How to Stage Your Kitchen to Help Sell Your Home

When selling a home, you really need to make it shine from top to bottom. But what is the most important room in the home? Your kitchen! Your kitchen can really make or break a deal on your home, so you want to pay careful attention to it before listing your home on the market.

Here are some suggestions and tips to get your kitchen looking its best for potential home buyers:

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. 
   Granite Countertops

   First, take a good look at your kitchen. If it has not been updated in the last few years, you may want to think about doing a few cosmetic changes. If you can afford it, installing granite counter tops would be a great selling feature. But even if granite is out of your budget, there are other counter top options that are more affordable and will really give your kitchen an instant facelift.

2. 
   Painted Kitchen Cupboards

   A less costly update is a fresh coat of paint on the cupboards. Popular colors are white, cream, black and even aqua! However, I would stick to the first three colors to keep it more neutral and pleasing to most people. Make sure to prep your cupboards properly before painting.

3. 
   Half Cup Drawer Pulls

   Another budget friendly kitchen update is to add new hardware to your cabinetry or even just paint them. The trends right now in hardware are half-moon pulls and nickel or bronze colors.

4. 
   Deep Clean Your Kitchen

   Now it's time to deep clean your kitchen. From the top of the cupboards to the baseboards, do not leave any area untouched. Don't forget the inside of the oven and behind the refrigerator. Pour some baking soda in the garbage disposal and let it sit to kill any odors. Sprinkle some in your garbage can, too. And speaking of garbage cans, only keep it in the kitchen when showing your home, if it is concealed behind a cupboard door. If it sits in the open, in your kitchen, move it to the garage or outdoors when your home is being shown.
   
   And don't forget to look UP! Make sure your lighting fixtures are dust free and bug free. Give your ceiling fan blades a good cleaning, too.

5. 
   Shine Your Countertops

   Clear the clutter! Take all appliances off of the counter tops, yes, even the coffee maker and toaster. You want the buyers to see all of the counter space that they will have to work with. Make your counter tops shiny with special shining products made just for counter tops. You can find these products in most cleaning supply aisles, but if you cannot find it at your regular store, try Lowe's or The Home Depot.

6. Continuing on with decluttering, remove everything off of the top of your refrigerator and all magnets and artwork from the refrigerator doors as well. You can leave decorative items on top of your refrigerator, but less is more. In fact, one big decor piece is better than a few little ones.

7. 
   A Welcoming Kitchen Table

   If you have an eat-in kitchen or kitchen nook, make sure that the table and chairs are clean. If you have leaves in your table, take them out. You want the kitchen to feel big. Then set the table with your best dinnerware. Add a vase of fresh flowers to the middle of the table. You want to create a warm and inviting space for potential buyers.

8. 
   Welcome Home!

   An hour or so before showing your home for an Open House or a private showing, light a lightly fragranced candle in your kitchen. Bake some cookies and have them set out on the table for your visitors. If you have a chalkboard in your kitchen, write, "Welcome Home!" on it.

Tips & Warnings

• Keep fresh flowers longer by snipping the ends daily and adding an aspirin to the water.
• Store extra pots, pans and other items in storage while your home is on the market.
• If you have to show your home on short notice, hide everything in the oven and dishwasher.

Resources

• eHow Home and Garden Topic Guide