Warm & Inviting Fall Home Staging Tips

By October 29, 2021Home Staging

Cozy Up to These Fall Home Staging Tips

The summer heat has finally released its hold on much of the nation as the season starts to change – autumn has arrived. It’s now a time for pumpkins, picking apples, and getting ready for the holidays. Also, it’s an excellent opportunity to revamp your home staging to embrace the season.

Typically, summer and spring are peak home selling times, and things start to slow down in the fall. The competition becomes less intense, but home staging is still a crucial component if you are actively trying to sell your home.

Embracing fall staging to ensure it appeals to the senses helps make your home even more marketable. In this article, we will explore warm and inviting fall home staging tips.

Brighten Up the Home

The shortening days of fall make everything seem more subdued and darker. Often brightening up your home’s space makes it more inviting. Opening the blinds or curtains simply will not suffice in the fall because there is far less natural light to flood your home. Instead, you’ll need to embrace artificial light choices more readily.

If you have a home showing scheduled for late afternoon or evening, use artificial lighting to show off things. Look for lighting that appears natural. Use lamps that not only light up the space nicely but also compliment the home’s decor.

Before the showing, be sure to take the time to open the blinds/curtains and turn on all the lights because home homebuyers and agents do not want to turn on the lights as they enter each room. Plus, having the lights on when the buyer steps into the space will promote the ‘wow’ attitude as they see everything glowing in perfection.

Where to Place Fall Gear

With fall comes a drop in mercury. Most buyers who view your home will be wearing outerwear. You’ll want to provide a spot where they can place their coats, scarves, boots, or umbrellas when they enter your home for a home showing. Consider adding a coat rack to your entryway, a bench, or a large shoe basket to show everyone’s outerwear. Remember, the entrance of the home should always feel warm and inviting. It must make the buyer want to take the time to shed their bulky outerwear and get comfortable as they enjoy the tour of your home.

Remember to lay down a rug to encourage everyone who enters your home to wipe off the mud and debris from their shoes, so they do not track a mess through your house. You don’t want your floors and carpeting to become dirty from tracked-in grime.

Turn Up the Heat

A warm and cozy house beckons. Nothing is more inviting on a frigid day than to step into a warm – not overly hothouse. Ideally, keep the temperature between 70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit. You don’t want any would-be buyers sweating while they tour the home, but you also don’t want them to feel chilly. If they feel cold, they could quickly start feeling pessimistic about the house because a cold feeling inspires negative feelings.

If there is an area of the home with hot and cold spots, you may want to consider running a space heater shortly before the home tour to create an even warmth. You want the buyers to think that the home is inviting and a place of refuge from the coming winter.

Create a Feeling of Coziness

You want the home to feel cozy so consider draping the furnishing in cashmere or flannel throws. Make sure there are a few knit pillows tossed around.

Cover the hard floor (if you have tile or wood) with soft and fluffy rugs for added warmth. If the home feels cozy, the would-be home buyers will want to stay longer and soak up the atmosphere.

Light a Fire for Ambiance

You can create warmth in your home and truly embrace the season with a roaring fire in the fireplace. The fire makes a warm glow, and the crackling of the wood is a bonus to the senses. Everything about a fire promotes feelings of comfort and positively enhances the senses.

If you are having an evening walk-through, you might want to consider lighting a fire in the outdoor fireplace or fire pit. Many people overlook the importance of staging the outdoors. You want your potential buyers to envision making memories in the home truly. It’s all about ambiance. Consider placing a few corn stalks or pumpkins outdoors for added decoration. Try to decorate and stage with a strong fall theme using the warmth of the season’s hues like oranges, bronzes, burgundies, or reds.

Tantalize the Senses

When it comes to improving the scent of a home during staging, you will encounter a couple of differing opinions. Some will say that you should use only unscented candles because some buyers might find scents unpleasant. However, others will say that scent is essential during the staging process.

Most people associate fall with the scent of crisp fall leaves, apples, spices, pumpkins, tea, and warm lattes. You can harness those pleasant aromas to create delightful memories for buyers. Light a few candles, set out potpourri, or try wax burners to create a very subtle fall-like fragrance throughout the home.

Layout Snacks and Festive Delectable

Leave a few trays of cookies, apple slices, hot chocolate, cider, donuts, or pumpkin pie for buyers to enjoy. You can even leave small gifts such as individually wrapped apples for would-be buyers. This practice is widespread in an open house, but it is being embraced by many home sellers whenever there is a scheduled tour of the home.

Focus on Curb Appeal

Remember to continue mowing your lawn and raking the fallen leaves to create a pleasing curb appeal. You might also want to trim back bushes and clean out the gutters. Make sure the leaves are blown from walkways and driveways. Remember to cut back any dying plants.

In the fall, you can embrace fall flowers such as mums, smoke bush, burning bush, witch hazels, and goldenrods in the landscape to create splashes of color. All the plants are cold-hardy and will continue to produce bursts of unique colors throughout the year.

Set out pumpkins, gourds, an attractive welcome mat, and other inviting items for the season. Keep a vigilant eye on any pumpkins or gourds to make sure they don’t start to rot and attract flies.

When staging a home during the fall, remember to keep things subtle but seasonal. Don’t overdo the decorations but try to focus on the season tastefully with the above fall staging tips.

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