Is there a space in your home that just feels ‘tight’… not quite welcoming? Consider incorporating these 5 tips to make it feel larger:
- Mirrors – when properly placed can elongate an entrance, open a closed space and reflect natural light to ensure you are maximizing what mother nature has provided in each space.
- Paint – A few of our personal favorites are Silver Sage (Restoration Hardware), Blonde (Sherwin Williams) and Botany Beige or any “builder neutral” as the lighter taupe paint scheme is referred to in our business.
- Furniture – rearranging what you have to allow a nice open flow through a space, removing larger items to create a more spacious feel, replacing busy patterned fabrics with basic tones.
- Declutter – remove all items that are personalized (collections, magazines, too many books, personal photos, etc) and especially anything up high that could potentially fall on someone, on an upper book shelf or closet shelf for example or on the floors.
- Lighting – Use accent lighting to create the mood, lighten the space and help when you are away from the home and the lighting might be off – add timers to turn side lights on and off at darker times of the day or in smaller spaces.
The whole idea is to create the feeling of an empty boutique hotel, as if anyone could walk in your home and instantly see how they could “make it theirs” and the less personal and cluttered, the better. The brighter, more open and easy to access, the less the home is intimidating. After all, they are essentially looking all over your home – as odd as it feels to the home owner, it feels equally odd to the home buyer. Your job as seller is to make the most of the spaces you have, so don’t take it personally… brighten things up, make them feel welcoming and spacious and your home will sail to the top of the buyers favorite list!