Depending on your profession, you may have a home office that gets used everyday or one that is utilized less frequently.  Whether you created a space in the corner of a bedroom or have always had a room in your home dedicated as an office, this area of your home needs a little love and attention as you prepare your house for the market.  Here are some tips to easily stage a home office.

Determine whether it can stay or go

Many times spare bedrooms become offices since most homes were not built with a room dedicated to office space.  If you work from home, then, obviously, the office needs to stay as it is.  However, if it is a less frequently used space in your home, then chat with your REALTOR® about whether or not to switch the space back into a bedroom.  Depending on your unique locational needs, buyers in your area may see more value in a bedroom than office.  For most buyers it is easier to visualize a bedroom turning into an office rather than the other way around.

Secure Sensitive Information

While much information is stored online, there are jobs that keep paperwork (or you just have personal information) that should not be easily accessible to others during showings.  Determine a way to easily secure this information whether that is a locked filing cabinet or closet.  

Simplify the furniture

Pare down the furniture to the basics that you need for an office and removing the extra pieces is an important step to stage a home office.  Sometimes offices, especially if they are a part of another room, tend to feel tight and lacking space.  Simplifying the furniture so that buyers can easily walk around the room, but you still have what you need to work is beneficial to the appearance of the space.  

Clean off the desk space

When you stage a home office, present a clean desk.  Find a new home for any papers that sit on your desk.  If you’ve got other things that you reference frequently, then tuck everything in a folder that can be easily slipped inside of a drawer. Gather up all those pens and put them in a holder. If possible try to gather up any cords hanging from the desk and secure them- you don’t want a buyer tripping over cords and pulling a computer to the ground.   Having all of these systems in place will make it easier to clean up in the evening or tuck everything away quickly if you have an unexpected showing.

Organize the bookcase

Do you have a bookcase full of books, papers, and knick-knacks?  Take some time when you stage a home office to go through the bookcase and determine what books to keep or donate.  Simplify the amount of material on each shelf and get rid of the loose papers.  Utilize boxes, like these to stash any items that do not sit neatly on the shelf.  

Utilize the closet

Use the closet in the office to store additional office supplies and stash equipment you need for your job but don’t use every day.  A hanging organizer on the back of a door can help hold everything but still make it appear neat.  Just make sure that if the buyers open the closet to see the space inside that the items won’t come crashing down on them.

Use vertical space

If your work space is a corner of a room, then take advantage of the vertical space on the wall to add storage when you are staging a home office.  Install a few long floating shelves and use coordinated baskets to stash your office supplies.  Doing this helps get everything that you need off of your desk but still within reach.

Let there be light

Having good lighting is important for any room in the home, but it is especially important in a room that someone is going to be in for a large part of the day.  If the office has awesome natural lighting, then open up those curtains and let the sun shine inside the room!  If the room is lacking, switch out the bulbs to a brighter light when you stage a home office and add a desk light to illuminate the space.

Looking for more staging tips? Check out these!

Whether you need some staging advice, want to find out how much your home is worth, or a ready to start the search for new home, I am here to help! Feel free to reach out and let me know how I can help you in your real estate journey!