Strategies for Staging the Master Suite
The master bedroom and master bathroom are the rooms in which buyers expect elegance and luxury. It is here that you can indulge yourself a bit in terms of bedding, towels, and other accessories but, as in other rooms, it’s important to keep the overall look neutral and impersonal according to home stylist Sydney experts. Think upscale hotel instead of your personal dream room, then splurge on colour, texture, and sophisticated mood makers.
Often, homeowners find that the master bedroom is a great place to make into a bedroom for teenaged daughters, or otherwise repurpose this room for reasons of convenience. Before you show your home, be sure that you recreate and restore this master suite for use by the Lord and Lady of the Manor. Buyers want to see the master bedroom in use as it was meant to be.
As you strategise about the project, here are a few tips that might help:
1) The first step in staging any room is decluttering. Make sure you send your exercise equipment to the garage or another space where it can be the star. You don’t want prospective buyers to get the message that your bedroom must do double-duty as a gym and a bedroom.
2) Walls: If you will be changing the colour scheme in the master suite, by all means, paint now before you look to the floors. Be sure to fill all cracks in the walls as well as all old hardware holes.
If you want to make a big change in the bathroom colour scheme, you can do so even if the tile colours there are dated. First, prime the tiles with a coat of specially formulated paint that makes regular paint adhere to the tiles, then choose a colour that goes with the colour scheme of the master suite.
3) Floors: If you have carpeting in the master bedroom and that carpeting is in very good condition, have it professionally cleaned. If you are lucky enough to have hardwood floors, check to see if the boards need a good refinish. Some floors will just need a quick ‘wax’ with a refurbishing fluid that restores scratches and traffic area wear.
If the floor needs to be totally refinished, you can usually hire a sander from a local floorcovering store and tackle the task yourself, or have it done professionally. If there are damaged boards, have a local carpenter or floor man fix them for you and then, after sanding, cover it all with an excellent quality sealer.
4) Windows: As always you want your windows to sparkle so get them washed inside and out. Depending on privacy issues, you may want to leave the windows bare or add coverings that complement the colours in the bedding.
5) Focus on the bed: In any bedroom, the focal point of the room is the bed. Since you’re looking to create the feeling of spaciousness in a master bedroom consider putting your king-sized bed in storage and hiring a queen-size model from a reputable home stylist Sydney staging company. Places like UrbanChic Property styling have a full line of rental furniture if you run short of furniture in any other room as well.
6) Bed Clothes: Find bedding that is neutral, soft, and appealing. You can never go wrong with white – these days buyers almost expect bright white in bedrooms and bathrooms and, with white as your dominant colour, you can bring in bright elements in the doona, the towels, and the window dressings.
7) Add a headboard: After finding the colour scheme that pleases you, add a dramatic headboard to anchor the room and add gravitas to your focal point. Make a headboard yourself and cushion and cover it with a fabric that matches the curtains, or ask a local handyman to create one for you. The headboard is the perfect place to add texture and make this grand room even grander.
8) Consider the wardrobe: A relatively small investment in wardrobe organisation can be a big selling point. Your prospective buyers care about efficient use of space in the home, and no place is better for demonstrating it than wardrobes. There are online resources to help you plan and buy just what you need in your wardrobes to make them a hit with buyers.
9) Remember, less is more: Just like in all the other rooms in the house, you don’t want to overcrowd the master suite. Remove all the clutter in and around the bathroom as well, leaving only what you absolutely must have. Better yet, store your essentials in baskets that can be whisked away when buyers are coming, leaving only a few carefully planned vignettes that leave the bathroom looking like a spa.
If yours is a very roomy bedroom, think about adding a reading area with a comfy chair or chaise with a lamp table and ottoman. If your space is crowded by more than one dresser and/or tallboy, leave the one with a mirror and stash the other.
10) Illumination: Each side of the bed needs a lamp for reading and a table. The tables need not be identical, but they should be alike in style, height, and construction material.
As with your kitchen and other bathrooms, the master suite can be a powerful selling point. If you can afford a home stylist Sydney has a variety of companies to choose from. These companies have not just the expertise, but also the experience, to dramatically impact your bottom line.