5 Home Staging Tips for North Texas
My husband and I built a custom home in Lucas, Texas and moved in March. We listed our first home located in North Dallas in May. Thinking things would move fast, we emptied the house and listed it vacant and by August, it still hadn’t sold!
Buyers kept providing feedback that the living room was too small or an odd set up. We never felt that way living there and that’s what inspired me to consider staging.
While all the feedback we were hearing was that the market was slow, staging is something we could control to put our best foot forward. We changed realtors and I decided to take staging into my own hands using a mix of items we had and affordable, neutral items from places like Ikea and Target.
The feedback we got from buyer’s totally changed after staging the house and our house is now under contract, even though the market is still slow!
Here is the advice I followed:
Leave space between furniture and the wall- this is a surprising one (at least to me) . Leaving some space between furniture and the wall and not fully filling the space makes the room look bigger! When we lived in the house, we had a sectional that took up the full wall and maximized seating for our family and guests. For staging, I chose a sectional that left some open space.
2. Squeaky clean and spa vibes - Everyone wants to feel like they’re stepping into a spa in their primary bathroom. I made sure the bathrooms were super clean and brought in a diffuser with a clean scent. I created a scene with everything you’d need to envision taking a relaxing bath. For our powder rooms and smaller bathrooms, white towels and fake florals did the trick to make bathrooms look bright and clean.
3. Fake florals - oversized and unique florals give off a sense of luxury and make the space feel “done” without being overcluttered. I got several oversized potted trees from target that really elevated the look.
4. Highlight strengths - One of our homes biggest strengths was a big backyard (corner lot) with a recently added deck. It was also a potential weakness because our home was on a busy road that could be noisy, even though it was gated and had a large retaining wall blocking traffic. I made sure to maximize the strengths by setting up an outdoor seating area so buyer’s could imagine using the outdoor space. Other examples of this could include showing off extra or unique spaces like a loft by adding some items to make it into a kid’s play area or cozy reading nook.
5. Neutral decor - In my own house, I’m leaning a bit more towards cottagecore and embracing items from our local antique stores. For staging, I went with a more transitional style to appeal to most potential homebuyers.
Based on the positive feedback our home received and now that I have some inventory built up, I decided to start my own business and would love help folks in the local area combat a slow real estate market, starting with a free consultation!
