviting and alluring mise-en-scene, rather than a dark, amateur photo?
Staging & Selling your Canmore, Banff or Bow Valley Home
If you’ve enjoyed this blog post – let me know! I’m always happy to answer questions local homeowners have regarding their property and the real estate market in general. When you choose me to assist you in the sale of your property, I know that its an immensely personal decision – and I always give my full professional effort to make sure you get the results you’re looking for.
Cheers!
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