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How to Stage a Covington Home for Sale: Room by Room
How to get a Covington home ready for photos and showings: decluttering, furniture, light and the rooms buyers look at first.
Key takeaways
- Staging is mostly removing things: clutter, extra furniture and personal items.
- The living room, kitchen and primary bedroom matter most in photos and showings.
- Light sells: open blinds, matching bulbs and clean windows.
- Vacant homes photograph better with a few key rooms furnished.
- Do it before the photos. The listing photos are the first showing for nearly every buyer.
Start by taking things out
- Clear counters in the kitchen and baths down to one or two items.
- Remove a piece or two of furniture from each room so it feels larger.
- Pack family photos, collections and anything very personal.
- Clear closets by a third. Buyers open them.
- Store toys, pet items and bulky exercise equipment out of sight.
- A short-term storage unit or pod can be well worth the cost.
Room by room
| Room | What helps most |
|---|---|
| Living room | Furniture pulled into a conversation group, clear walkways, open blinds |
| Kitchen | Bare counters, a clean stove and sink, nothing on the refrigerator door |
| Primary bedroom | Neutral bedding, cleared nightstands, an uncluttered closet |
| Bathrooms | New white towels, clean grout and caulk, nothing on the counters |
| Basement | Bright lighting and a clear use for the space |
| Outside | Mowed lawn, fresh mulch, a clean entry and a simple seating area |
Light, color and smell
- Replace bulbs so every room uses the same color of light.
- Open every blind and curtain for photos and showings.
- Neutral paint over bold colors or heavy wear.
- Fresh air and cleaning beat air fresheners. Pet and smoke odors need real cleaning.
Vacant homes
Empty rooms can look smaller in photos and give buyers nothing to judge scale by. Furnishing the living room, kitchen eating area and primary bedroom, even lightly, usually makes a vacant home photograph and show better. Your agent can tell you whether professional staging is worth it for your home and price range.
Questions sellers ask
Is home staging worth it?
Basic staging, mostly decluttering, arranging furniture and improving light, is almost always worth it because it improves the listing photos buyers judge the home by. Professional staging can help most for vacant or higher-priced homes.
Which rooms should I stage?
The living room, kitchen and primary bedroom matter most, followed by the bathrooms and the front of the house.
Should I stage a vacant house?
Often, yes. A few furnished key rooms help buyers understand scale and picture living there, and they photograph much better than empty rooms.
From The Caldwell Group
Sell your Covington home with a team that knows this market
Staging is about how the home photographs and how buyers move through it. A listing agent walks the home with you before the photographer arrives and tells you exactly what to move, store or add, room by room.
The Caldwell Group | eXp Realty has closed 181 Covington homes since 2005, 52 of them for sellers, and has helped more than 2,600 families across Northern Kentucky and Cincinnati. We price from real sales, market the home properly and handle every deadline through closing.
Meredith did an amazing job. I had her for both the buying and selling of a property and she was always on top of it. Early morning or even later at night, she was there to help solve problems or clarify anything that popped up. You can not go wrong with having her on your side!
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