Kitchen Staging Tips to Bowl Over Buyers

Knockout Kitchen Staging Can Make or Break a Sale

A warm and welcoming kitchen is the heart of a happy home, and it’s essential that yours makes a great impression on potential buyers. Viewers want to see a kitchen they can move into and use right away, without waiting for costly and disruptive refurbishments.

But that doesn’t mean you need to invest in a full remodel yourself. You can do a surprising amount to increase your kitchen’s appeal with some thoughtful staging that pays attention to the details.

Here’s what to do for your kitchen staging:

1) Be Obsessively, Sparkly Clean 

It’s essential for your entire home to be extensively cleaned as part of staging, but this is especially true for the kitchen. Any lingering odors or patches of grime will be highly off-putting for potential buyers.

Make sure to clean every surface with a perfumed disinfectant to leave it spotless and smelling fresh. And don’t forget to clean inside cupboards and drawers too, even if you don’t think they’ll be inspected.

It’s also a good idea to hire a professional cleaning company to carry out a first deep-clean, giving you a great foundation of cleanliness to build on over the weeks of showings to come.

2) Refresh Paintwork 

If some areas are too old and grubby to shine after a thorough cleaning, consider giving them a fresh coat of paint or varnish to brighten them up. It’s not a problem for furniture or woodwork to be old, so long as it looks vintage and well-loved rather than tired and shabby.

3) Organize Your Storage 

Storage space is a huge selling point for a home, so make the most of what’s available in your kitchen. Go through all your cupboards, drawers, and other storage, removing all non-essential items. Pare the contents as far down as you can, and organize the remainder to take as little space as possible.

Doing this not only makes your storage space look bigger, but it gives a strong impression that you’ve kept your home in good condition by paying attention to detail.

4) Declutter Ruthlessly 

Decluttering is a central part of staging for every room. It boosts the feeling of spaciousness, and also provides a more neutral canvas for the viewer to imagine how their own belongings will fit in.

In the kitchen, decluttering means removing as many gadgets and appliances as you can from the countertops, thinning out your shelf contents, and making sure all your cleaning materials are kept safely out of sight.

5) Accessorize Sympathetically 

But decluttering doesn’t mean your kitchen should wind up looking bare, cold, and clinical. A few well-placed and well-coordinated accessories will add a touch of style, without making your kitchen look busy and crowded.

Consider adding glass jars of dried goods on the shelves, decorative pots of growing herbs on the windowsill, or a few colorful cookbooks dotted around the shelves.

But don’t overdo it. Use a light touch with accessories or you’ll undo all your good work of cleaning and decluttering.

6) Windows and Sunlight 

Natural light in a kitchen is a massive plus point for most buyers. However, not all homes are blessed with huge windows providing a great view and floods of sunlight.

But you can make the most of what you have by removing bulky items from your windowsills, switching out heavy drapes for lighter ones or blinds, and giving the windows a thorough clean both inside and out.

At the other extreme, if your kitchen is sun trap for parts of the day, make sure you have suitable blinds in place to cut down the dazzle without plunging the room into darkness.

7) Think about Artificial Lighting 

Whether your kitchen enjoys natural light or not, you shouldn’t underestimate the importance of artificial lighting. Make sure the main overhead light fitting is powerful enough for full illumination when needed, but also install dimmer controls or secondary lighting to give the option of a softer, cozier atmosphere.

You don’t need to spend a fortune on wiring in new lighting, though. Modern LED fittings can be fixed into place using adhesives, and will happily run off battery power.

8) Set the Table or Bar 

If your kitchen has a dining table, bar, or island, lay out minimal and stylish place settings for each seat. Use your best plates, glasses, and cutlery, and invest in attractive mats and napkins. A kitchen that looks primed and ready for a delicious meal will send extremely positive signals to your viewers.

Completing these eight steps will take plenty of work, and it can be hard to maintain the final results while still living daily life. However, it’s essential to keep your home as viewing-ready as possible at all times.

And remember, the better you make your kitchen staging efforts, the less long you’ll need to sustain them before achieving a sale.

Read next: Putting Your Bathroom in its Best Light – Bathroom Staging Tips