Making both your home and yard as attractive as possible shows buyers that the space is adequate to enjoy your home. Here are ideas on how to make your home look larger.

Place a good portion of your belongings in storage or out of sight

Your home might seem bare to you, but to a homebuyer it will simply appear uncluttered. You then are helping them to “mentally move in”. Having less of your belongings in your house allows someone seeing it for the first time to envision his or her own furniture being in the home. Also make sure to remove items from your closets. Nothing makes a home appear “too small” more than opening a closet door and finding the storage area completely filled! A great time to have a garage sale is before you put your house on the market, not after it is sold! When you decide to sell, start going through your cupboards, eliminating items you don’t want to keep. Remove as many articles as possible from the kitchen and bathroom countertops to the cupboards below – they’ll still be within handy reach in the newly created space. Clear off nightstands and bureaus.

Paint Walls and Ceilings Lighter Colors

Doing so makes rooms appear larger, while dark colors cause walls to seem to close in. Mirrors can also lighten a room, while creating the impression of greater space.

Create Focal Points in Each Room

Ideally you’d like a person’s eyes to go to a distant point upon entering a room. Display an attractive piece of art on the far side of a bedroom. Put a tall potted tree in a living room with high ceilings to emphasize the vertical space in the room.

Try Rearranging Your Furniture to Make Your Rooms Appear Bigger

Always make sure furniture doesn’t block traffic through the room or create a cramped feeling as prospective homebuyers view your home.

Don’t Forget the Outside

Sweep the garage and sidewalks, trim the lawn and bushes, wash all the screens and windows, inside and out. It all helps to make your home look fresher, lighter…and larger.

Key Take-Away

When the surroundings are pleasant, buyers are less likely to see space as a problem. For some expert, objective advice, have your real estate agent go through the home. An experienced, well-trained agent knows what enhances a property’s appearance—and what hinders it.