To stage the Fanchon Flip house, we spent a total of $650. And $200 of those dollars were spent on pillows…. not kidding! We knew that in order to keep our expenses low when staging this flip house, we’d need to be very resourceful.
Here our my tips on staging an entire empty home for sale on an extreme budget.
Buy (Almost) Nothing New
New things cost way too much money. When you consider that used or thrifted items can be 5-20% of the price of new, it’s really a no-brainer. Buying one couch new, even from the cheapest of stores, would have blown our entire $650 budget.
There was one item that we did decide to buy new, however. And that was pillows. Have you ever tried to find trendy, cute pillows at the Goodwill? It’s just not very feasible in my opinion. Nobody likes a crusty, outdated looking pillow. Our strategy was to buy nice used furniture that we could dress up with fresh new pillows.
So, you may decide to buy new to help supplement and make sure your place doesn’t look “thrifted”. If you do that, I’d suggest you pick one or two affordable items that will help polish the space. And know that they will be taking up a significant chunk of your budget.
We shopped our pillows at Home Goods and Ross, but they still ate up over 35% of our spending budget at $250.
When you’re shopping secondhand, there are lots of options to find what you are looking for. To stage this house, I shopped many Goodwills in our area, Salvation Army, and other local thrift stores. I also frequently searched Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist.
I like to challenge myself in everything I buy second hand. I try to buy low enough that I could sell the item for more than I purchased it for. Sometimes all it takes is a nicer picture and you can make money on a furniture flip. In this way, you could stage a whole home, resell all the items, and actually MAKE money.
FREE is Your Friend
I don’t know about you, but when I shop second-hand to furnish my own house, I tend to shy away from anything that’s free. The reason being, I would rather pay $20 for something that I definitely find value in. Free things tend to be free for a reason.
But, you should ignore that principle for staging, and here’s why: this furniture is for looks only. It does not have to pass all the tests that it would to enter your home forever. Does it have to look stylish and add to the space? Yes!
Does it have to be free of cigarette butt burns, creepy stains, and rips? Surprisingly… No! When we staged this flip house, I found a gray leather sofa and chair set on Facebook Marketplace for free. And let me tell you, they had all of the above listed issues. But…. They had great modern lines, and neutral color.
And you know what, we threw some throw blankets over the rips and stains, and covered the burns with pillows. And no one is the wiser!!! All that to say, free is the EASIEST way to stretch your budget.
After the house sold, we just dropped the free stuff off at goodwill and called it a day! I will caveat… one thing you do need to avoid is odors. Make sure you don’t buy something that will give your house a smoke or animal smell.
Use what you Already Have
This one may seem like a no-brainer. But we saved a lot of money staging by taking items from our own home. We had several rugs in our basement that we used, the wood stool tables were from our living room. I brought a lot of our own home decor items in to supplement. And we had friends and family lend their extra decor as well.
So I guess this ties in with the point above, free things that you (or your friends/family) already have REALLY stretch your budget. When we bought this flip house, it came with an old turquoise dining table. So that’s what we used in the dining room with a table cloth.
Sometimes, what you have is just better. It may not be perfect… I would have loved to do an open leg dining table. It would have looked more modern and inviting. But, this dining table illustrated the space without detracting from it. So it fit the bill and eliminated another expense.
Don’t Fill Every Space
The purpose of staging is to make a house feel like a home and to demonstrate to the buyer the feel and function of a space. It’s not essential that every single space in the home is filled. You know how stagers always encourage homeowners to remove personal items and pictures when they sell their home? The same principle goes here. It’s the idea that there should be open space for the buyer to imagine their own items in the home.
How do you know which areas to leave and which to stage? I believe that the main living areas and the master bedroom should be staged. That’s enough to give the buyer a true feel for the space furnished. So living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, and one bedroom.
In this flip house we had additional rooms that where we added nothing: the rest of the bedrooms, the laundry/mudroom, the entire basement. And it goes without saying, that choosing not to stage these areas saves a lot of money. Can you image how much more it would have cost to buy beds for each of the 3 additional bedrooms?
Visual Illusions are OK
I hate moving mattresses. For me, the idea of bringing a mattress into this house to stage and then having to transport it back home sounded like pure torture. So we didn’t!
We bought an air mattress and placed it on top of some boxes, and dressed it like a bed. It may sound hokey… but think about the purpose of staging. It’s not for someone to take a nap on the bed. The purpose of that bed is first to illustrate how a bed fits in the space, and second to help the buyer visualize themselves sleeping there. It’s all about the visual.
So, give yourself permission to hack some things. Don’t have a nightstand? Stack some decorative boxes on top of each other. You could cover them with some fabric. Get creative and remember, it’s more about looks than function in this case.
Do Sweat the Small Stuff
Yeah, you gotta have furniture to make a space feel furnished. But it’s the little decor accents that take a space from furnished to homey. Think art, blankets, pillows, tchotchkes, lamps, books, flowers. Lets look at some pictures and how these extras make the space.
We added a neutral art installation to the fireplace mantle. This draws attention to a positive feature of the home. Then we framed it with a standing floor lamp on one side and a faux plant on the other. A basket with a blanket spilling out is a nice touch. It makes a person feel like they could cozy up in the space.
In this corner, I added an art easel with a framed print. This is a great way to get art in a home without making holes in the walls. Plus it fills a corner visually and add height to the room. I found this easel for less than $5 at Goodwill.
In the bedroom, we tried to create an inviting look with layering and texture. You can see there is an assortment of pillows on the bed, and layered blankets to add interest and warmth.
There is a DIY art piece over the headboard, and framed painting leaning on the nightstand. Note the several items that I’ll call ‘tchotchkes’ on the nightstand. I believe a few of these items can make an empty space feel more lived in.
And finally, you can see a stack of books. I truly believe that books are your very best tool when it comes to staging. Look for hardcover books with neutral spines. A stack of books can decorate just about every space in the home. They are a neutral decor choice that appeals to everyone.
Again, you can see the power of books! Baskets are another winner when you are a staging a home. They can be empty even, but they provide a nice neutral decor piece that helps the home feel lived in.
And last point, flowers! Do use fresh flowers when staging the home. Have you ever noticed that in every magazine spread of a home, they always have some type of flowers or greenery on display? Always! That’s because there is no comparison when it comes to nature, so bring a little natural life to the indoors by incorporating greens/flowers.
Don’t Forget the Bathrooms
And for my last point, I want to encourage you not to neglect the bathrooms. It may seem like they don’t really need staging since furnishings are necessary in bathrooms. But, remember that kitchens and baths sell homes! So you want to be putting your best foot forward in all those spaces.
Use attractive hand and bath towels. White is always a good choice. Make sure you have nice looking soap on display. Bathrooms are a great place to display some of that greenery.
You can even create some vignettes if you have the space. Our master bath had a freestanding tub and we wanted to feature that as a relaxing place. So we added a footstool with books, candles, and spa items.
I hope you find this guide helpful when you are staging an empty home. Just keep in mind the main goals:
- make the space feel functional
- give the buyer a picture of what life in this house looks like
- leave some room for them imagine themselves there
Check out more about how we bought and renovated this flip house here: Fanchon Flip.