Choosing the Right Window Treatments to Help Sell Your Home

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According to Consumer Reports, decluttering and cleaning is one of the best ways to make your home more attractive when putting in on the market. A tidy, organized space looks larger and more upscale to buyers. Unfortunately, you could spend hours deep cleaning every carpet and tossing every old knick-knack, and your home may not seem all that transformed. A more efficient way to attract homebuyers than excessive cleaning is to introduce natural light into the space. 

Strategize a clever window treatment plan if you want to give the illusion of a spacious, refined home. Brighter rooms look larger and more orderly. To a homebuyer, they are like a clean slate to help them imagine how they would design the house. Because of this, tweaking your window treatments can go a long way in helping to sell your home. Here are a few things to think about when choosing blinds and shades for home staging. 

Visually Expanding Your Home with Window Treatments 

Your top priority is letting in as much natural light as possible. To do this, filter rather than block light with breezy window treatment styles. 

Choose materials for blinds, shades, and curtains that permit, or at least reflect, light:

• Blinds: Blinds are a great choice for homes on the market because they are a classic style that blends nicely with almost any interior design layout. Their slats also offer the most freedom for filtering light. Choose blinds of white or light-colored wood. They will feel less heavy and contrasting in a bare space. Plus, light colors reflect light, helping to diffuse light around the room for extra brightness. 
• Shades: The clean lines of shades help to minimize visual clutter when selling a house. Fabric shades are also great at filtering in soft light since they are not completely opaque. Choose a light-colored, semi-sheer fabric to make the most of its brightening powers. If possible, prioritize shade fabrics with loose weaves for an airy feel.
• Curtains: Curtains are a less popular choice for home staging. Since you can open them all the way, though, they actually allow in more natural light than blinds or shades do. Curtains also offer the largest variety of fabric choices. Your best bet is to choose light colors and off-white fabrics. They illuminate better than dark colors. Regarding material, pick billowy, loose weave fabrics such as linen, cotton, muslin, or gauze to allow sufficient light in. 

You may have installed multiple window treatments per window for ultimate light control when you lived in your home. However, for staging your house, it will look cleaner to remove one or more treatments. For example, remove the blinds on a blinds and curtains pairing, or stick to just shades if you previously had shades covered by drapes. Less is more when it comes to selling your home. Removing unnecessary layers will also permit more light and eliminate visual weight.

If curtains happen to be the last survivors, be sure to hang them floor to ceiling. Installing them high up will make the room seem taller by drawing the eye up and down. If you have a particularly shallow room, consider this trick to help make it look more spacious. 

Helping Buyers See Themselves in Your Home

Take the time to contemplate the type of window treatment that would enhance the architecture, style, and lighting of each room in the house. Not all windows are created equal. Spending extra time strategizing will save you time selling your home in the long run. Here are a few hints to think about as you go from room to room. 

• The view: What would it look like to leave certain windows open or even untreated? Is it a view of an alleyway? The neighbor’s house? Or, is the view a pleasant tree or garden? As long as privacy isn’t an issue and the view is nice, it’s okay to leave windows in certain rooms bare or with minimal blinds or shades. Occasionally, this looks cleaner than a bulky window treatment.
• The frame: Windows in your house that have detailing along the frame can sometimes be left bare, as well. Certain frames have a statement of their own that can look classy and put together. Just be sure that the frame is in good shape and that the paint is not peeling or cracking. For other windows, leaving them bare can look too undone. If the window frame left alone is unappealing, curtains are a smart way to hide the rough edges.
• Ease of opening: You’ll want to let plenty of light in for home staging, so make sure your window treatments are effortless to open and look neat when pulled up. Choose a style that is easy to maneuver for staging. For example, roller shades and eyelet curtain designs look good in every position and move with ease. 
• Neutrality: Neutral does not mean you have to choose boring blinds and shades. It simply means that whatever you do choose should be timeless and not overly personalized. When staging your home, it’s best to toss outdated blinds and shades. Replace them with window treatments that can fit with a variety of styles, so potential buyers have no problem picturing their own interior design. 

The more you can help buyers see themselves living in your home, the better. Choose window treatments that enhance each room. Potential buyers should feel like the space itself won’t need much work. At the same time, choose window treatments with flexible design and style so that viewers feel like their interior design style would work there. If you lay the groundwork for helping customers imagine themselves in the house, then you’ll be halfway to convincing potential buyers of your house’s value.