3 Tips for Home Staging Small Apartments

If you are looking to try to sell your apartment, you might have been told by your agent to stage your place. Then you got to thinking, what does that mean? Here are three ideas to inspire you when it comes to staging your apartment.

The biggest thing you can do is remove you from the scene. Take down any personal photos and put away anything that is truly unique for you. The goal is to get the potential buyer to see themselves in that space, and when there is too much of you, that imagery gets muddied, especially when they are only there for ten to fifteen minutes. You will also want to be sure you are not at home during the open house. Again, it can be hard for the buyers to see what options are available in the apartment. It's also really awkward to be there when people walk through your home and make comments.

Next, minimize everything in your apartment. You will want to have the truly personal pieces of furniture packed away and mostly generic furniture there instead. It might even mean you will need to contact a company that specializes in staging homes for sale. They have nice looking furniture that they can place in just the right places, and it will not feel like there is too much. It makes your home more like a model apartment or a showroom. At the very least, you may need to borrow furniture from a friend or you may need to do a quick refresh with a slipcover.

This also means it is a good idea to put away any kids' items like toys or play pens and pet beds and toys. Replace them with appropriate-sized furniture to make even the smallest apartment feel big. Alternately, you can pull furniture away from the walls to create air space. Taller furniture that sets up off the ground gives that feeling of air, too. Anything in the apartment that feels like clutter needs to be removed as well.

Lastly, you will want to create a welcoming atmosphere. This can mean ensuring that everything is clean and inviting for people to want to enter in and sit. It also means making sure your windows are clean so that all the light possible coming streaming in the windows, and you will also want to have fresh clean curtains. It's a good idea to turn the office on so the apartment is comfortable for everyone coming through.

If you live in an area that is cloudy or rainy on the day of the show, be sure to compensate for the lack of natural light by turning on the lights (preferably not fluorescent) in your apartment. You can help with the light by using a light colored paint on the walls. Flowers can lend a nice touch to any open house and also brighten up even the gloomiest, snowiest day. Consider getting some flowers and putting them in a few places around the apartment.

Staging an apartment is slightly different than staging a house, in that you want to create the illusion of space in a smaller location. It can be a little tricky, but hopefully these tips will get you started and on the way to selling your apartment.