Some sellers often ask the question, “Do I really need to worry about the bathrooms when listing my home for sale? I can just clean it up a bit, right?”

Let’s take these questions one at a time. Yes, you do need to worry about bathroom design and staging when selling your home. Cleaning the bathrooms is the first step to preparing them for buyers, but you should not stop there.

Bathrooms Matter When Selling a Home

If you’ve ever watched one of those home remodeling or design shows on television, you probably heard somebody use the phrase “kitchens and baths” in conjunction with selling a home. That’s because real estate professionals know that these areas contribute a lot to a home’s value. A well designed bathroom will also increase the home’s appeal in the eyes of buyers.

In other words, bathrooms are a big selling point for home buyers, and they therefore deserve your attention. So yes, bathroom design is an important part of home staging and selling.

If you plan to sell your home in the near future, you need to design and stage the bathrooms accordingly. We’ve covered that. So where do you begin?

How to Stage a Bathroom

Your plan-of-attack for the bathrooms can be summed up in two words — cleaning and updating. The clean part is obvious, but giving your bathroom a modern look is also very important. After all, the last thing home buyers want to see when viewing your home is that the bathrooms need updating.

So your plan for bathroom design and staging is to clean everything and update items as needed. Let’s turn this into a motto. Your motto is “clean, bright and modern.” Keep this in mind when developing your bathroom design ideas and when staging the space for potential buyers. Repeat after me … clean, bright and modern!

Of course, if you add “luxurious” onto that motto, you’ll score extra points with home buyers. Clean, bright and modern are a must. Luxurious will help even more. Those are the keys to staging a bathroom for a quick home sale.

Bathroom Staging & Design Tips

Here are some specific tips for carrying your home-staging efforts into the bathrooms of your house.

• Before listing the home and welcoming buyers inside, clean those bathrooms until they appear brand new. Signs of usage, such as toothpaste stains and soap scum, will turn buyers off.
• If the fixtures in your bathroom are outdated (spigots, handles, mirrors, etc.), you should replace them with sleek and modern fixtures. This single bathroom design idea will do wonders for helping you sell the home.
• Stay away from brass fixtures — they bring the 1980’s to mind. There is only a small percentage of buyers who like brass fixtures. To see what the prevailing style is, tour a model home or read through an interior design magazine / website.
• Adorn the towel rack with high-quality plush towels in subtle colors. Coordinate the towels with the overall color scheme (match them to the rug, accent colors, etc.).
• Glass shower door a little gross? Remove it and take it outside for cleaning. Use a solution of one part muriatic acid to 10 parts water (wear goggles when mixing). Scrub it with steel wool, rinse it clean, and replace the door.
• If you have the budget and you really want to increase your home’s appeal, consider installing a pedestal sink. They are very popular with buyers right now, and they make the bathroom seem larger by freeing up space.
• Fresh flower arrangements do a lot for a bathroom, both in appearance and aroma.

Remember, when potential buyers tour your home their agents will probably be whispering “kitchens and baths” in their ears. So when staging your home to sell put some extra effort into those bathrooms. Your motto is clean, bright and luxurious.