Designer gives six tips for staging a property

Who doesn’t love interior designer Vern Yip? I remember watching him when TLC’s Trading Spaces was popular and he was about the only who created a room that I wanted to live in.

Yip, host of Deserving Design and judge for HGTV Design Star, recently spoke at Inman Real Estate Connect Conference in New York. He talked briefly about appearing on that show and said one of the important aspects of the show was bringing style and design to people who were on a budget.

He said design is an intricate part of selling a property. “People buy houses because their life will unfold within those walls and they want to imagine what it will look like,” he said.

Yip, who owns Vern Yip Design in Atlanta and holds a master of architecture degree from the George Institute of Technology, showed lots of examples of how simple design helps draw the potential buyer into the property.

He believes there are six keys to staging a property to sell:

• Present an optimal space plan.  Showcase every room optimally and remember that moving furniture doesn’t cost anything. The space should appear that every square inch is thought out and utilized.
• Stick to monochromatic color schemes. This makes the room look bigger because there are minimal visual breaks. The sofa can be the same color as the wall, which makes the room feel spacious because there isn’t a lot of contrast.
• Incorporate organic elements. Fresh flowers, fruit, live plants add life to a space. They inject a sense of life to the room.
• Edit to showcase a space. People accumulate a lot of stuff over a lifetime but when showing a property, it’s important to edit the room. There should be fewer but more meaningful items.
• Place visual emphasis on the highlights of a room. Don’t detract from a spectacular view or an architectural element like a fireplace. Allow those items to draw people’s attention.
• Finish and accessorize auxiliary spaces. Don’t forget the details in the other rooms, not just the kitchen, living room and master bedroom. Add artwork on the walls, fresh linens in a guest room or fresh towels in a bathroom to show these rooms at their best.