How To Stage Your Bedroom (So It Will Sell Itself)
Have you ever heard of the term “money space” or “money room”? Well if you haven’t, you must be new here 😬 Money spaces are areas that will MAKE YOU MONEY.
What does that even mean? Well, when it comes to staging your home to sell and making it as marketable as possible, these money spaces are areas you NEED to focus on. They are the areas in your home that buyers are the least likely to be willing to negotiate on, so you gotta sell them! Or… make them sell themselves 😏.
Side note: Hi! If you’re new here, my name is Bekah. I’m a home stager and color consultant that focuses on working with the homeowners who are living IN their homes while they have them on the market! When I stage these homes, its all about using the furniture that’s already in the home in the right ways so we can make the home as marketable as possible to your specific target buyer!
Let’s get to it. Below are your money spaces that will show you the $$ !!
Front Exterior
Kitchen
Dining
Living Room
Master Suite
Backyard
In this post, we are going to focus on #5 - the Master Suite, and more specifically - the master bedroom itself!
** A quick required disclosure: The product links I provide in this post are called affiliate links! If you make a purchase through one of these links, I may make a small commission at NO additional cost to you. These affiliate links just help the family behind this small business **
Visual Square Footage = Money
There’s actual square footage, which can be calculated, and then there’s visual square footage, which has everything to do with how the room feels in person. If a room has lots of furniture in it, it tends to feel smaller than it would without the extra furniture. If it feels small or cramped, the perceived value of that room lowers because the visual square footage is reduced.
Okay, let’s try that again in english - if your room is packed with furniture that is not needed, it’s going to feel smaller than it would if it were just filled with the necessary furniture. If a room feels smaller, the value of that room starts to decrease in the buyers’ mind. Which is clearly NOT what we are going for here. We’re trying to make you money, not reduce it!
So, what FURNITURE (not accessories) is needed? Must haves = the bed (duh lol) & 2 nightstands (on either side of the bed). If your master bedroom is larger, then a dresser could be added preferably on the wall opposite from the bed. If there’s a lot of space between this dresser and the bed, add a bench at the end of the bed. &If you have a seating area next to beautiful bay windows, add chairs to draw attention to it and to show buyers how to use that space! We are only increasing from the '“must haves” list if the room is larger and will allow for it. The large, spacious master bedrooms definitely need more furniture so they don’t end up feeling “abandoned”.
2. Think: Light & Bright
For a buyer to find a home that has a master bedroom that feels like a retreat is GOALS! This is what buyers want - a lovely place to relax at the end of the day. A place to get away from all of their troubles! How do we create this experience for them? We make the room feel like a spa! One of the easiest ways to do this is to make sure your bedding is light, bright & luxurious! White or neutral colored down comforter, crisp white sheets and pillows large enough to photograph well - more on this later.
Bedding Links:
& A More Budget Friendly Option
2. Duvet Cover (to go over the comforter, you can potentially get away without using this but the down comforters can look pretty wrinkled!)
3. Light & Bright Sheets (these are more for staging purposes, you may want to upgrade for sleeping. Although, these are highly rated!)
3. Pillows … But Not Just Any Pillows.
There's a TOP secret pillow formula that I’m going to share with you today because I love you. & Let me just tell you now, when it comes to listing photos - NOT ALL PILLOWS ARE CREATED EQUAL. Come for me if you want to, but it’s true. The “do what makes you happy” decor trend does NOT apply here - sorry 😬😬 Some pillows just do not photograph well due to size or style and we need to avoid those when we are trying to sell the home!
Pillow Formula:
King Bed: (3) euro pillows on the back row + (3) 20”x20” throw pillows in the next row + (1) ~12”X20” lumbar throw pillow in front
Queen Bed: (2) euro pillows on the back row + (2) 20”X20” throw pillows in the next row + (1) ~12”X20” lumbar throw pillow in front
Euro Pillows Size = 24”X24” or 26”X26”
Pro Tip! If you do not have a headboard on your bed and you do not want to buy one (I do recommend you buy one for the record), the large euro pillows can act as your headboard. They will give the illusion of a headboard and will make your bed photograph much much better.
Pillow Links:
24”X24” Euro Pillow Covers & Pillow Inserts (2 different links) , Cream White
20”X20” Pillow Covers & Pillow Inserts (2 different links), Light Gray. Do dusty blue or sage green instead depending on your color scheme!
12”X20” Throw Pillow Cover & Pillow Insert (2 different links) Use this pillow to tie in the colors of the previous two.
4. Night Stand Decor Matters!
Nightstand decor can reallllllly make or break your pictures and the feel of the room. In that same sense, the good news is it’s also an easy way to completely upgrade the feel of your room just by using the proper decor here.
First of all, you should have a nightstand on either side of your bed. The most important thing to put on each nightstand is a lamp - the RIGHT size lamp. In fact, I have a whole post dedicated to using the right size lamp in your bedroom because it’s that important. Look for a lamp that is about 24-28” tall, most of the time one with a drum shade works the best. Here are some examples:
Table Lamp Links:
Next most important item is greenery! You can find really great faux plants online & they can really elevate a photo and bring some life to a room. I’ve also done a whole post on this subject because I also find it to be extreeeemely important *** But if you don’t want to click through that, here are some examples:
Faux Plant Links:
5. Don’t Forget The Art, Ya’ll!
Art is a really great way to dress up your room and help tie in the colors for a more cohesive look. If you have room to put art above your headboard - do that! You want it to be about 70-75% of the width of your headboard. This can also be achieve by using two pictures a few inches apart. Art thats hung above the bed should be about 6-10 inches above the headboard.
Photo from a master bedroom redesign project
If you do not have the luxury of hanging art above your bed due to a window or maybe you don’t want to put holes in the wall, whatever it is, you can lean art against the wall on the nightstand behind the lamp.
Photo from a custom staging report using the homeowner's furniture
The 5 listed items above are the most important aspects of making sure you get great listing photos and that the in person experience in your master bedroom is a good one for buyers. There are of course other items you can add such as a rug underneath the bed (make sure the 2 front legs of the bed are on the rug and that the rug goes back about 75% of the way to the headboard), art on other large walls (besides the focal wall), chairs added to a seating area and the list goes on! Every home is different which is why I do custom staging plans for homeowners!
You owe it to yourself to make sure your home is as marketable as possible before you go live - your home is likely one of if not your biggest investment! The way you live in a home is not the way you stage it to sell & that’s where a custom staging plan can really take you to the next level!
Please feel free to reach out through the contact page, book me through my Etsy Shop or shoot me an email to info@lemonsandlacestaging.com for more info on a custom staging report for your home!
I’d love to make you more money!!
