Hello Lovelies,

Now it probably isn’t too much of a surprise to know that industries have been coercing your wallet for years with different smells. Aroma is a big business in so many ways!! The hotel lobby that smells like a summer garden, a movie theatre that smells like a freshly made tub of buttery popcorn or a Starbucks that smells like just ground coffee. The smells that make you go ahhh and mmmmm as well as dipping into your pocket to spend, spend and spend.

Did you know that we are literally creating memories to smells from the moment we are born and these are fully attached to our emotions. That is the reason that when you smell a cake baking that you might be transported right back into your grandma’s kitchen at the age of 5. Aroma is powerful stuff and can have more of an impact that you probably would have imagined. Did you know that smell is the only sense that sends messages to various parts of the brain before it hits the central part?

So what’s that got to do with selling a house you might ask. When someone walks into a house the first sense that really hits them is smell. Now the reason I feel like I should give you guys some tips on staging homes with smells is because firstly I work with scent for a living, every single day. Secondly it’s because I have bought homes and I have sold those homes in multiple countries. This means I have traipsed through some amazing houses and some not so amazing houses.

I’m no real estate agent, just a gal who knows a well designed and good smelling house when I see one. I have been engrossed in design since I was a little girl, thanks to hip grandparents who loved décor and stylish furniture. They inadvertently taught me how to create a beautiful and thoughtful living space and are the reason that I am a crazy mid-century modern fan. It inspired me to venture into the design arena for over two decades as a career. Now I’m much happier making people feel good one person at a time but design creeps in every where it can.

10 Tips for Staging Your Home to Sell

1. Have an essential oil sonic water diffuser in several rooms of your home. One diffuser will not cover a whole home but will cover a room. I like to have one in the entertaining space and then one in bedroom to create different moods. Use them to accentuate your space.

Our favourite oils to use are the citrus oils. They are uplifting, calming and light plus most people love the smell. Therapeutic grade essential oils can also help to eradicate strong smells such as food, musty smells or pets. Check out this FREE pdf guide that we created for you to make it easy.

2. Have fresh flowers on display. They uplift a room and bring the décor to life. Seriously I don’t think there are many women that don’t appreciate freshly cut flowers. You can also use them to entice people into seeing your entire house. Placing some that are visible as you enter the house is a great start but adding them to a hallway, corner or top of the stairs to encourage buyers to see all your home has to offer can be a good idea.

(Extra little tip here for my local readers. If you are in the lower mainland you might want to consider working with Tanya at Sophie’s Flower Pedals. Tanya is so wonderful to work with and we love her arrangements.)

3. Declutter. Less is most definitely more and when you think you are done, go over things one more time. If you aren’t up for getting rid of things then put them into storage instead. Don’t be tempted to hide and store things in your closet. People will want to look in there too. Having enough storage space in a home is important so keeping those tidy is important too. Also consider depersonalizing your space. Now I am not saying your style has to disappear altogether but maybe the hundreds of photos of your kids could find a hiding spot for a while. Someone else has to be able to imagine living in your home so it can’t be so much of you that it can’t be enough of them.

4. Consider hiring a staging company or even a design company. Sometimes those small changes whether its changing the colour of a room, an updated bathroom or changing up the furniture can make a huge impact on the curb appeal of your place and therefore increasing the amount someone is willing to pay. (We love working with Shona at Heart Space). Think neutral colours in creating appeal for the masses. Your hot pink wall might have been your signature but it might scare off someone who is looking for a ready to move in space.

5. Consider removing all evidence of your animal family. I know it’s hard to understand when your pet is just so cute and part of the family but not everyone will feel the same as you. Also think about taking your pet with you and away from your home when open houses are happening. Alternatively find a place for them that isn’t your home to hang when people are checking out your space. Miffy, the Yorkshire terrier, might be the cutest sweetest dog around but your ideal buyer might have a fear of little dogs. Whatever the reason a buyer may find to not want your home – you don’t want it to be merely because they couldn’t see past your furry friend.

6. Hire a cleaning company or a local cleaner to not only do a deep clean but keep on top of it so you don’t have to. Selling a home in itself is overwhelming so lighten your load if you can. Having your place cleaned weekly through the selling process can make is much easier to be ready for that last minute showing.

7. Make your home light and bright. If your windows and overhead lights aren’t doing the trick aka it’s still too dark then think about table lamps and floor lamps to add into the mix and bring more light in. If you have dark walls you may want to think about painting.

8. It might sound obvious but the first thing a buyer sees is the outside of your home. If it looks unkept and run down, it will leave them wondering about the state of the inside too. Pressure washing those mossy, grubby areas, touching up the paintwork, mowing the lawn and tidying up the garden can go a long way to drawing people in. Tidy up your patio furniture or if it’s looking a little shabby put it into storage, refinish it or buy a new set. You could add a clean welcome mat and a few potted plants to spruce up the entrance way too.

9. If you have kids, give yourself plenty of time to get your place in order before the showing. We all know that our kiddos can create havoc on a super tidy room in a record minimum amount of time. Tidy their toys away so that whether your potential buyer has kids or not, they can see it is possible to buy your home and have an orderly space.

10. Make the most of all your spaces and give them a purpose. You may have one room that has become your junk, laundry dump, exercise room or all of the above. However, one thing it lacks is a definition and a purpose. Now’s the time to give it one. Dress it up as a guest room or office and then furnish as such. You can borrow furniture or buy second hand just to stage it. Spelling out the potential to prospective buyers will help more to see the vision of what they can create and how their family will fit. This also works for weird shaped rooms with extra nooks. Add a little desk or a reading chair and stage it. Instead of noticing how odd the room is shaped they will hopefully see it as an extra gift of space.

I hope those tips helped a little and if you are selling your home – good luck! And breathe.

If you are a real estate agent, we are here to help you navigate this arena and hold your hand through the process of getting started with essential oils. We offer a home staging kit that will cover all your staging needs and sessions with your clients to show them how to set everything up and use the essential oils.

We also create client thank you gifts for your sellers and buyers with hand tailored gifts to help to set you apart from the competition. We can hand tailor essential oil and diffuser gift packages specifically for your clients wishes and needs too and then deliver them. I know that these extras touches will help to set your business apart from the rest. We also know that often the part of the job that is hard to manage when you are so busy with new clients is the finishing touches which get you new and repeat referrals. A successful Realtor is a busy one, so let us at Mandala Essentials help you make an impact without the work.

We hope this gave you a few ideas!

Much love,
Lou Meggiato
xx