When preparing your home for sale, every room counts. The dining room is no exception; often this room of the home is a central hub of family life and entertaining. This room of the home can often be very personalized with family photos, heirlooms and collections as well. By effectively staging your dining room, you’ll have potential buyers planning their house warming dinner party in no time. The following tips will give you a head start on having a show home worthy dining room that potential buyers will flock to.
1. De-clutter.
Dining rooms can often be full of large furniture and lots of surfaces. Credenzas, buffets and china cabinets are typically covered in ‘stuff’ which can be very distracting to potential buyers. It can also cause buyers to think that there may not be enough storage space. Clear all surfaces of collections and clutter and leave a few key pieces out on display.
2. De-personalize.
This is the time to take down your gallery of family photos. This is a crucial step in home staging; when potential buyers see photos of your family, it is incredibly difficult for them to imagine themselves living in the space.
3. Pack and store collections.
If you’re an avid beer stein collector or have an extensive porcelain doll collection, this is the time to pack and store these items until you move into your new home. Not only will this free up a lot of space, it goes a long way in de-personalizing the room.
4. Assess traffic flow.
Is it easy to move and walk around your dining table? If you have large scale furniture that dominates the room, strongly consider storing the pieces until you move. By clearing out large pieces of furniture, the room will feel much bigger and spacious. Ensure that potential buyers can easily move through the room without having to squeeze past large items of furniture.
5. Choose a table setting.
This doesn’t necessarily mean setting the table with complete place settings; it can be as simple as placing a nice runner down the middle of the table and placing a set of vases as the center piece with some greenery or fresh flowers.
6. Lighting.
As always, lighting is a very important part of the room. If you have a chandelier, ensure it sparkles by giving it a thorough cleaning, including the light bulbs. If your fixture is outdated (if it’s brass coloured, it’s time to be replaced), head down to your local hardware store and choose a new fixture. This is a very cost effective way of updating the look of your dining room.
7. Clean, clean and clean again.
As with all rooms in the home, ensuring your dining room is sparkling clean is not optional. The floors should be swept, dining room furniture dusted and polished and all marks on walls should be addressed. Don’t forget the light switch covers either, every little detail counts.