Pro Staging Tips for Prepping Your Denver Mid-Century Modern Home To List on the Open Market
Refinishing hardwood floors or replacing worn out cork flooring will go a long way and you will see return on investment on the project. If refinishing hardwoods isn’t in the budget, place a large rug or runner over the scratched up parts if possible.
Bright colors are a fun and playful way to draw a buyer’s attention - especially with mid-century modern homes! However, too much color can be overwhelming, so make sure to balance it out with neutral tones throughout
Establish which statement art pieces will be featured and which ones won’t. Not all art is great for staging purposes. Be sure to take down anything that could be offensive or crude or distracting to a buyer. Smaller pieces of art should be taken down and replaced with larger pieces as needed, but ultimately it’s all about scale.
Leave some open wall space. We call this “allowing the buyers eye to rest”. Not every wall has to be embellished with something, use of blank space is also key.
Preserve or enhance original features. If you are going to be “upgrading” a home, make sure it’s to the proper style. Buyers will pay a premium for preserved mid-century modern features, so if you can avoid ripping them out, please do. However, if the feature isn’t salvageable, it might be better to replace it with a like - kind material. Don’t be shy in keeping a list of upgrades to your home and their cost for future buyers and appraisers alike.
Remove all personal items and knick knacks, and reduce clutter, including personal photos and religious or political items. Buyers need a blank slate to be able to imagine themselves in your space. Generally speaking my rule of thumb is, if it’s smaller than a football, pack it away, unless it’s a design detail. Take magnets off of the fridge, take extra books off of shelves and pack them away if they are overflowing, etc.
When placing furniture for staging, make sure it enhances the space and works with it to draw the buyer’s eye to the home’s key selling features. For example - framing a wood burning fireplace or a hearth to draw the buyer’s eye to the feature. Make sure not to cover windows with furniture, as this is a major selling point of mid mod homes. If you are going to put up any form of curtains, light white sheers are best. Avoid heavy or dark drapery.
Keep all the lights on and the shades open for staging and photography, typically. We want to enhance the fact that your mid mod homes has BEAUTIFUL natural light. Nothing is worse than a dark home that needs skylights or additional overhead lighting to make it feel bright enough to see.
Feel free to move around furniture that you already have into new spaces. Just because a rug has always been in the basement doesn’t mean that it should always belong there. Instead of purchasing a new rug to go under a dining room table, for example, you may want to take the rug from another room and move it to the dining room. The same swaps can be made when it comes to lighting, wall art and decor, etc. Anything we can do to save you money is a plus. If we need to fill in with some accessories later, we can easily do that. Also, if your furniture options aren’t great, don’t hesitate to rent or buy a new statement piece to bring in, or accessorize with better throw pillows for an older couch, etc. Typically mid-century modern homes should be features with mid-century modern furniture or modern / contemporary furniture in order to show the best.
Make sure the paint colors on the wall enhance the room instead of detract from it. If you have one blue room, one green room, and one purple room, a buyer is going to see dollar signs when it comes to needing to paint over the colors and make the space their own. Get ahead of the curve if possible and make sure wall paint colors reflect a neutral palette so that buyers can imagine themselves living in a space. One statement wall of wallpaper or a bright paint color is ok, so long as it goes with the design. Just avoid having the whole room be one color (including the ceiling!)
Make it clear to buyers what the functionality of a space is. If you have an unused bedroom you are using for storage, consider turning it back into a bedroom. If it’s an office, feel free to show that and enhance it, but make sure the office isn’t cluttered. If it’s an art room, or could be used as an art room for example, bring in items that enhance the use of space. Nothing is worse in a home than unused and dysfunctional space - show buyers how to use your home purposefully! If you have an empty larger hallway, consider making it a mud room entryway with a bench or adding in bookshelves to show that it can be repurposed as a library space, etc.
Organize inside of closets and pantries - just know that buyers are looking at every nook and cranny in your home and they will be opening up doors to medicine cabinets, drawers, etc. The more organized you can be, the better your home will appear!
Deep clean the space - it doesn’t hurt to make sure every single surface of your home shines. Best rule of thumb is to have the home be spotless before photography, showings, and it’s always considerate to deep clean your home before you move out and the next buyer closes on it!