 When it comes to staging your home, you might find yourself thinking of those big-ticket items: changing colors, bringing in new furniture, or removing and taking out current decorations. And while these are big things that help sellers to get their homes sold and off the market, there are other factors that go into staging houses for real estate value—some of them small enough that you might not think of them.
One of these important factors? Smell. Believe it or not, the smell of a home can majorly impact how buyers think of a space, which can help sell your home for maximum profit. Here, we’ll break down why smell matters so much and some things that can help as you prepare to sell. Why does smell matter? Smell is an important sense—it can help you detect dangers, like gas leaks, fires, or spoilage in food. It’s closely linked to taste, and is important in allowing that sense to function fully. But smell has other important features—even more than sight, hearing, or taste, smell is the sense most related to memory and emotion. You might have experienced the ways that scents can trigger memories—maybe you’ve smelled freshly baked cookies and suddenly remembered scenes of your own past. Smell is also important to emotion—perfume and scent companies specifically produce scents intended to make you feel a certain way. While this emotional reaction varies from person to person—some may find a perfume pleasant, others may dislike it—there are some smells that have fairly general appeal, and smell good to nearly everyone. At the bottom of the “smell good” list were the super 70’s popular musk and patchouli. How does smell impact buyers’ impression of a home? When buyers tour a home, they’re often looking for reasons to rule it out—and it’s easy to give them reasons to. A violently orange wall or a bare room can make a potential buyer lose interest—and the same goes for strong smells. In recent years, strong air fresheners or artificial scents have fallen out of favor, and can make even the most modern house feel dated, as buyers remember when they were in style. Smells can take over even the largest house, and might be totally overwhelming when staging a small house. More trendy smells? Buyers love fresh air. And if there’s any scent at all, some stagers recommend using essential oils—like eucalyptus or lemongrass. These are generally inoffensive, and have the advantage of being frequently used in places like hotels—many buyers may have memories associated with them from past trips. These pleasant associations can make it easier to sell the house. What scents can help move my home on the market? Essential oils like orange, lemon, and lavender can be a pleasant, non-overwhelming scent, and have the advantage of being useful for getting rid of lingering scents trapped in wood furniture or baseboards. But another scent that can help move a home? Fresh paint. This often gives buyers the sense that a house has been newly touched-up and is fresh and ready to go. Paint has the advantage of covering lingering odors, like cat litter or kitchen grease—a strong scent that can take away from the visual impact when staging a kitchen. Some primers, like those from Kilz and Zinsser, are specifically designed to block odors, and some paints, like those from Sherwin Williams Harmony, can help absorb new odors. What services are there to help scent my home? If you aren’t sure what scents to pick, you aren’t alone—some companies exist to help you with this process. Some provide ambient scent, or a gentle background scent designed to produce a specific mood in the buyers—one that you can help choose. Even better, some include an odor-neutralizing additive called Mezatene in their scents and diffusers. This can eliminate any bad smells, while the diffuser gently puts off a good one. How can Heidi Ross Design help me? Wondering “where can I find a company that can help with staging for sale near me?” At Heidi Ross Design, we put our experience to use helping stage and sell luxury homes in the Memphis area—including Germantown, Cordova, Bartlett, and other locations in the Greater Mid-South region. We can stage occupied or vacant homes to help you maximize your profit. And if you’re looking for virtual staging companies near me, we’re here to help you as you prepare your home to show online. When you’re ready to get started, contact us for a free quote—we’re here to help. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.
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 If you take a look at some pictures of homes that have been staged for sale, at first glance you might see what looks like just a nice room with welcoming arrangements of furniture and walls and windows that look airy, cozy, and inviting depending on the style of the home. But if you take a closer look you might also notice some differences between the home you live in now and how homes look when they’re staged for sale. While a tidy kitchen, when you aren’t trying to sell your home could still have clean dishes in a drying rack, or your family room might have family pictures lined up on the walls like a gallery, a staged home takes a different approach. Rather than focusing on livability, a staged house focuses on the sale. And something that appeals to clients? A neutral color scheme, a paring-down of personal accessories, and--maybe most of all--cleanliness. Just how clean does your home need to be for selling? And how can occupied home staging work with you as you live in your home while having it on the market? We’ll break down these important factors and let you know Heidi Ross Design can help you quickly and efficiently sell your home. I think I keep my house pretty clean—what’s different about cleaning when it comes to selling? When you live in your home, the cleaning that you do is different from the cleaning required when buyers look at a house. When you live in a space, you clean up after your pets, but might stop noticing when hairballs get stuck under beds or other pet mess that is hidden away in basements or the lingering smell of a cat or dog. And that pile or newspaper or bills might look orderly to you, but if it is left on the counter or floor, it will surely change how a buyer perceives the space. You naturally don’t notice the little messes that occur—and those things can turn buyers off. A spill in the bottom of the oven probably doesn’t bother you, but it can for a potential buyer. Food crumbs and spills in the fridge or microwave can make the kitchen seem old and worn out, even if it’s not. These types of details are especially important when staging a bathroom for sale—buyers don’t want to think about current owners using that space, but want to envision themselves or their family there. This is hard to do when a buyer is making mental notes on lack of hygiene of the current owners. Unfortunately this is what is really going on in a buyer's mind. They are criticizing the seller's lifestyle rather than viewing all of the wonderful assets your home has to offer! Remember, buyers look for reasons NOT to buy a home. They are looking at a home through critical analysis, as indeed they should. What do I need to clean? That’s not to say that in staging your home you need to take everything out and start from square one. Deep cleaning is a good idea, though—either by yourself or with the help of a hired professional. Hit the kitchen, bathroom, carpets, and windows, along with other big-ticket areas like the entry. Clean or repaint walls, and carefully clean along the baseboards. Scrubbing grout and toilets is a good idea, too. Here is a bullet list of target areas to be cleaned:
If you’re still living in the house as you try to sell, it might be time to cut down on your furnishings. Heidi Ross Design professional staging company can help you make determinations about how to arrange the space to give the biggest and best impact to buyers. Removing personal photos and mementos and any clutter can help get the space looking bigger and less “lived in”...more impersonal. This will help the buyer envision themselves living there and can give you a jump start on moving. This is especially important for taking those listing pictures that will help sell the home online. Even in a space that’s roomy, online listing photos can make a space look smaller and gives buyers the opportunity to notice cluttered or unclean spots. While this means that you might need to rearrange your home to benefit from virtual staging and pack up some possessions while living there, it’s a sacrifice that’s well worth it and can help you make maximum return profit. How can I get help staging my home for sale? At Heidi Ross Design, we are local home stagers helping clients in Memphis and the Greater Mid-South sell their luxury homes and maximize their profits. We walk you through every step of the staging process—whether you’re staging a vacant home or an occupied one. Ready to get started and find out about staging prices? Contact us for a free quote and get started on a process that can streamline your home selling experience. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk. At Heidi Ross Design, we specialize in staging luxury homes for sale. While not everyone has a million dollar home, staging houses for a real estate sale might seem like an unnecessary expense and hassle. But, staging your home doesn’t have to be hard—our professionals are with you every step of the way and help you maximize your profit in the greater Memphis area and get your home off the market quickly.
But it’s one thing to hear about what we do, and another to see it in action. That’s why we’re inviting you to a Realtor Open House on March 23rd 2021 from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm—to let you see what our staging services can do. This open house at 6500 Wild Oaks Drive in our home base of Memphis, TN was organized with James Harvey of Keller Williams. This open house is special not just because of the beautiful home, but because of how it was staged. For this open house, we used the homeowner’s own belongings. You might wonder: why do you need staging when you have a furnished house? What’s special about this kind of staging? Let’s break down these questions that many sellers might have. If I have furniture in my house, why do I need to hire a stager? When you think of staging, you might think of local home stagers bringing furniture into a totally vacant house—something that’s just not feasible for many people, today especially in the hot seller’s market. Often, the homeowner can’t leave the home before it’s sold. That’s why at Heidi Ross Design, we don’t just offer vacant home staging, but occupied house staging as well. But if you already have furniture in your home, why do you need a stager at all? There are a few reasons. The first: staged homes sell faster and for more money than non-staged homes. If you’re looking to sell your home and prevent it from sitting on the market, staging will get you the biggest bang for your buck in the shortest amount of time. Why might this staged home sell faster and for more money? One reason is that staging can give you an edge over comparable houses. Another is because a professional home stager knows how to make a space appeal to a variety of potential buyers. If you look around your home now, you’ll likely see evidence of your personal taste. But buyers often have trouble seeing past decorations, and may feel that they don’t like the space—when in fact, it’s just not styled the way they would design it. When it comes to home staging, living room areas can be a good example—while a lot of seating organized close together might work well for your family, a buyer might see the room as tight and small. How does occupied home staging work? Occupied home staging is different from the staging practices you might imagine right away. Rather than starting from scratch, occupied home staging uses the principles of interior design to reimagine the inside of the home. We use some of your special home furnishings, while also making the space appeal to potential buyers—whether that’s rearranging objects in the house, removing some furniture or decorations for storage, or adding some outside pieces to supplement or complement the existing furniture. This process helps potential buyers to imagine themselves in the space even while you continue to live there. At Heidi Ross Design, we also offer interior decorating services—that means you know our team has the experience and expertise to guide you through the process of staging an occupied home. Another great feature about hiring professional home stages is the peace-of-mind you get knowing that your home will photograph well. Without staging, it can be hard to take a picture that shows your home to its full advantage—but with staging, you can rest assured that buyers will get a good impression online. Come see what we do! If you’ve been wondering which company can provide staging for sale near me?, or considering staging prices, the Open House on March 23rd 2021 is a great way to get to know what we do. At Heidi Ross Design, we’re passionate about staging luxury homes, whether vacant or occupied, for sale—our experts are here to help you maximize your profits. As an home staging industry leader, we will help you sell your home fast with a free quote and virtual consultation to walk you through how your home can be staged easily and within your budget. You can reach Heidi Ross Design at (901) 361-7419 **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk. At Heidi Ross Design, we stage luxury homes for sale—and this means keeping up with the trends that help sell houses for the maximum profit. One of the things that helps to move a house on the market? Besides the furniture and décor, color can have a big impact on how much a home sells for. Painting can increase your home’s value by over a thousand dollars. Why does paint matter? What colors can help sell your home? And how can we help? Here, we’ll break down these common questions that sellers have as they approach putting their homes on the market, and let you know what we can do to support you. Why do paint colors matter? When staging your home, you (or the stager you hire) are helping buyers to envision themselves living in the space. A bright orange room might be to your liking, but a buyer might cringe—and, worse, might think that they don’t like the house—when in fact, they just dislike the paint. Neutral colors that unite spaces in the house can be accented with fun pops of color, and can help buyers to imagine living in the home. Because whites, grays, or beiges aren’t distracting, buyers can take in the space and imagine styling it to their liking—which helps move your home. What colors are on trend for 2021? Every year, Pantone chooses a color of the year. This major US-based company standardizes colors across the design industry—this means that creators in web design, fashion, and interior design have a universal language to talk about colors, and know that they mean exactly the same shades. Pantone’s experts start early in the year to search for a color that reflects the year that’s gone by and speaks to the year coming up—not an easy task in the taxing year that was 2020. In response, Pantone has chosen two colors of the year for 2021, something the company hasn’t done since 2016, when they broke with their lone color tradition and selected pale blue Serenity and soft pink Rose Quartz. This year, Pantone has chosen two bold colors: a neutral achromatic shade called Ultimate Gray and a bright sunshine yellow called Illuminating. These colors were chosen for the feelings associated with the shades. The gray calls up images of nature and solid, dependable, earth-based elements, and the yellow calls up images of hope, warmth, and optimism. The two go well together, too, and when used in tandem, may remind us of the resilience that got us through 2020 and the hope that better things lie ahead. These two colors, as Pantone’s Color of the Year always does, will have a major impact on style in the year to come—expect to see muted grays and greiges and sunshiny yellows filter down from high fashion to everyday design. How might these colors be used in my home? When staging a bedroom—especially staging a small bedroom—greige can be your friend. Airy whites or grays can make the space look larger, soothing, and welcoming. The same goes for staging a bathroom for sale—a small space can be opened up with neutrals, or made welcoming and calming with a soft blue-gray. In home staging, living room and kitchen areas, especially when part of an open floor plan, can have a big impact on buyers, and soft, neutral colors can be a benefit—and trendy gray or greige might be a good choice. These neutral colors can help a buyer envision their own furniture and accessories in the space, and can lend a welcoming touch—one that can be accented with pops of color (like a bright sunshine yellow or orange). These on-trend colors appeal to a lot of people—another big plus when selling—and help avoid overwhelming the space with the seller’s personal style. Where can I find a luxury home staging near me?   When you’re looking for local home stagers, turn to Heidi Ross Design. We stage houses in the $300,000+ category, and bring the skills and experience to get your home sold. Our team will be with you every step of the way as we stage your home—whether that’s staging a vacant space or an occupied one.
Need more information? Check out our FAQ page. And when you’re ready to get started on your home-selling journey, contact us for a free quote and begin your staging experience—we’re here to help you sell your home fast and to maximize your profit. **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk.  Memphis and its surrounding areas are experiencing a hot seller’s market. This is good news for anyone looking to sell their home. According to leading Memphis Home Stager - Heidi Ross, what sets apart those that are selling not only quickly but for top dollar, is her staging and design services. There are many factors that have come together in the greater midsouth to create the perfect storm of a sellers market, but the question is how high are the seller’s going to ride the profit wave.
Over her 17 years of staging homes, this is one of the most favorable times to stage your home for a sale. Selling a home requires putting on your business hat, becoming the CEO of your home’s financial sales profit. Just like you watch your bank account, think of your home like a bank account and you are looking to make as many “deposits” as possible. A deposit is each and every little thing that you do to make more money on the sale of your home. Heidi’s clients are aware that the Coronavirus has driven buyers to the interwebs of home listings, dependent on thumbnail size photos that need to pack a punch to get a potential buyer's attention. Gone are the days of endless driving for home tours...now the driving is done with your fingers and a mouse. Whether you are selling your own home or using the services of an agent, both are going to require that you “list” your property somewhere online and “show” pictures of your home to prospective buyers. Savvy sellers are very aware that the key to maximizing their profits pivot around the “show-ability of their home”. This has always been the driving focus of Heidi Ross Design (home stager near me) but in the early days, it was very literal. Heidi says, back in the day, a showing was scheduled and buyers spent endless hours and even weeks driving from home to home and then walking around the yard, through the house, and then back to the car just to have to drive to yet another house “tour”. Of course, this also meant having to take time off from work and other responsibilities to be able to go on the home tours. Heidi knows the difference between people walking through a cold and stark vacant home versus walking through a staged home layered with furniture, floor coverings, wall hangings, with a decor that creates a warm and cozy feeling. Creating an emotionally powerful home tour experience is important. What has changed is that “show-ability” must now be translated into a photo image. Walking from room to room is now done virtually. Photos and 360 panorama camera shots are the norm now. Heidi explains that “our culture is so full of hyper-market strategies that most have lost their ability to visualize for themselves. The constant advertisement inundation has caused a pandemic of ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) shoppers! It means that buyers have a hard time looking past the style of others. They struggle to imagine the possibilities and styling of their own. They are easily distracted by the smallest things, and they often find themselves moving on quickly to property that IS catching their attention.” There is a saying that goes, “you don't get a second chance to make a first impression”. A home’s first impression is more important than ever. Heidi says, “think of home staging as doing the thinking for the buyer”. When a home is staged, there is a visual story about how to use each space in the home. It gives the buyer the opportunity to see themselves living there, imagining how each space can be used, helping them envision their own furniture and personal items in each room. Home staging is ADHD friendly! Heidi also cites a significant increase in the use of her home staging services in Memphis, Arlington, Germantown, and throughout the greater Memphis area this past year. Although this is no great surprise given the world has been tied down in a global pandemic, Heidi says that her greatest surprise is how open and encouraging local real estate agents are to suggesting their sellers use professional home staging services. When a person is selling their home the real estate agent can be the most important person in the equation of success and their recommendations matter! If you are planning to sell your home or already have your home on the market for sale, all you need to do is contact Heidi Ross Design. Fortunately, home staging is not only easy for the seller with a FREE QUOTE, but it is also very affordable and much cheaper than a sales price reduction. Call Heidi Ross Design today (901) 361-7419 **Disclaimer** Please be advised that all content, including Blog articles, on the website https://www.heidirossdesign.com is for INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. No guarantees are made and the use of the website, content, and any information provided is to be used at your own risk. |
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