Tips for selling your home from a home stylist

Selling your home? and need some tips on how to get it ready for sale? I’m here to help with my 10 tips.

So it’s time to sell your home and I bet you are having a hard time figuring out what needs to get done. It’s a bit challenging to know what to do and the market has definitely changed.

Now I can’t say I’m a full-on expert but I have learned a lot over the past few years and I believe I have some good insight into what needs to be done to help your house sell faster and for the best price possible.

With interest rates on the rise gone are the days of selling your home in 2 days and for thousands over asking. We need to be more mindful and come to terms that potential buyers are looking for value. Nothing is off limits now, change out hardware if needed, faucets, lighting, carpet, etc.

Although I’m not an expert on the housing market, as a home stylist  I’m looking at things from a different perspective than realtors, and homeowners. One thing I will say is the housing market needs an update. For one, these dated exposed stretched-out photos need to go, and more 4k artistic photography that not only showcases your home but sets a mood for the potential buyer.

See in this photo by Becki Owens, they aren’t capturing the full kitchen,  they are showcasing only a  part of the kitchen plus the decor even though you can’t see the full kitchen and its size it feels so warm and inviting. It’s bright detail photo but not over-exposed like so many realtor photos can be. The space feels warm and inviting. Plus it leaves you wanting more so this would draw in potential buyers.

I believe if you follow these steps it will definitely help you sell your home for the best price possible.

Let’s break everything down so you can follow my tips for selling your home in today’s market.

1. Hiring professionals 

First thing first, do your research and find the best agent. Finding someone with experience and someone that knows the area is a big plus when hiring a realtor. They will help you with things to do to your home to get it ready for the market.

Next, hire a home stylist or stager. They will come to assess the home and give your recommendations on what to remove or what needs to be added to the home. This is an extra cost but if you’re not confident about staging your home yourself I think hiring a professional, in the long run, will help get you the best price for your home.

The professionals can only do so much that the homeowner needs to be on board with what they are saying. If you want top dollar you are going to need to upgrade a few things in the home. If you the homeowner, don’t want to put in the time and money that’s okay but you may have to take less for your home, especially in today’s market.

2. Curb appeal

Believe it or not, buyers judge a book by its cover.  You want to make sure potential buyers have a good first impression. I will mention this often in this post, you need to create an experience for the buyer.

With the front, making sure everything is painted is a must! then add flowers, an outdoor rug, and some seating. Make sure the grass is cut and in good shape. Replace all old light fixtures or spray paint them to look new here is my favourite spray paint. Behr spray paint

3. Declutter

This is a given when selling your home. We can definitely collect many items over the years so taking some time to clear out unnecessary things and starting with a clean slate is best. Remove extra furniture, and declutter shoes, closets, cabinets, and nothing on window siles this can make a huge impact on how your space looks and feels.

4. Put away all personal items

A thing to remember is this is no longer your home. Removing all personal photos, artwork, old furniture, and any other things that don’t fit well in the space. Tip you can leave some of the frames but replace the photos with digital art. This is an easy cost-effective way to de-personalize your home.  My printable art.

5. Paint, Paint, Paint

I know painting can be a task and if you hire someone the cost can add up quickly so I totally understand that however, with the cost of everything so high and so many homes currently on the market you need to invest in things that make the potential buyer see more value you in your home than the house down the street.

For paint, I think it’s best to stick with light and airy. We can create warmth with furniture and decor. Here are some great options for paint colors that look great in any space.

Pro tip: Painting everything white and painting the baseboards the same colour as the walls really help the spaces flow together.  Rooms feel larger when the trim and walls are the same colour. 

Don’t chop up the house with paint. Make sure the colours all flow again this adds to the experience and how potential buyers are going to feel when walking through your home.

1. Chantilly lace BM: This is a great option for every home. This crisp bright white looks great because it has minimal undertones. With its LRV at 90, this bright white can seem a bit cold with cooler tones in the home so make sure to add some wood pieces.  This looks great with rich warm wood tones too. chantilly lace
2. Balboa Mist BM: This is a beautiful neutral greige colour, meaning it’s light grey with slightly warm tones and looks so beautiful in so many spaces. Its LRV is 67 so it’s not too dark but not too light.Balboa mist
3. Intense White BM: This is an off-white with a warm grey undertone and a slight green undertone. The green undertone makes this paint colour so flexible and works in many spaces. LRV is 73  Intense white
4. Simply White BM: Probably one of my all-time favourite whites. It has a creaminess to it without it being yellow. It just makes a space feel so warm and cozy. Its LRV is 91.7 making this lighter than chantilly lace however because of its creaminess it doesn’t look too stark white. Great option and you can paint the whole house and all the baseboards too for a seamless look. Simply white

LRV stands for Light reflectance value

This helps us understand how light affects colour. LRV scale is 0 to 100 with 0 being black and 100 being white. Any LRV that is closer to black means light is absorbed so it looks darker and anything on the scale closer to white light is reflected making it look lighter. Chart below.

when selling your home we want higher LRV in our paint colours because we want it to feel bright and airy. I’d say don’t go any darker than a 60 LRV and make sure if you are going with a medium tone that you get a lot of light in the home.

You can check the LRV of any paint colour on the paint brand’s website or by typing in the colour into google.

6. Create your buyer

This is where you get to dream up your potential buyer. I know this sounds a little silly but trust me on this one.

For example: let’s say you live in the suburbs and you have a 3-bedroom detached home with one car garage. When creating your make-believe buyer you have to think about the home, in this case, most likely you are going to get a first-time home buyer or a young family. So let’s go with the young family.

Sally and Roger are in their early 30’s they have a little boy named Ryan and a little girl on the way. With the second child on the way, they need more space than their current condo. Roger works from home now so moving out of the city to the suburbs is a great more affordable option.

They are excited to have a house and would love 3 bedrooms, wood flooring throughout, a fenced-in yard for the kids, and a potential area for a home office space.

They don’t have time in their busy schedule for Renos so they are looking for a move-in-ready home.

So now that we have a make-believe buyer it’s your job to create the space that sally and roger need. Now I know this isn’t the scenario for every potential buyer however, we just need one buyer and with a suburban home, this fits the bill perfectly.

List of things we need so Sally and Roger want to buy your home 

• A cozy living room where kids can run around
• at least 3 bedrooms
• updated kitchen with enough space for a table that seats 4 to 6
• Fenced-in yard so kids can play Safely 
• potential office space for Roger
• hardwood floors
• Move-in ready  

7. Styling your space for your potential buyer 

Okay so here’s where the fun part starts, we have decluttered, painted, and cleaned every nook and cranny. Now we need to create the home Sally and Roger want to buy.

First, choose a style that fits the home. I see often times homeowners and stagers putting things that don’t make sense.

For example, a suburban family home with modern glam pieces, tufted sofas, glass tables, and jewel vases doesn’t really scream a kid-friendly family home. 

Now whatever your style may be remember this is no longer your home so switching our furniture and decor items that are better suited for the family buying the home is best. This is where hiring a stagger or company is great. You can rent pieces that fit better in the home, make it look larger, and lead to sally and rogers style.

• Remove oversized sofas and chairs. We want more than a sofa in the living room space but we need the sofa smaller scale, a low back so the ceilings look higher and the space feels larger.
• A large area rug is great for creating warmth and grounding the furniture so it doesn’t look like it’s floating. Even if you have carpet id say add one it really makes a room feel put together.
• Coffee table: I would opt for wood or a fabric ottoman, not pointed edges.

•  End tables, make sure they fit the space not too large and not as high as the sofa. No glass
• Art, only a few pieces make sure it is neutral in tone nothing too loud unless you have a condo and are going more modern than you can, but I would stick with a few neutral pieces and not too oversized.

• Dining table, Make sure it fits the room and if your space is on the smaller side I would put a round table, it flows better and can make the space feel bigger than it is. Keep the chair’s lower back as well. Our eyes scan a room better when the scale is even. Too many larger items can overwhelm the space not making it flow nicely.
• Change the light fixture and add a mirror to the entryway to make the space look larger, if there is enough space have a console table with decor candles maybe a plant and rug this all makes such a great first impression.

bathroom designed by the vixen den interiors. Shop my home here

•  Bedrooms make sure beds are placed on the main wall not covering a window however if that’s the only option that will work you can place them in front of a window just make sure to add light curtains this will help soften the space and keep it looking bright. Remove large items like an extra dresser or desk toy bins etc. Make beds with neutral colours and add fluffy pillows and blankets to create a cozy experience. Add a rug as well.

• Bathrooms, paint add new towel racks, hardware, and mirror. If you have a builder-grade vanity or an outdated it’s a good idea to replace it or paint it and change out the countertop, sink, and faucet. Home Depot has great affordable options.

• In kitchen and living room decor, you really want to focus the most attention on the main level. This is your potential buyers’ first impression not only do you want it to be clean smell good and be cluttered free you need to make it feel like they could settle in here. Adding decor, throw blankets, pillows with textures and patterns soft rugs under their feet, and setting the table really helps set the tone and create that experience I have been talking about.

• Carpet: If you can’t afford to remove it you need to have it professionally cleaned. With that being said if you want top dollar it’s a good idea to put flooring. Home depot, lowes, and Rona all have some great options and you can find laminate at a great price point.

8. why creating an experience is important.

Think about when you go to Ikea, a pottery barn, or a show home. All these places yes are trying to sell their products but they all have one thing in common they have created each room to be an experience, so the customer feels a certain way happy, relaxed, calm, etc, and can visualize how to decorate their space so they can feel that way at home. This is the same when selling your home you need to create something that feels desirable so that makes the potential buyer want to invest in it.

When a home is clean, nicely decorated, and up to date dare I say even trendy, all these things make buyers feel like they can live in this home.

Styling tip: Don’t make your beds so perfect. Imperfect is currently on trend and it creates such a relaxed dreamy vibe. You can achieve this by buying larger bedding and draping it over the bed so it hits the floor, and adding throw blankets but again don’t fold perfectly just drape over the bed for an undone look.    

.

9. Creating zones

This is just an extra, in your home, you probably have empty walls. Creating little areas with decor pieces really is appealing to the eye. Although we don’t want a cluttered home it’s okay to have a lot of items as long as they are placed in the right way.

More zones or in the design world we call them moments lol because they make you stop and admire them. This will keep the buyer’s eyes moving. So much to look at, and it all flows together making the potential buyer spend more time in your home.

For sally and Roger, an empty wall with a small desk would be perfect. Or a reading corner, even a small bench with some art.

10. Open house

Okay, so you have completed all the steps from 1 to 9 now you are ready for the final step, the open house. I love open houses this is a great idea.

Now if your realtor is good they would have already had a sign-up coming soon! and posted on social media getting buyers excited about your home. I even think in today’s market we could go the extra step and do a coming soon mail out in the area or online.  With sneak peek photos of maybe one or two rooms in the house with the open house date.

Open houses give you more opportunities to stage the home right before. Here’s what I suggest make it smell delicious. No plug-ins nope they smell fake and potential buyers feel like your cover something up.

 How to make your home smell delish!

• on carpets sprinkle some baking soda and let sit for 10 minutes then vacuum up.
• spray down counters in washrooms with lemon cleaner for fresh sent. Lemon cleaner
• Fill a pot with water add lemon slices, oranges and vanilla bring to a boil then let simmer for about 45 minutes, then dump in the sink. The whole house will smell so good.

Next, add fresh flowers to vases and place them on the kitchen table and front entry.

on the table or countertops place a cutting board with fresh bread and a bowl of fruit. There’s just something about adding food as the decor that adds to the welcoming cozy vibe we are trying to achieve.

we judge a space on emotions, not just size, decor, or style we as humans tend to be attracted to things that bring us joy or make us smile, this all is an experience and if the first moment someone walks into your home and feels calm and overjoyed then we have achieved our goal and you have sold your home. 

Need some inspiration? shop my home mood boards, more coming soon.  shop my home

Looking for an affordable way to design your space check out my pre-made mood boards Here

This post was about my tips for selling your home from a home stylist.