inexpensive ways to make your house shine!

You want to make your Baltimore area house stand out on the market, but you’ll be living in it during the sale and don’t want to spend a lot of money. No worries! We’ve got ten tips to help your house stand out on the market. Living in your house while it’s for sale isn’t always the easiest. Showings always seem to happen at dinnertime and weekends, so we recommend planning a short getaway the first weekend that your house is on the market, because that’s usually the busiest time.

1. Declutter.

Do this early in the process. Take a hard look at any furniture, clothes, and accessories that could be donated, trashed, or packed in a box, ready to move. The less distractions in a room when a buyer walks through, the more the focus will be on the best features of your house.

2. Pops of color!

Neutral walls and furnishings work best and make it easy to add some color. Strategically place wall art to add interest and draw attention to the area. Remember, not every wall needs art. Sometimes, windows with a great view are art!

3. Pillows.

Some bright throw pillows on sofas and chairs will bring some much-needed life to a room. Textures like fringe, woven fabrics, and wooden objects can balance a room and bring warmth. Pay attention to colors that complement each other like navy and yellow, monochrome patterns, or warm hues like leather and sage green.

4. Take a photo of the room.

This is one of our best tricks. Want to know what the room will look like online when your listing goes live? Take a photo from a few different angles in the room. Look at the photo with an eye of a buyer. What do you see? What can you improve on? Call in a friend or neighbor for an honest opinion, too.

5. Change furniture arrangements.

Often, a U-shape setup for furniture is appealing. Situate a sofa on one side, love seat at an angle on the other, and two side chairs to complete the ensemble. Add a coffee table with a tray of décor, and you’re set. If you have a small corner or area that looks empty, add a small table with chair to make a reading center.

6. Brighten a room with white.

If a room doesn’t get much natural light, be sure to add floor lamps or lamps on side tables. And to make a dark room or sofa look brighter, add a lot of bright white pillows. We recently staged a Howard County home with limited natural light and a large, dark gray sofa.

After adding white pillows and a light throw blanket on furniture, the room brightened considerably.

7. Add fluffy white towels to all bathrooms.

Want a spa-like look? White is a clean color and rolled towels add a sense of luxury to your bathroom. Choose fluffy, thick towels, and place them on towel racks and roll them and place them around tub and sink, too. Link to our former blogs about bathrooms

8. Fresh linens.

Bedding, especially in the primary bedroom, should be white. Why so much white everywhere? Because not only is white a clean, crisp color, it’s always easy to accentuate it with colorful pillows. Picture this: Starched white sheets and pillowcases with a fluffy white quilt. Add some coral and navy pillows and a coral throw blanket and you’ve got contrast and beauty.

9. Add a new doormat.

We see lots of people with “welcome” mats and that’s great if you’re welcoming guests. But when you’re selling, it’s best to help buyers get the feeling that this is going to be their house, not that they’re a guest at yours. Part of that feeling can be conveyed in a doormat that says, “Home Sweet Home” or simply, “Home.” Let buyers start to think of this as their future home.

10. Take up all area rugs.

Yes, you probably need a rug by the front door, but take it up for photos. Area rugs chop up a room and make it look smaller. Beware: An area rug on top of wall-to-wall carpeting can make buyers think you’re hiding something. Tuck away bathroom rugs and kitchen mats too. If you need them for your comfort, put them back between showings, or after your contract is signed.