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Stage With Greenery
By marionduffy | June 13, 2009
It may not sound like a big deal, but putting a little green in most rooms can make a house look more inviting to buyers. That is green as in greenery. A potted plant here and a vase of flowers there adds a certain ambiance to a home.
One of the reason
s to stage a home is to depersonalize it so that it is easier for buyers to imagine themselves living there. Plants and flowers are neutral. It’s kind of a psychological thing. Plants bring in a little of the outdoors and even if they are artificial they remind us of nature. They sort of set the mood by giving a room a more relaxed and happy feeling. Try taking the car and fashion magazines off the coffee table and placing a potted plant there instead. Replace the family photo on the corner of the desk with some greenery. Doing this will depersonalize and neutralize the room and make it more inviting to a potential buyer.
It doesn’t matter if the plants are real or artificial. In fact, when you are selling your house, artificial might be a better way to go. While your house is on the market, you basically need to keep it “open house perfect” all the time. Caring for real plants during this time will just add to your daily “to do” list. And a wilted straggly plant on the coffee table is just not the look you are going for!
The greenery is not meant to stand out, but just be part of the room. If done properly, many buyers wo
n’t even notice them. And that’s a good thing. You want potential buyers looking at your house, not at your belongings. Think of a window display at the mall. A clothing store advertising sun-dresses and swim wear may have a couple of surf boards and fake palm trees included in the display to give you the “summer feeling”. However, chances are that when you walk by, the only thing you notice is the clothing, but your subconscious mind is thinking summer fun.
Another advantage to using greenery is that it often helps you “declutter” the home. Removing clutter is the one of the best things, if not the best thing, you can do to prepare your home for sale. Again, remove all the magazines from a table and replace with one plant. Take everything off the bathroom counter except maybe a soap dispenser and add a little vase of flowers. Same with the kitchen. Clear the counters and then add a little greenery to break it up. After all, counter space sells and you want to show it off.
Often it is the little things that make a big difference. So go for the green with greenery.
Topics: Staging, Selling a house, Preparing Your Home for Sale |