Tips for staging a bathroom
January 18th, 2015When staging a bathroom, it pays to think of some of the most used bathrooms in the world – those in hotels – and model your client’s water closet after that.
“People love to walk into the hotel bathroom and see everything is new and clean and the towels are perfect and everything is lined up,” Ella Zetser of The Last Detail Home Staging, tells REP. “It makes you feel like no one has used it before.”
That fresh tone is what agents should be going for, but how do you get there? Here are eight tips for expertly staging a bathroom.
1 – Remove clutter and clean
As with any room in the house, a good clean and a solid de-cluttering works wonders. Bathrooms, of course, should be spick-and-span and free from knick-knacks and other miscellaneous items.
“[Selling agents] need to remove all the clutter,” Zetser says. “There shouldn’t be anything in the bathroom other than white towels – which reminds [buyers] of a hotel. Make sure it’s clean. All the toiletries should be gone.”
2 – Play up the vanity
When potential buyers walk into a bathroom, the sink and vanity are usually the first things they see, and Zetser says that should be what agents embellish.
“The focal point, usually, is the sink, the vanity,” she says. “That’s where the buyer usually walks in and they’re looking for that. That’s where they’re going to.”
3 – Add flowers
Flowers are the easiest way to brighten up a space, and a bathroom is no different. They smell great, they can match any existing colour scheme or style, and they’re (relatively) cheap.
“Flowers make a new focal point,” Zetser says, “and it adds colour.”
4 – Light it up
There’s nothing worse than a great bathroom mirror with poor lighting. Check that the lights around the vanity are in good condition and that the light fixtures are not outdated.
“[Agents] should really look at the functionality and the condition of the bathroom,” Zetser says. “Check if the light fixture over the vanity is in good condition – does it have the right bulbs, does it look nice. Sometimes by changing the light fixture it makes the bathroom look like a whole different bathroom.”
5 – Art and Mirrors
Art isn’t just for living rooms and sleeping quarters. Bathrooms, too, can benefit from a painting or picture. And, as Zetser explains, strategically placed art can make the bathroom look larger.
“We also like to put art in the bathroom so it reflects in the mirror,” she says. “So when you walk in, the mirror has the sink right below it and the light above it. Then you have the art behind it, and you see the art in the mirror and it makes the bathroom look bigger.”
6 – The curtain versus door debate
You might not believe it, but Zetser suggests replacing sliding shower doors with – gasp! – a white shower curtain.
“A sliding door makes the bathroom look old, so I recommend getting a shower curtain,” she says. “They make the bathroom look tight. They close off the tub.”
7 – To bath mat or not to bath mat
Bath mats were once staples of the bathroom, but Zetser says they’re an option in the modern bath, depending heavily on the floor beneath it.
“If the floor is not updated, you might want to cover with a bath mat,” she says. “But if it’s a beautiful floor you do not want to cover it up.”
8 – Colour
Like the rest of the bathroom, the colour of the walls should mimic a hotel bathroom, exuding a feeling of calm.
“Most of the time, a good colour is light blue or beige or light grey,” Zetser says. “But sometimes painting it a dark colour makes it moody and more expensive-looking. But you should paint it to match the rest of the bathroom.”
