Home staging your rental is all about illusion – about creating rooms with personality and moods, so that a tenant is drawn to a property because it grabs them emotionally. Renters want an inviting home to live in, not a cold, impersonal box, so creating the right image will give you that edge over your competition – it’s just good marketing.
LIGHT You want to begin with light, which makes all the difference. Let's face it, a dark and dreary interior is a definite turn-off so make sure the curtains or blinds are all open and the lights are on in the hallway and rooms, even during the daytime. Plug in lamps so you lose those dark corners. The house should look as bright as possible. Good exterior lighting is important too, so if people are viewing at night make sure these are turned on as well. Obviously outdoor lighting is good for general security and it will be reassuring for tenants whenever they need to approach or leave the property in the dark.
FEATURES Look from the doorway of the room that you want to stage and think critically about what looks good about the room and what doesn't. You want to enhance any good features, e.g. a bay window, or fireplace, and draw people’s eyes away from the less appealing, like an ugly wall outlet, or an awkward room shape. It can be really helpful getting someone else to take a look with fresh eyes and tell you honestly what they see.
COLOUR You want the house to look up-to-date, but as natural and lived-in as possible. You don't want it looking too staged. It’s important to keep furnishing colours neutral and tasteful (walls and flooring too), which will appeal to the most renters possible. Light neutrals and earth tones have the broadest appeal with renters and home buyers, and will complement most people’s own possessions - see our previous Keeping Your Rental's Appeal blog (under the PAINT section) for more about ideas with colour, including a helpful Resene website.
STYLING Think about how the space might best be used and place contemporary furniture (it can be rented) so the room is clearly defined. For example if you have an open plan living room, divide it visually by creating a living room and a dining area.
Use minimal furniture so you don’t distract from the key focal points of a room such as a window with a view and make sure the furniture doesn't block walkways. It's important your rooms don't look cluttered.
Rugs are a very effective way to help define a space and they can add colour and warmth to a room. It's also easy to change them at any time to create a new look.
The little details matter, so you want to make use of different textures and shapes. Window treatments can instantly soften, or modernise a room, and make sure you keep accessories to a minimum - the old “less is more” adage is true. Make use of a tasteful piece of art, colourful cushions, lamps, a throw, a plant, ornaments, fresh flowers or a fruit bowl, and even books in a complimentary colour. You don’t have to spend a lot of money to do this effectively.
A good trick to remember is that you can put a few cheap accessories in amongst the more valuable furniture items, such as a mirror and pillows, and no-one will notice. In fact adding a couple of old items with history that you may have picked up at a garage sale can give a room more personality and depth and help prevent it looking like a furniture showroom!
Finally, scent is one of our strongest senses so make sure the house smells good. If it’s a nice day, open a window or two for some fresh air. Otherwise lighting a scented candle or using diffuser sticks is easy and effective.
A citrus fragrance is great for summer and a warm, spicy aromatic fragrance can make winter feel cosy. The 5 smells that have the most universal appeal are: lime, grapefruit, orange, bergamot and peppermint.
In our next blog we’ll look at how to home stage three specific key areas. See you then!