The following blog entry is part of our series: What Home Buyers Want and How You Can Make It Happen, where Interiority Complex is taking a deeper look at a recent study on home buyer preferences. If you’re just joining us, click here to get up to speed on the study. Item # 1 on the list of what buyers want to see in a new home is Large Kitchens and Kitchen Islands.
Don’t fret if you’re selling or staging a home and don’t have the budget to do a major kitchen remodel. Much of the time, it’s not necessary. You can spruce up a kitchen and make it feel more spacious by taking cues from the pro’s:
What you will see in a well staged kitchen:
- A bowl of fresh fruit or vase of fresh flowers.
- A cookbook opened to a page featuring a beautiful and delicious looking meal.
- 1 or 2 other decorative accessories on the counter-tops (depending on counter top space – remember, less is more!)
- Neat and tidy cabinets and pantry. (Yes, prospects will look behind closed doors!)
- Updated appliances & hardware.
- Sparkling clean surfaces.
- Updated cabinets: freshly painted with new hardware works just great!
- Highlight that kitchen island. Don’t have one? Click here for some affordable solutions.
What you won’t see in a well staged kitchen:
- Lots of fake ivy, plants and accessories above the cabinets (too many accessories translates to visual clutter in the buyer’s eyes and can be too distracting). A few well-placed accessories are ok, just don’t go overboard!
- A multitude of cooking appliances taking up valuable space on the counter-tops: coffee makers, toasters, blenders, food processors, etc. need to be packed away.
- Dirty, worn or dated countertops.(Need a quick and easy counter top fix? Click here for more info.)
- Magnets, notes, coupons, lists or kids art on the fridge!
- Wallpaper or bold paint colors.
Remember, living in a staged home is a bit of an inconvenience, however, the pay-off is big and you won’t have to do it for long if you’ve put your best foot forward as far as presentation & pricing. Having an experienced Realtor on your side to help you price and market your property are key in selling a home in today’s market.
Stay tuned for our next blog entry in this series, where we’ll take a look at Item #2 on our list of what What Home Buyers Want and How You Can Make It Happen: Energy Efficient Features.
CEO, Ashley Whittenberger Companies, Inc.
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Want To Use This Article In Your Ezine or Website? You have my permission, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Ashley Whittenberger is the Principal and Chief Decorating Officer of Interiority Complex. You can visit Interiority Complex, access the free article archive of design prescriptions or learn more about home staging and creative design therapy at www.myinterioritycomplex.com. Ashley lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, son, two dogs, and two cats, and she is proud that she has learned to successfully live and thrive with her compulsive and chronic rearranging and re-designing disorders.
- What Home Buyers Want and How You Can Make It Happen: #2 Energy Efficient Features - July 24, 2010
- What Home Buyers Want and How You Can Make It Happen: #1 Large Kitchens - July 17, 2010
- What Home Buyers Want - June 20, 2010
