You’re planning an open house and looking to maximize the appeal of your household for potential buyers. Considering this, it’s only natural that you want to concentrate on kitchen staging.

As we all know, the kitchen is usually the most active and occupied part of a home. People like to eat, socialize, and experiment - all of which are greatly accommodated by a functional and aesthetic environment.

So let’s take a look at 10 chic kitchen staging tips that will help you optimize and invigorate your kitchen space for an open house.

5 Must-Use Tips for Kitchen Staging

In this article, we will separate the tips into two categories: must-use tips and additional tips. The former being of greater importance, and the latter of lesser importance.

In any case, both have a tremendous impact, so it’s best to combine them all for maximum effect.

If you're looking to sell your house quickly, this guide might help you out.

1. Remove, Deplete, Declutter

For an open house preparation, you always want to start off with removing, depleting, and decluttering a room of your identity. A buyer wants to enter a room, envision their own creativity, and think about what they can bring into the room.

Sure, your art, small appliances and other objects can provide that lively comfort - but a blank look always captivates with the free range of space and possibility. So make sure to declutter.

Remove everything on the countertops, and if you decide to put something back, it must only be for staging purposes.

Remove all personal belongings, such as magnets, mail, cards, and notes. Put them away for future access, if needed.

Make sure to collect all technological devices and put them away as well.

Get rid of all small kitchen appliances - starting with blenders, ending with towel holders.

In any case, the importance of decluttering lies in the freedom that is provided to the potential buyer. After all, they are looking for “their” home, not yours.

2. Clean Vigorously

The next step is directly affected by the first. If your kitchen is cluttered, cleaning will be much more difficult. So proceed with the first, and then the second.

You might think that getting new things to stage the kitchen is a great way to up the value, but in reality, a buyer is looking for a clean and well-kept environment.

Clean every corner, every handle, every countertop, every window, every cupboard. Clean inside your fridge, oven, and microwave.

Cleanliness = maintenance. If you have a clean kitchen, you probably have a clean home. That’s the logic behind it.

3. Invigorate With Nature

A set of windows is a great start for any kitchen. However, you can and should extend the presence of nature in your kitchen.

If you possess a windowsill, place some potted plants - get some fresh herbs growing. Having any sort of natural involvement in your kitchen is a necessary step to bringing life to an otherwise empty room.

The plants will greatly complement the previous decluttering step, compensating for the lack of all unnecessary junk.

4. Color Block

Most kitchens are created in a very neutral manner; they don’t have much going on. Bi-tonal or single tones are very common. For the purposes of kitchen staging, color blocking is a wonderful thing to pursue.

Choose some sort of accent color from any other of your rooms, and try to integrate it into the kitchen naturally. Get the same color accessories, cookware, towels, or potholders.

A functional rug can be used to implement the color as well. And if you have open shelves, try to limit the color scheme within them - get rid of the rainbow of assorted glassware.

5. Look at the Floor and Ceiling

Depending on your current floor and ceiling situation, you may or may not need this step. However, everyone should take a look at their floors and ceilings to determine for themselves.

If you have hardwood floors, they are most likely damaged in some places. Isolate, remove, and replace. Get a sander from a friend and go over the entire floor. Stain the boards with a rich color - go from drab to captivating within a day.

If you have any tiled floor, you can also maintain it. You can replace old pieces or just polish all of it to add a lively shine.

Anyhow, everything said about the floor can also be said about the ceiling. If you have a dirty ceiling from smoke rising or kids playing around, make sure to clean it up. Go over it with fresh paint to create a new look.

5 Finishing Touches for Kitchen Staging

Now that we’ve covered the must-use tips, let’s move on to the final touches, which you may or may not be interested in pursuing.

The first part was practically covering the process of creating a blank canvas. In this part, we will take a look at minimal upgrades and additions to empower your kitchen showroom.

Also, make sure to check out this home-selling checklist to help determine how prepared your home is.

6. Change Your Pulls and Knobs

Depending on the age of your home, you may or may not have outdated and ancient knobs and pulls.

Replacing them can be quite simple. However, if your new hardware cannot accommodate the same placement as your old one, then you’re in for some work.

For example, if you are attempting to replace drawer pulls with knobs, you will have visible holes left. You will have to fill them in and paint over, which can take time and distract you from other open house activities.

Nonetheless, all problems have a solution. So it’s up to you.

Any type of metal bar or knob will provide that sleek modern look, especially if you have a smooth marble surface in the vicinity. Wood pulls will provide a traditional look that some homes have.

7. Change up Your Cabinets

A real estate agent can often recommend replacing your kitchen cabinets to increase the value of the home, however, this can be costly.

But there is an affordable solution to reinvigorate and modernize your kitchen without changing the cabinets. Fresh paint! If you’re looking to save some money on your kitchen staging, fresh paint is the way to go.

For this step, you can either go over with the same color or create something completely unique to the kitchen.

Remember the previous color block step, and keep it in mind when choosing a paint color. Either counter it or use the same color to create a pop in the room.

In any case, make sure to choose a paint that has a hard finish, so that it can resist regular kitchen wear and tear.

8. Organize Staging Appliances

Remember when we said that you can put some appliances back? Well, this is the time to do it.

But don’t start putting everything back - carefully think about what you’re going to reintroduce to the kitchen. Perhaps you want to buy new appliances for staging the kitchen.

Start with organizing all of the things on display by color. Develop a cohesive look. Rearrange pantries and cabinets.

Make sure that everything is in order and looks cared for. Organize the food in the fridge, if you have any.

Go out and buy some colorful fruits; put them out on display. Polish the countertops and place a cutting board in a pretty manner.

Use a knife block by the sink. Get some magnetized potholders.

The sky is the limit. Organization = adding or removing. So decide what is right for you.

9. Remove or Add Furniture

Your kitchen may or may not boast any type of furniture. For example, you might have bar stools. If you have many, try to leave two. Having too many chairs is daunting on the eyes.

Nonetheless, it is best-recommended to tailor to your guests. If you have a family coming in, leave all the chairs. If it’s a couple, leave two. You can also replace the table or remove it completely.

10. Lighting Is Key

You can either make or break your staged kitchen with lighting. No matter how clean, rich, and appealing your kitchen looks, it will always look worse in poor lighting.

Natural light is preferable, so if you have screens, get rid of those. They dampen the light by a significant portion. If that’s not enough, go get some white lightbulbs to replace your current, fading bulbs.

Having a bright source of light helps support an energetic, captivating, and shiny environment.

With all of the previous steps, the light will bring out the best in everything that you have done. Clean surfaces will shine, colors will pop, appliances will silhouette - the entire look of your kitchen will be lively.

Kitchen Staging Done Right

Now that we’ve covered 10 chic tips for kitchen staging, you are well on your way to preparing your kitchen to be its best self for the open house.

By combining the simplest solutions like cleaning and organizing, you’ve already set yourself above other open houses in the area. Not to mention that each and every other tip will add on, making your kitchen a more powerful statement piece with each implementation.

Whatever you choose to do, it will be right for you. So go play around, experiment, and get your kitchen looking right before your guests arrive.

In case you're planning on taking listing pictures, check out this article on bad pictures and what you can learn from them.