Five Things That Make An Empty Home Look and Feel Dated

It’s time to sell your home. What home improvements should you invest in to get your home market ready? Should you try to sell your home vacant or furnished? Here is something to consider:

If you think that a clean, vacant home shows just as well as a home that has been properly prepared and professionally staged, stop right there. Think a coat of paint and scrubbed floors make everything look fresh and inviting? Think again. There are telltale signs left behind in an empty home that can instantly make it look and feel dated. Since there is nothing else to look at in an empty home, these sore thumbs stand out like… well, sore thumbs. Obviously, outdated kitchen appliances and cabinets and outdated bathroom fixtures would be hard to miss. But there are other things lurking that homeowners and real estate agents might overlook or dismiss as unimportant to the buyer’s eye. All it takes is an afternoon browsing through listing photos and virtual tours to confirm this thinking. Here are five things that scream “outdated” in no particular order:

• Popcorn Ceilings - and even worse, textured ceilings with sparkles. Unless you’re three years old and passing through the fairy princess phase, sparkly ceilings are just not cute. The blown-on popcorn texture can easily be removed by a do-it-yourselfer, but you need to make sure there’s no asbestos in it. If the home was built prior to 1980, check for asbestos first before scraping. Visit this site for great step-by-step instructions on how to remove a popcorn ceiling.
  

• Dated light fixtures. If your light fixtures are older than your middle-schooler and/or are builder grade, chances are they’re not going to be on a buyer’s must-have list. Shiny gold or brass tones are not in vogue anymore. There are exceptions, of course, but the trend now is chrome or brushed nickel for a contemporary look; oil-rubbed bronze or wrought iron for an old-world look; and various faux metal finishes that mimic aged or weathered metal. If you don’t know what’s in style, browse through the lighting department at Lowe’s or Home Depot, visit your local lighting showroom, or start your search for inspiration online.
  

• Old window treatments. If the seller didn’t deem them worthy of taking, the buyer probably won’t deem them worthy of keeping. Ruffled curtains, plastic one-inch mini blinds, and dusty jabots that have been hanging since 1993 should be treated with the same reverence as parachute pants. Maybe they were stylish at one time, but let’s not make them a focal point now – which is exactly what they are in an otherwise empty room. A bare window that lets the sunshine in is preferable to a window ensconced in a worn, cheap-looking or outdated window treatments. A room professionally staged with stylish, on-trend window treatments is even better!

• Worn carpet/vinyl tile. You thought your carpet was in great condition. Now that the room is empty, look again. Some areas have been faded by the sun. Other areas show traffic and maybe a few stains. It’s like turning on the lights after last call. Yikes! An empty room will call attention to every flaw in whatever is left in the room to look at. And the floor is a very large space to look at. In case you haven’t heard, vinyl flooring gets no respect anymore. It used to be standard and quite acceptable in bathrooms and kitchens in mid-priced homes. But today’s buyers have developed a savvy and discriminating palate and expect upgraded materials. If you can’t change out the vinyl, at least make sure it shows well. It should be new or relatively new, neutral in color, preferably mimic a natural element such as slate or bamboo, and be in great condition.

• Wallpaper/paneling. My parents built a brand new home in a new-construction community in 1974. I remember helping my mother select wallpaper from sample books for every (and I mean EVERY) room in the house. There was a wild floral theme in my room; red, white and blue stars and stripes in my brother’s room; and the foyer had that gold foil paper with velvet flocking. But nothing topped the bathroom that my brother and I shared. We had wallpaper sporting olive green, yellow and orange “Mod Squad” teenagers wearing bell-bottoms and wide belts. Yummy. It’s not that wallpaper itself is outdated; it’s just that most people select wallpaper that is thematic or very taste-specific, and therein lies the problem. Thematic wallpaper quickly becomes outdated, such as the once-popular celestial theme or seashell borders in the bathroom. Or how about that abstract “brush stroke” wallpaper in mauve and powder blue? Wallpaper is like a page from a calendar pasted on your walls and preserved for all time – or at least until the new owner changes the date and scrapes it off. As for plywood paneling, it’s about as desirable as white-wall tires on your SUV.

A professional home stager can help guide you in making the right decisions about which smart home improvements to invest in when getting your home ready to sell. Many of these improvements are inexpensive fixes and require little more than time and elbow grease. The payoff comes in having a market-ready home that looks updated, sophisticated and much more appealing to buyers.

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Room Revisions Home Staging and Redesign can help you get your home ready to sell. We service all of Stafford County, Virginia, including Fredericksburg City, Spotsylvania County, and surrounding areas.