Minimalist Home Staging - Frederick Real Estate Online (2024)

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Table of Contents

Using Minimalist Design in Home Staging
What is Minimalism?
How Can You Incorporate Minimalism in Home Staging?
First Impressions Rule the Day
Breathing Life Into Your Space
Home Staging and Real Estate Photography
Home Staging Takeaways
Recommended Reading on Home Staging:

Using Minimalist Design in Home Staging

Selling your home is a journey, not an event. For many, the home-selling journey involves some emotion, as they start to let go of their home, with all the memories it holds. The first step in selling your home, you might say, is the emotional step of letting go. This includes letting go of your personal tastes and decor.

When you are preparing your home for sale, you want to make room in your home for potential buyers to imagine the life that they will build in that home. Buyers need to have physical and visual space to see themselves at home. This is the time to consider minimalist home staging.

Studies from the National Association of Realtors show that well-staged homes sell for 1% to 4% more than homes that are not staged. Staged homes also sell in less time than unstaged homes, with all other factors being similar. Home staging makes a difference to a homeowner’s bottom line!

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What is Minimalism?

Minimalism is quite the buzzword these days. I’m remembering funny commercials with scarcely furnished rooms and empty tables. That extreme caricature is not the essence of minimalism, but rather an advertisers attempt to make an impression.

Breaking it down to the most common elements, minimalism is more about a lifestyle than it is about particular rules. It’s more about being free from outer pressures to live more purposefully.

How Can You Incorporate Minimalism in Home Staging?

When staging a home for sale, the goal is to appeal to the widest segment of most likely buyers. A neutral canvas, while tasteful and current, will achieve that goal by turning up the universally desirable features, while scaling back the homeowner’s personal style. Would-be buyers will be much more able to envision themselves living in the spaces of the home.

This is where minimalism enters in. Minimalist home staging is really about editing. If your home is overflowing with family photos and personal mementos, with your own eccentricity, potential buyers will find it more difficult to think of it as their future home, not yours. Neutralizing your home means more than just colors (btw, neutral colors don’t have to be boring).

The first step in minimalist home staging is to start with a fresh, clean slate. First, de-clutter your spaces. Put non-essential things into storage. Think of it this way, hopefully, you’ll be moving very soon so you may as well start packing up your personal treasures!

While you are minimizing personal items, replace a small number of them with a few well-chosen art pieces. Make sure rooms are not cluttered and there is plenty of room to walk. Wherever you can, replace heavy, cumbersome pieces with lighter, more streamlined items. The visual sense will be more spacious and airy.

While you are editing your belongings, clear out seldom-used items from your closets, cabinets, and other storage places. Not only will you make those spaces look bigger, you’ll get a jump on packing.

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First Impressions Rule the Day

Just as you prepare the inside of your home, remember that a welcoming outside is important as well. First impressions matter. Captivating curb appeal shows potential buyers that your home is well cared for, and gives them an idea of what is waiting inside.

Studies show that most homebuyers make up their minds about a home within the first 30 seconds. This means first impressions weigh heavily in the decision making process. A welcoming front entry, smart landscaping, a well-manicured lawn, and a neat and tidy entrance will create a winning first impression.

Breathing Life Into Your Space

When staging your home for sale, adding plants is an important element you should never submit to minimalism. People respond positively to natural, living elements. In addition to beauty, green plants are healthy. They clean the air.

Home Staging and Real Estate Photography

In today’s online driven real estate world, 94% of home buyers are looking online for their dream home. Quality real estate photography is the bate that attracts these buyers to give your home a second look. Very often buyers will give a thumbs up or down when their buyers agent sends them possible listings to tour because of the photos. Great real estate photos make a home stand out in the market.

This is why minimalist home staging is critical when you want your photos to stand out. The camera doesn’t lie. You know how the camera adds ten pounds to your selfie? Well, clutter adds ten pounds to your home…multiplied by the number of cluttered rooms, of course.

The combination of minimalist home staging and professional photography is like a one-two punch. It will get your home a second look, which will get you actual showings, which lead to offers. You can’t get an offer on your home without showings.

Home Staging Takeaways

While most homeowners have spent their time in their homes decorating and filling the spaces with their favorite things, selling a home is a new stage of the homeownership journey. The home staging process is the perfect time to start considering your home as a product, rather than your nest. Previously, your home was the place of personal connections. Finding ways of keeping those memories, while de-personalizing your home will help you move along in the process and you’ll see the benefits when your home stands out in the market.

As much as you have loved your home, now it’s time to create an environment that appeals to your most likely buyer. It’s time to put on your editor’s hat. At its core, minimalism is not only about making that home feel light, airy, and expansive, it’s about creating a space for your buyers to envision their own lives and families there. It will be the perfect place for prospective buyers to build a big, long, happy life.