My years of experience in staging homes in Nashville has taught me a few things about where to spend money and where to save money when marketing a property to sell. Many people spend their money in all the wrong places, when consulting with a good Home Stager first could actually save them money.
1. Don’t paint the trim.
Even if you need to paint the walls in a few rooms, there’s usually no need to paint the trim when staging your home. Having your trim painted requires more time, effort and money (if you hire it out) than painting your walls. You’ll get more bang for your buck if you paint the walls and skip the trim.
Please check out the rest of The Decorologist’s tips for saving money when staging your home in this week’s article in Houzz.com.
Kristie- as a fellow home stager who recently started following your blog, I really find your articles so informative and very spot on. What I don’t understand is the hostility from some of the people who comment. We certainly do not want to “tear homes apart” and ask sellers to spend a boatload of money just to sell! If anything we save sellers money and always have our eye on the budget and recommend only what is necessary, as in this article!
Unfortunately clean & decluttered is just not enough anymore and spending as little as $200 can net the homeowner thousands, thanks to our recommendations!
Keep up the great writing! Education is key!
Luci
Hi Luci!
Yes, it is VERY interesting how defensive and emotional people become about the concept of “home staging.” Home is an emotionally-laden thing!!! If a homeowner isn’t ready to separate emotionally from their home, it makes it very difficult to get it ready to market. It’s a good think I have a background in psychology and counseling, because I sure need it!!! 😉
Such good points Kristie. I especially like the “don’t paint your trim” because it’s soooooo time consuming and can be overwhelming to tackle that.
I have a thing for the closets, and recommend a worn rod be covered with the plastic sleeves (in white, usually) meant for shower bars. They’re super inexpensive, and I know this seems over the top, but for so little money and time, the impact is huge… Storage sells, and potential buyers will look!
Hi,
Thanks for the tips about living with polished brass. My bathroom is full of brass – shower trim, shower head and bar, bath faucets and drains – as well as the sink faucets, drains, etc. It would be very expensive to replace all the hardware.
Have you ever used the brass aging treatment? Where can I buy it? Will it work on the shower trim or is it a product that will need the brass dipped into the solution?
I really appreciate the idea of mixing brass with the oil-rubbed bronze finish. I will think of that when I decide to replace the sink hardware.
I really do wish I could have been there with you and your helpers staging the home of the animal lovers, Kristie. Doing that work with good friends is for me, a complete day of JOY! Your article definitely brought out some great comments from other stagers. You have stimulated ME to get busy and de-clutter some more!! I would almost do that job for free. Too bad I don’t live closer to give you a hand sometimes!!! :). T’would be my pleasure.
Paula,
That would be GREAT! Nashville’s a great place to live 😉
Except…today it was 68 degrees here this AM and only in the 70’s rest of the day….I could be convinced
if there were a pool waiting for me!!! Haha.