When you’re selling your home in Nashville (or elsewhere in Tennessee), your REALTOR® will probably talk to you about home staging. Staging is a big deal – it’s the act of making your home as appealing as you can to prospective buyers. One way to do that is by using plants. However, it’s not as simple as tossing a few potted plants around your home. This guide explains how to effectively use plants in home staging.

7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging

Plants can really make a space feel alive, and that’s what buyers love to see. In fact, when you can bring a bit of the outdoors inside, buyers are more likely to enjoy the time they spend in your home. That means they leave with a more favorable impression than they otherwise would have. Check out these seven secrets to using plants effectively in home staging:

  1. Choose the right plants
  2. Highlight must-see areas with plants
  3. Put your plants on stands
  4. Be careful with the pots you pick
  5. Mix-and-match plant types
  6. Use plants to create scale
  7. Never use fake plants

Scroll down for a closer look at each.

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Secret #1 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Choose the Right Plants

Not all plants are created equal. Be careful about the types of plants you choose, and avoid any that could contain possible allergens; you should also avoid those that need a lot of attention to thrive. Pick low-maintenance plants that don’t need tons of direct sunlight or precise watering schedules; that way, you’re not creating a lot of extra work for yourself (and you don’t have to worry about buyers noticing all the half-dead plants in your home).

7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging - Choose the Right Plants

Secret #2 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Highlight Must-See Areas With Plants

Be strategic in your plant placement. Put plants in areas that you want buyers to notice, as well as in unused spaces to give those areas more purpose. For example, if you have a fabulous fireplace mantel, adding a flowering plant may be the perfect touch. Likewise, if you have an unused corner in your living room that looks a bit awkward, placing a tall, tree like plant there can improve the space’s look.

Related: 7 tips for first-time homebuyers

Secret #3 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Put Your Plants on Stands

If you want to add a plant to a room but don’t have enough surface space to do so without creating a “cluttered” look, invest in a plant stand. An attractive and simple plant stand can add character to nearly any room, and it creates a streamlined look that shows you carefully planned your decor.

7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging - Pick the Right Pots

Secret #4 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Be Careful With the Pots You Pick

When you’re choosing pots for your plants, don’t pick any that will steal the show. Your plants are accents, so they shouldn’t distract buyers from what they’re really there to see: Your home. Additionally, plastic pots and plain terra cotta pots should be off the table for indoor decor. (However, sometimes they’re okay outdoors, so if you’re adding plants to your porch or outdoor living space, take that into consideration.)

Secret #5 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Mix-and-Match Plant Types

Try not to put carbon copies of the same plant in every room in your home. Switch things up a bit! In one room, you may have a peace lily, and in another you may have mother-in-law’s tongue and English ivy. The key is to create a wonderfully varied look by using plants without buyers actually realizing that they’re there.

Related: 15 home staging tricks most people don’t know

Secret #6 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Use Your Plants to Create Scale

The right plants can help buyers get a good feel for the size of your home, whether they are looking at photos online or they’re touring it in person. For example, a weeping fig or bamboo in the corner can draw attention to how high your ceilings are. A small dracaena can show how large your kitchen window is. You get the picture!

7 Secrets to Using Plants in Home Staging - Never Use Fake Plants

Secret #7 for Staging Your Home With Plants: Never Use Fake Plants

Fake plants don’t convey the fresh look buyers love to see in staged homes, so if you have to choose between fake plants or no plants at all, just skip them altogether. If you currently have fake plants, you may want to put them in storage until you can enjoy them in your next home.

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