{Home Staging 101} Part 4: Staging Bathrooms

{This is part 4 in a series called Home Staging 101.  The lovely and talented Kym Tarr of Shoestring Home Staging is teaching us all how to stage a home for sale. Join me as I learn how to put my home's best foot forward!}

We have seven people in our house and one bathroom.  (Granted, 2 of those people are infants who don't have much use for a bathroom just yet.)  Which means that this bathroom is a work horse.  I need to make it look like the restful retreat I know it can be even though there are 5 people spitting toothpaste in there several times a day.  Here are the changes Kym Recommended for my bathroom:

Make it sparkle.   I scrubbed the tiles and grout, washed the baseboard, dusted the light, shined the fixtures, washed the mini-blinds (I've shared before about my simple way to clean mini blinds), and scrubbed everything.  Cleaning is the cheapest way to make any room look better!

Remove Personal Products.  I placed our bath products in a shower caddy that can be tucked in the linen tower between uses.  I wish I'd done this years ago!  There's nothing pretty about a bottle of body wash...tuck it out of sight!

Add fluffy white towels. Is there anything more luxurious and indulgent than fluffy white towels? I added some white bath towels on the edge of my bath tub and a white hand towel by the sink.

Add greenery or flowers. My bathroom almost always has a flower or two because they make me happy and my bathroom is where I go to hide from the children, er, um....I mean have a bubble bath and relax....

Kym also suggested that I remove the garbage can for showings.  Which, of course, is great advice. But I'm trying to keep my list of things to do before showings small because, let's face it, just getting things tidy and five kids out the door is going to be an ordeal! So instead, I made room under my vanity for the garbage can to live there full time.  This meant tucking products we don't use every single day in the linen closet and keeping only the necessities in the vanity cabinet.  It is worth it to have one less thing to think about on our way out the door!

We also replaced some loose tiles and removed some decorative shelves.  All in all, staging our bathroom was nearly free.

Here's the before and after pics of our newly staged bathroom:

Kym's top 3 tips for staging YOUR bathroom:

1.Make it cleaner than clean! Scrub down tiles, wash or change the blinds, curtains & shower curtains. Don’t forget shower door frames, window sills, light fixtures, baseboards and behind the toilet.

2. Ditch Carpets, seat covers and bath mats. They hold onto moisture and odors. Mats that fit around the pedestal of toilets and sinks look old fashioned.

3. Get rid of your ‘stuff’ When selling, clear every surface of all your day to day care products. Personal items distracts buyers. Limit counter top decor to a hand towel and pretty soap dispenser.

To learn more abut Kym Tarr and her virtual home staging services visit her website ShoestringHomeStaging.com.   You can also "like" her on facebook or follow her on twitter and pinterest.

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Home Staging 101 series:

Thanks for visiting The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking!