How to Stage Your Home Like a Model Home

By: Maurine Anderson

Even if you’re not preparing to sell your home anytime soon, it’s still a great idea to stage your home almost as if you are preparing it for sale in order to give it that extra inviting appeal. Here are 11 quick tips on how you can stage your home to look just like a well-designed model home.

Clean and de-clutter.

As this article details, a truly well-staged home begins with a deep clean and de-cluttering. If you want your home to resemble a model home, you’ll want to polish every surface and dust the things that most people forget to, such as ceiling fans, window treatments, and lighting. Be sure to sweep and vacuum, and mop and spot-clean any areas as needed. Air out every room in your home, and wash all of your linens so that your home smells extra fresh. De-cluttering is important as well—get rid of any unused or duplicate items that are only taking up space in your home. A true model-looking home will host all of the essentials while still maintaining a good amount of open storage space.

Move furniture away from the walls.

Bring the outdoors in.

You may or may not have noticed that model homes tend to feature indoor trees and plants. If you’ve never decorated with indoor plants before, consider giving your home enough breathing room to host a decorative indoor plant or two.

Decorate with candles.

Candles are another staple decor piece in model homes, and they are extremely versatile. Pillar-style candles look great on bathroom vanities, as part of a dining room table centerpiece, or as decorative accents on an end table or wall cabinet.

Invest in area rugs.

You may have gotten by without them now, but area rugs truly give a home a “model home” feel. A few notes on area rugs: they should be large enough to fill a room; one should hold a dining room table and chairs with extra space for the chairs to move; and one should anchor an entire room full of furniture—not just the coffee table, for example.

Give your bed a headboard.

An elegant headboard will take your bedroom from drab to design-conscious in an instant. Consider installing a large wooden, leather, or tufted headboard in your bedroom and adding elegant looking bedding to suit.

Artfully adorn your bookshelves.

A bookshelf makes for an elegant addition to any home, but in order for your home to resemble a model home, you’ll want to put some extra thought into how your adorn each bookshelf. A well-decorated bookshelf will feature books placed strategically, alongside well-sized decorative items and boxes. Books don’t have to stand straight up, either; oftentimes, a well-decorative bookshelf will feature books positioned both vertically and horizontally.

Frame your windows with curtains.

It’s important to install practical window treatments such as blinds or shades on your windows, but what really sets apart “model home” windows is how they are framed. To give your windows a “model home” feel, frame them with elegant curtains that are installed above the window yet still reach the floor.

Don’t forget the stairway.

A great way to give your home a model touch is to give your stairway some extra attention. Consider lightly adorning the walls along your main staircase picture frames or wall art.

Personalize—but not too much.

Of course you’ll want to personalize your home with photos and decorative items that speak to you and your family, but if you want your home to truly resemble a model home, you’ll want to hold off from making every space personalized in every possible way. Model homes, after all, are staged in such a way that potential home buyers can envision themselves living in the space; hence, they keep personalization to a minimum.

Credit to: http://learnaswego.org/2015/11/how-to-stage-your-home-like-model-home.html