As a professional home stager in Pasadena and Los Angeles, one of my primary jobs is to make smaller homes feel larger, or at least, feel as large as they really are.
Here's a list of my tips for making a small home feel larger. You can use these tips whether you are staging your home to sell or if you are planning to stay, but just need some help dealing with smaller rooms. These tips will work with either vacant or occupied homes:
-
Pare down what you need to have in a smaller room to the essentials. Do you really need a chair in your bedroom, or can you sit on the bed to put your shoes on?
-
Clutter makes a room feel smaller. Lots of smaller items, like your Hummel collection or your bowling trophies displayed on every horizontal surface, eat up visual space. Only display 3-5 items at a time. Store the rest and rotate them out of storage throughout the year. Not only will the room feel larger, but each item displayed will stand out more.
-
Use fewer pieces of furniture. Its better to have one larger dresser than 2 smaller ones.
-
Use appropriately sized furniture. Having a large sectional in a small family room will highlight how small the room is.
-
Cooler colors recede, so painting a room a pale blue, green or gray will make it feel larger.
-
Show more hardwood. The larger the expanse of hardwood, the larger the room will look. See how the room looks without an area rug.
-
Try using one larger area rug instead of several smaller rugs.
-
Use fewer patterns on upholstery and bedding. For instance, use a solid color blanket or bedspread on a bed in a small bedroom to make the room feel larger.
-
Strategically placed mirrors make a room feel larger.
-
A well lit room feels larger.
-
Minimize window treatments. The simpler the better. Shutters, blinds or simple drapes (no flounces, ruffles, strong patterns or complicated valences) take up less "visual space".
These home staging tips work if you are staging to sell or just want to make the home you are living in feel larger.
If you need some help figuring out how to make your home feel larger, consider hiring us for a home staging consultation. You'll get some expert home staging and interior design tips from the Real Estate Staging Association 2010 Professional Stager of the Year. Prices start at $250 for a verbal consultation or $350 for a comprehensive written consultation. Its the best "bang for your buck" and it's a great investment in preparing your home for sale, or making your home more livable if you are planning to stay.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2010 RESA Professional Stager of the Year
Michelle has staged hundreds of Los Angeles homes, many of which have sold with multiple offers, above listing price.
She works with home sellers, listing agents and asset managers to prepare homes for sale throughout Los Angeles.
Moving Mountains Design provides vacant home staging, occupied home staging, color consultations, corporate and executive relocations, move organization, redesign, and interior design. We also stage model homes, REOs,foreclosures and auction properties for real estate investors and asset managers.
For more information about our Los Angeles home staging services, contact Michelle at (626)385-8852 or by email.
Click here to see our Los Angeles home staging portfolio
Click here to go to our Los Angeles home staging blog
Click here for more information about home staging in Los Angeles and how we can help sell your home faster and for the best price
Michelle,
These are truly helpful ideas. Thanks for sharing! I showed a home this weekend that had the most ridiculous master bedroom furniture. The room was a nice size, but this enormous furniture made it seem small & cramped. I think the will not even be able to move out the huge 4 post bed with massive columns. lol.
Jeana
Great tips, thanks for sharing. The other point for sellers to remember is that this is only temporary to get your house sold. We know you wouldn't want to live this sparsely every day, but if you need to for a time while your home is on the market and it will help it sell faster, then it's a managable pain.
Thank you for this information. I will start implementing these strategies right away. Getting people to understand that they need to change how they view their home when they are trying to sell is sometimes very challenging. Your blog will help.
Jeana: Posted beds can be very romantic, but they don't work well in smaller rooms or rooms that have standard height ceilings. Having appropriate size furniture is so important.
Drick: Yes, it is only temporary, but really most people could do well to get rid of some "stuff", myself included!
Gary: Glad I could help!
All these are great tips. Thanks for sharing. While we use all of these in our staging and redesign process, having a list to share with Realtor Partners is a great idea.
Great tips! Always better to get rid of all that unnecessary clutter!
Thanks for the points...very well expressed..thanks for sharing
You're welcome Barb.
Chanhassen RE: Glad you like them.
Mary Lou: You're welcome!
Michele, oh, no! Lose all of those lovely bowling trophies? Now that is a real hardship! Anyway, it is very good advice!
Patricia: Sorry, the bowling trophies have to go. Pack them up for display in your new home!
Love your tips-especially "well lit rooms."
Thanks for sharing these with us Michelle!! Always great to hear from you!
Cathy: Light always makes a space look larger!
Thanks Randy!
By the way, agents. Remember that tip on well lit rooms when you are taking marketing photos - EVERY light in the house on (that includes the light over the stove, the refrigerator water dispenser, and the light in the room down the hall. You'd be surprised how much better the pics turn out when there are no darkened corners, appliances, or distant rooms.
Good reminder to always turn the lights on for photos, Drick.
Great tips and congrats on the RESA 2010 Professional Stager of the Year! Way to go ;)
Thank you Peggy!