We’re not going to lie—selling a home can be pretty stressful.
And almost as taxing is the chore of setting up your house in a way that appeals to a potential bidder or buyer.
Sure, it seems easy to set out a bowl of lemons and stash your clutter, but staging rooms so they entice a wide audience is a true art.
One such space is the bathroom, which every visitor will check out during a tour of your home. It gets lots of traffic from residents, and it’s often small, dark, and, um, kind of damp.
But we’re here to say you can tackle the staging in your primary loo and powder rooms with a few savvy tips from the pros, whether you’re hoping to sell soon or want to refresh your look for the long haul.
Here’s what our expert sources came up with. Now go make that bathroom beautiful.
1. Clear the decks
Clutter is the top saboteur in home staging—and it’s particularly unwelcome in the bathroom, says Katie McCann, the organizing professional at Haven.
“Having tons of stuff on surfaces and items out in a bathroom is pretty skeevy because of how many germs are floating around,” she notes.
So clear off counters and sink tops. And we’re not just talking about random lotions and your hairbrush. It’s also wise to remove the toothbrush holder and cup.
Until you’re done showing your home (or you sell!), all these items can live temporarily under your sink or in a basket in a nearby closet.
2. Lose the rugs
A bare floor is best, but many folks love something underfoot when stepping out of the shower. When selling a house, Amy Tuntasood, an interior designer with Salem Home Designs, suggests a second set of mats for appointments.
“I often tell clients to get fresh new bathroom rugs when their house is on the market,” she says. “They can continue using their old bath rugs for daily use; but when it’s time for a showing, swap them out for the new ones.”
3. Nix sticky bars of soap
Along with counter clutter, you can add that mushy bar of soap soap as an item to hide. A half-used, sticky bar is unattractive to a buyer’s eye and leaves drips and soap scum on the dish or cubby.
Still, you have to wash your hands here between showings, so swap in an attractive pump-style container. A good-looking vessel like this can act as the lone acceptable accessory for a (preferably) bare counter and allow folks to clean up in the loo, too.
Pamela O’Brien, principal designer at Pamela Hope Designs, also suggests putting “a luxury shampoo and conditioner in the shower’s product niche” and leaving these items full and unused and out only during showings.
4. Scour stains
It goes without saying (we hope) that your bathroom must be pristine every time it’s opened to the viewing public. But keeping up on dark, moldy spots, soap streaks, and clumps of hair in the drains is just part of the problem.
Other tough stains that need addressing include minerals (iron and magnesium) in hard water that conspire to create rusty-colored patches on sink and tub porcelain.
To attack this issue, scrub these blemishes as best you can with either a baking soda and vinegar combo, a Magic Eraser, or hydrogen peroxide.
If you have the funds, get a pro to help you out, advises O’Brien.
“For example, you could hire out for tougher jobs like cleaning or replacing grout,” she suggests.
5. Deal with the medicine cabinet
Tuntasood counsels home sellers to tackle a messy or outdated medicine cabinet. If you can stand it, remove your old one and put up a simple mirror in its place.
But if you’re keeping this wall fixture, make it bare.
“Empty it before showings—especially regarding medications,” she explains. “Some buyers can be judgmental, and certain meds might make them uncomfortable or turn them away.”
6. Corral kids’ things
If you have a loo for your kids, keeping it tidy for possible showings can be challenging. Still, if you organize some of their gear, it’ll look so much better in the long run.
To start, stash any obvious larger items, like that neon-orange step stool for reaching the faucet and the training potty for your toddler. Next, pick out an easy-to-use, attractive system to organize their bath toys, washcloths, and products.
The metal buckets above are cute and practical, though a set of baskets or colorful bins can also do the trick.
7. Choose hooks for towels
It’s the age-old question: how should you arrange towels in a bathroom? Fold, roll, hang, drape, or stack? Doing so neatly is the issue, but you also want a choice that’s easy to maintain during the morning rush hour.
The verdict? Hooks beat towel bars every day of the week. A messy, mushed towel on a bar looks dreadful, but if you hang your terry cloth from a nice-looking hook, it’ll fall in a natural way and look relatively tidy.
O’Brien adds, “Towels should be white or off-white throughout the house and only display a few. Remember, you aren’t selling a laundry service.”
Originally posted to realtor.com by Jennifer Kelly Geddes
