10 Not-So-Secret-Staging-Strategies for Your Kitchen

When selling your home the first thing you have to do is look inward. No, this isn’t a self-reflective thing. I mean look inward to the heart of your home: the kitchen. This is the room that can make or break the sale of your house. Think about it, nowadays the kitchen is the room that sees the most activity. From morning newspaper reads to entertaining friends, eating meals to finishing homework, a kitchen is the beating drum of any home. So. How do you make yours look irresistible to anyone who enters the threshold of your home? That’s easy… just keep reading!

1. Clean to the Core

Now, I’m not talking about a ten-second-tidy. The first (and cheapest) step to making your kitchen look fantastic is to give it a good clean. This includes washing the floors, walls, countertops and cabinets, scrubbing every crevice until it sparkles. Wiping down appliances such as the fridge and oven – inside and out – is also important. No potential homebuyer wants to open your oven and see last night’s dinner splattered all over the inside!

2. Be Bold and Go Neutral

A fresh coat of paint is another easy solution to make your kitchen more inviting. Although bold colors are great for living, they’re not as esthetically pleasing when selling. You don’t want to bombard potential buyers with overwhelming colors they wouldn’t choose themselves. Go against your inner rainbow and stick with a warm neutral palette like taupes, tans, and greys.

3. Accessorize!

Rather than barren countertops and an empty pantry, who not dazzle potential buyers with a Pottery Barn bowl full of plump, vibrant fruit? Or a trio of varying sized candles next to a cookbook open to your favourite recipe? It’s little touches like these that make your kitchen delectably desirable and will help the speedy sale of your home. And remember, when it comes to accessories, three and five are the magic numbers!

4. Don’t OVER Accessorize!

Okay, I know this is contradicting to number three, BUT, it’s important. You don’t want to overwhelm your kitchen with too many paintings or trinkets. It’ll just look cluttered and that is a huge negative when staging your room. Better to adopt the mantra “less is more” and select a few focal pieces to display. In addition, make sure to hide all excess appliances as they can also add to the clutter of a kitchen. A good rule of thumb is to display one or two appliances. Like the coffee maker, because let’s be honest, that appliance holds the highest of honors.

5. Zone In

On the topic of hiding your appliances, make sure they’re not simply shoved into any old cupboard along with a year’s supply of plastic containers and baking supplies. Potential buyers will be checking your cupboards so it’s essential that they are clean, organized, and logical. Should you choose to have items in the cupboards, you want to create zones, or areas, for the different activities that take place in the kitchen. You can have different zones for prepping, cooking, baking, eating, and cleaning. This allows buyers to envision themselves living and functioning in these different areas of the kitchen.

6. Bring the Outdoors In

Flowers brighten any room. Have a bouquet that compliments the kitchen and make it the focal point of the room. After all, who can say no to flowers??

7. Let the Sun Shine

Let in as much natural light as you can muster. It completely opens up a space and adds to the warmth and energy of the kitchen.

8. Kitchen 2.0

If it’s within the budget, upgrading your appliances is a great way to revitalize the kitchen. And it definitely makes the room more visually appealing. Little touches like putting new hardware on the cabinet doors can make a huge impact as well.

9. Floating Furniture

You may think that pushing your furniture up against the walls makes a space look bigger. But in reality, it just looks odd. Float furniture like the kitchen table and chairs so that there’s a distinct “user-friendly” walkway throughout the space. This will also make the room appear bigger.

10. Leave No Magnet Behind

You’re moving on to greener pastures and as such, your home should no longer feel like “your home”. It’s all about creating a mood for the potential buyers who come to see the house. Can they envision themselves living there? Can they see their photos and cheesy magnets on the fridge? In short, pack up your family photos and box the tacky luau magnet from Hawaii you love so much because in order for your house to sell, it can’t have your personality.

If you follow these staging strategies, your kitchen will be the talk of the open house. Good luck!