How to Live in a Staged Home

Effectively staging your home can make a difference when selling your home. It can help you reach your asking price, or it can mean the difference between making a sale and not making a sale.

With so much at stake, it’s clear that home staging is a good idea. However, if you plan on living in your home while it’s on the market it can cause a big change in your lifestyle. It can mean putting most of your belongings in storage and be constantly rearranging furniture and moving your valuables around.

In this article, I’ll give you some tips to help you get through the difficult time of living in a staged home. I’ll talk about how you can make the most of this situation while still making the important sale on your home.

Decluttering and removing personal items from your home

There are two important things to remember when cleaning out your home before staging it. You want to declutter and you want to remove your personal presence in the home.

In terms of decluttering, not only is this a good time to start packing up items you won’t need until you move into your next home, but it is also a good time to do some cleaning. When going through your home, ask yourself if you’ve used the item in question within the last year or two. If the answer is no, you might be able to throw away or donate the item.

When someone views a home they want to be able to picture living there. That’s hard to do if it is filled with the photos and heirlooms of another family.  If you’re unsure about whether something is too personal to keep on display in your home, there’s a good chance that it’s better off to put it in storage.

Use your free time at home to your advantage

Living in your home while it’s on the market gives you one important advantage--you’re able to spend more time prepping your home for sale. Use your free time and weekends at homes to paint your walls bright, neutral colors. You can also experiment with arranging furniture in a spacious and welcoming way.

This is also a good time to take care of small issues that might turn off potential buyers. Runny faucets, creaking doors, and other cosmetic fixes are all simple but important fixes to make while still living in your home.

Adopt a “clean as you use” mentality

Since people are coming to view your home, you’ll naturally want it to be as clean and tidy as possible. But rushing to clean everything before someone views your home makes it more likely to overlook a dirty countertop or misplaced towel.

A good practice is to simply clean up after yourself as you use items. That means wiping down the counter or oven after use, making sure you don’t leave products out in the bathroom, and sweeping the floors at the end of the day.

While it can be difficult to live in your home while it is staged for sale, it also has its advantages. As you go through this process, remember that it isn’t forever, and that it can save you time and money in the long run.