When it comes to rooms that are often forgotten in home staging, the laundry room often makes the list. After all, it’s a laundry room. How good can it get?
As I’ve mentioned in my posts about staging the garage and the basement, it’s important to remember that home staging is all about romancing a perspective buyer.
If the laundry area is in the dark corner of an unfinished basement, a buyer might think, “I have to do two loads a day, and I’m supposed to do it in this creepy space? Forget it!” However, if the laundry room is bright and beautiful, the same buyer might think (about the exact same space), “What a great laundry room! I might even spend time in here when there’s no laundry to do!”
You don’t have to go crazy with the design of the laundry room – keep it minimalist. It should be brightly lit, clean and functional.
- Brighten the space up with a coat of paint and some new lighting.
- Put detergent and other laundering supplies in cupboards.
- If there’s a window with a drab view, hide it with a curtain or a nice blind.
- All you should be left with is the washer and dryer, an ironing board and an attractive laundry basket.
In my next post I’ll give you some home staging tips for another often missed room of a house in home staging – the attic. By the way, I cover all these rooms and more in the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans.
Debra Gould, The Staging Diva®
President, Six Elements Inc. Home Staging
Debra Gould developed the Staging Diva Training Program to create opportunities for others to grow their own profitable home staging businesses. There are currently over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates around the world. Debra created the Staging Diva Ultimate Design Guide: Home Staging Tips, Tricks and Floor Plans to provide design direction to home stagers feeling they need it.
[tags] home staging, home stager, home staging tips, how to stage a laundry room, debra gould, home staging training, staging diva[/tags]
Debra,
I want to take a moment to “Thank you” and commend you for writing these home staging tips to all your faithful home stagers. It’s great hearing from you and receiving these “refresher tip” emails from you! Bravo, I like the encouragement I get from receiving your daily correspondence. Since September 2008 I’ve been writing “home staging tips” for a community paper in Chateauguay, QC which keeps me busy when I’m not busy. Keep up the great work!
Sincerely,
Tracey Phillip
S.O.$. home staging
Staged.Offers.$old
Debra,
. My question/problem is common in most FL homes. My laundry room is The Perfect Example of “too small”. Is it functional? Barely. FL laundry rooms have only enough space on one side for a washer/dryer W/space for a 3 tiered roll-out unit to store products. A wire shelf is above. The distance from the washer/dryer to the opposite wall is enough space to open the dryer door, sometimes it’s wider. There’s a small entry door. Don’t even think of ironing: no outlets & no room. It’s a sad space to work in & work with.
. STAGING: I use Word Art &/or a lively, interesting paint treatment; A remnant “no show dirt” quality vinyl OR continue the existing flooring; Add & extend nice cabinets to replace all wire shelving. The floors (of necessity) remain empty.
. On the opposite wall (IF space allows) a few decorative but heavy hooks (placed quite high); a fold-up product to hang “out of dryer” clothes. Fold space depends on the choice of washer/dryer: front loaders have adequate fold space: top load washer/dryers offer little. [I’ve used cut-down plain doors painted the same LR color, fitted & piano hinge-hung on the opposite wall for high-volume fold use. That extra space does the trick & is often a selling feature.
. CUNUNDRUM: Unless the ceilings are 9-10 ft., there’s no space to store larger pieces: a hamper, clothes baskets, etc.
. Any suggestions?