How to Stage a Kitchen

The kitchen is one of the most important places in your home. As the saying goes, the fastest way to the heart is through the stomach. Buyers want a kitchen where they can see themselves cooking, enjoying family meals together, and hosting friends and guests. When showing your home to potential buyers, it’s not enough to just clean your kitchen. You’ll need to put in a little extra effort to make your kitchen look modern, bright, and spacious. Below are some great tips on how to stage a kitchen to ensure your buyers see the full potential of the space.

Declutter your Kitchen

For whatever reason, kitchens seem to be the dumping ground for clutter. But, clutter on countertops makes your entire kitchen feel smaller. Take an afternoon to clear all paper, mail, chargers, etc. off of your countertops. Next, focus on things that wouldn’t necessarily be clutter to you, but can make your counters look smaller. This includes paper towel holders, napkin holders, knife blocks, fruit bowls, and any appliances. Even your toaster, coffee maker, blender, and any other appliances should be put away. Getting these items off of your counters give the impression of ample counter space – something all buyers are looking for.

Clean your Kitchen

This should go without saying, but buyers will not see themselves in a kitchen that is not clean. Scrub down your countertops, mop your floors, wipe down the walls, etc. Make sure all dishes are washed and put away and that your sink is clean and empty. Take out the trash before you show your home. Clean your garbage disposal to get rid of any unwanted odors. Wipe off fingerprints on your fridge. Basically, make it look immaculate. Clean any windows in your kitchen to ensure optimal natural lighting.

Depersonalize your Kitchen

Buyers want to envision themselves living in your home. When you have personal items hanging up, it’s hard for them to separate your current home from their future home. In your kitchen, take a look around for things that make the space yours. Take down any magnets and photos on the fridge. Remove calendars, photos, memorabilia, and things that reflect your personal style.

Those are the basics for staging your kitchen for a fast home sale. Below are some extra steps you can take to make your kitchen more appealing for little to no money. These small adjustments to your home can have a massive effect on the overall aesthetic of your kitchen.

Replace or Repaint Old Hardware

Nothing screams dated than old hardware on your cabinets. Ideally, you could repaint or replace your entire set of cabinets with a more modern color and finish. That being said, you may not want to invest so much money into your kitchen right before moving. To give your kitchen a modern upgrade without spending a ton of money, simply replace or repaint your old hardware. Look online at new homes or on a site like Pinterest to get a feel for current, modern hardware. If you don’t want to go out and buy new hardware, consider spray painting the ones you have with a flat neutral color.

Update Lighting

This can be one of the most affordable updates you make in the kitchen. Simply switching out your warm lighting with daylight bulbs can make your kitchen go from dingy to bright for around $10. If it’s in your budget, you may also want to look into buying a more modern light fixture. Once again, if this is not something you want to invest in, consider repainting the one you have. Kitchens with flat, neutral fixtures will sell a lot better than the old, shiny fixtures of the past.

Stage a Scene

Lastly, if you want to give the impression of a livable kitchen, you can set out some nice place settings in your kitchen. Place them either on a breakfast bar or at your kitchen table. Make sure the plates and silverware are clean with no spots from your dishwasher. Don’t go too extravagant on the settings – just something simple that they could see themselves sitting at. If you want a pop of color in your kitchen, the placemats or napkins in your place settings are a great place to subtly do that.

These tips to stage a kitchen are a great step to getting your home ready to sell. For more tips on staging your home, check out our blog for last-minute staging tips.

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