How to Stage a Guest Room: 5 Tips to Make it Spectacular

When you’re selling your home in Scottsdale, your real estate agent will talk to you about staging and why it’s so important. Your house has to appeal to the widest possible range of buyers, and that means staging each room – including guest bedrooms.

So how do you stage a guest room? Here’s what you need to know.

 

Staging a guest bedroom is essential if you want to impress prospective buyers, so here are five tips to help you do just that:

 

• Make the bed the focal point
• Downsize and declutter
• Paint the walls
• Upgrade the lighting (and window treatments, if necessary)
• Add personality

 

Let’s take a closer look at each of these.

 

The bed in your guest room is… well, the whole purpose of having a guest room. That means the bed can – and should be – the focal point in the space. Your goal is to show prospective buyers that they, too, can have space for overnight guests (or all their kids); that means using an entire bedroom set in the space.

Invest in a fabulous comforter and plenty of fluffy pillows. You want the room to look like a beautifully relaxing retreat where you’d be proud to host guests.

 

 

In order to make the bed the focal point, you need to downsize and declutter your guest room. That means things that don’t belong there (we’re looking at you, treadmill) need to go – including things like boxes in the closets, seasonal clothing and any other item that you wouldn’t find in the bedroom of a B&B.

For many people, that means getting a storage unit. Don’t worry – it’s only temporary, and you can use it to stash your other belongings that you need to move for staging.

 

If it’s been a while since your guest room has seen a fresh coat of paint, now’s the time to do it. Choose a bright-but-neutral color (again, the goal here is to create a retreat) and hire a professional to tackle the job for you.

 

How old is the light fixture in your guest room? Does it cast light everywhere, or is it the older-style fixture that mutes and downplays the bright bulbs in it? Invest in a new light fixture from your favorite home improvement store, because buyers want to see light in every corner. The same is true with your window treatments; if they’re dated or designed to block out light, take them down and replace them with something more modern.

 

 

Even if you never go into your guest room while you’re at home, make it a point to make it look loved. Put a beautiful, thriving live plant on the nightstand, add a wall clock (and make sure the batteries are operational) and sprinkle the space with decor. (Just don’t forget to head in there and water the plant – you don’t want prospective buyers to see a shriveled, wilted mess when they’re looking around.)
Pro tip: Choose a color palette just like you would in any other space, and use the colors in the comforter to complement the space and create a streamlined look.