Before You List Your Home, Consider These 4 Simple Cosmetic Improvements

Your home may need a little nip and a tuck to refresh its appearance before you put it on the market. Consider these four simple cosmetic improvements to zhuzh-up your residence.

Before You List Your Home, Consider These 4 Simple Cosmetic Improvements

Once your house hits the market it’ll be competing with other lovely homes for sale in Naples and surrounding areas. These four cosmetic improvements can help your property to stand apart from the rest:

Refreshing your home’s exterior
Removing oil stains from your driveway
Decluttering closets, cabinets, and counters
Making the most of staging and interior décor

Let’s take a closer look at each improvement.

Improvement #1. Refreshing Your Home’s Exterior

Curb appeal is everything, so it’s important to make sure that the exterior of your home appears fresh, and not weathered. The Mediterranean and Neo-Mediterranean-style homes predominate in Naples, Southwest Florida, and many portions of The Sunshine State, are known for their smooth stucco exteriors in earthy tones, trademark barrel-tiled terracotta roofs, and wrought iron accents.

If your home’s stucco has surface cracks, consider having those areas resurfaced. It may present the perfect opportunity to refresh your exterior with a new coat of paint. If your home has wrought iron accents, be sure that their finish isn’t rusted or faded. Check your roof for any damaged tiles and have them replaced.

When it comes to your landscape, always keep shrubs and greenery trimmed back so that the view to your home isn’t obscured. Gather any fallen palm fronds, and keep your lawn trimmed—especially before an open house.

Improvement #2. Removing Oil Stains From Your Driveway

Visible motor oil stains on your driveway are almost inevitable, especially if yours is made of concrete or asphalt. Your driveway may eventually accumulate these all-too-familiar splotches, and if left uncorrected these unsightly blemishes can kill your curb appeal.

Oftentimes, these kinds of stains can be lifted. Consider using a powerful solvent and a pressure washer to help remove them. If your driveway is heavily stained and has many sizeable cracks, think about having it resurfaced. However, if it’s in very poor shape, you may consider having the driveway removed and replaced—although doing so can be pricey.

Improvement #3. Decluttering Closets, Cabinets, and Counters

At one point in time your bedroom closet may have been spacious, but now it’s become crammed with clothes. And perhaps it’s been quite a while since you’ve worn many of your pieces—sadly, some may have become too small, and others pleasantly too big. Before your home hits the market, you’ll have to cut down on closet clutter to show buyers that they’ll have ample space for their wardrobe. This may mean giving some of your clothes away. Go through your items and remove pieces that no longer fit or jive with your tastes. Donate them to Salvation Army or Goodwill.

Don’t stop with your bedroom closet. Clear away clutter throughout your home by organizing your kitchen pantry, cabinets, and drawers to show off storage, and clearing counters to emphasize space for food prep.

And don’t forget the garage!

Improvement #4. Making the Most of Staging and Interior Décor

Arrange your furniture wisely

Situate your furnishings in ways that make your rooms look as spacious as possible, while still maintaining functionality and natural routes for foot traffic. Keep knickknacks and other personal items to a minimum. Remember that the house is the star, and not your personal décor.

Use pops of color

Decorating with a neutral color palette is important, but be sure to inject pops of pigment in items like accent chairs, throw pillows, and art to keep your interiors dynamic and lively. Many home-staging professionals point to blue as a popular hue.

Stage using real plants, not artificial ones

Choose real greenery, rather than artificial plants, to accent your interiors and make your residence feel homey. If you do use fake plants, look for ones that are high-quality and super-realistic.

Ask Your REALTOR® for Suggestions on Improvements

Your REALTOR® sees your home with fresh eyes. So be sure to ask them if they see areas in and around your home that could use a tweak, refresh, or a renovation. If you’re looking for design inspiration, you can always check out home design TV shows, magazines, and websites to get your creative juices flowing.

Find out how much your home is worth now!

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