One way to add value to your home when you are selling it, is to make it feel larger or more spacious than it actually is. This is especially true for smaller homes, and smaller rooms. Here are 5 easy tips for making your home feel more spacious when home buyers come to look.
Decluttering your closets will make them look bigger.
1. Declutter. Rooms and closets can look much more spacious and open when they are not full of extra furniture, extra knick-knacks and general clutter. For example, if you’re kitchen is small and the countertop space is limited, less accessories on the countertops will make the countertop area seem bigger; more clutter will make it seem smaller. The same goes for closets: most closets we see should have 50-75% of the contents removed, and the remaining contents well organized. There is nothing that screams “this closet is too small” than a closet that is bursting at the seams with clothing and shoes.
Small bedrooms can be made to look smaller when there is excessive furniture, so be sure to limit (or remove) chests of drawers, wardrobes and any other items that are making it difficult to move around the room.
Only have a 1- or 2-car garage? This may not be ideal for the buyer, so don’t reinforce a negative by letting buyers see it stacked from floor to ceiling with “stuff.” If your garage is neat, tidy, and preferably, empty, and buyers can see your car(s) parked in the garage with lots of additional space left over, they might decide that they can actually make a smaller garage work.
You may have to rent a storage unit for the purpose of decluttering your home, but the cost is well worth the value you will create for your home.
2. Open all windows coverings. There is nothing more difficult for a buyer’s agent than to try to get clients excited about a dark, closed-up home. Sellers should prepare their home for showings by making sure that all window coverings are open, not only letting in the natural light, but allowing the buyer to see outside.
Creating a view to the outdoors results in a longer “sight line” for the person looking through the room, and that creates a better sense of spaciousness.
So whether it’s plantation shutters, curtains, or horizontal or vertical blinds, make sure all window coverings are wide open, allowing for the maximum view and as much light into the room as possible.
3. Lighten the paint colors. Dark wall and ceiling colors make a room feel smaller and closed-in. To make your home feel more spacious, go with lighter wall colors and a light to “white” ceiling color.
4. Make sure your furniture is the right scale. I recently had a seller who had a kitchen table and chairs that were too large for the breakfast nook, making that area look very small and non-functional. We recommended that the seller store their kitchen table and chairs and rent smaller furniture for that room from a staging company. Rather than pay the staging company rental fee, they purchased a simple table and 4 chairs that were the perfect scale from a consignment store for $200. The sellers decided that this would be cheaper than renting from the staging company, especially in the event that it took months to sell their home (which it didn’t.) It was inferior in quality to their own set, but made the room look so much more functional.
To make your home feel bigger and more spacious when you are trying to sell it, follow these 4 simply tips above. While there is a little time and perhaps small financial investment required, these recommendations will you maximize your sales price and are well worth the investment.
Looking to sell your Scottsdale area home? Contact me at 602-694-3200 or fill out the contact form below, and I will be happy to meet with you and share more tips on how to maximize your home’s value when preparing it for the market.
Don Matheson
Realtor | Founder
The Matheson Team – RE/MAX Fine Properties
21000 N. Pima Rd., #100, Scottsdale, AZ 85255
602-694-3200 or 888-656-4830
[email protected]
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