Staging for yourself - why wait until you’re ready to sell?
Monday, September 10th, 2007
I’ve often wondered, when I walk through homes that are cluttered and outdated, how people can stand to live there.
When I come home, I want to walk into a sanctuary, a place that makes me feel relaxed and refreshed - even if it’s not “interior designer-y”, I want to be able to look around and breathe deeply, with no to-do list that runs through my head. Of course, my house isn’t perfect - my desk is a bit of a mess, and my basement looks like a preschool - even though it’s really just a playroom for my own 3 - but I feel like we have created a cozy, welcoming environment by controlling the clutter.
And, even though we have no plans to sell or move, I do feel like we could list the house and start showing it tomorrow - there would be no need to rehab and remodel and stage only for someone else to enjoy the results.
Over the weekend I read a great article by Martha Beck in O at Home:
GETTING IN TOUCH WITH YOUR INNER SPIFFER
By Martha Beck
Judy and I had just spent five hours spiffing up her townhouse so that her real-estate agent could show it to a potential buyer, and now Judy was crying about it.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “This place looks fabulous!”
It really did. What was supposed to be a normal dust-and-straighten routine turned into a manic redecorating sprint. We began by organizing and filing papers that, to my best recollection, had been on Judy’s desk since the Reagan administration. Getting them out of sight shattered our unspoken assumption that we were only tidying and triggered a frenzy of home improvement.
We Goodwilled items—snowshoes, an accordion, a unicycle—to which Judy had clung for years, just in case she started channeling Zelda Fitzgerald and ended up using them. The newly spacious rooms begged for color, so we visited the neighborhood florist for luscious tulip bouquets and then purchased paint to match the flowers. Two accent walls, ten picture-hangings, and an hour of furniture-arranging later, Judy’s home was dazzling. Hence, the tears.
“I’m selling this place because I wanted to live somewhere more beautiful and inspiring,” Judy quavered, “but now this is it! This is my dream house—and someone else gets it!” Weakened by paint fumes, she began to cry even harder.
“There, there,” I said, patting her arm. “Maybe no one will make an offer.”
But as I surveyed the newly gorgeous house, I knew that someone would.
You don’t have to spend a ton of money to stage for yourself - do little things that make a big impact: Paint. Rearrange the furniture. Get rid of stuff that you don’t like. Stay organized. Live the way you’ve always wanted to live. And when the time comes that you want or need to sell, you’ll be ready.
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