Open House Ideas That Even Pinterest Would Approve Of

What's a great way to drive traffic through a listing? Showings, good marketing, and of course open houses. Home buyers that are on the prowl for the "best of the best" have probably been to a few open houses already. How is yours going to stand out from the rest?

A clean house alone is a bare minimum. You need open house ideas that are engaging, fun, and leave a lasting impression. Whether it makes sense or not, home buyers care a lot about how a place feels. Your open house doesn't need to be perfect, but it does need to be put together. The best way to do this is to have a theme and stick with it.

4 Open House Themes to Craft the Perfect Feel:

1. "Cocktail Party"

I am not suggesting you buy booze for 40 people. I am suggesting you create the feel of a cocktail party. What are the main elements of a successful cocktail event? 1) People, 2) Drinks, 3) Music, 4) Food, 5) Sophistication. Create areas around the home that are pleasing to the eye and draw people to the best features. Inspire conversation with tantalizing treats and "freebies" that will make people feel welcomed and wanted.

Here are some party food ideas that are a little more sophisticated for this type of open house.

Also, think of decorating high-top tables like this – a few of these placed around the open house creates a put-together look while adding to the sophistication of the event. With tables like these, people will want to be around them and you can strategically place flyers and business cards on them.

2. "Homey"

This open house is centered around feeling comfortable and "at home." Crafting something that is warm and inviting characterizes this event. The smell of fresh baked cookies, soothing music, and "comfort food" creates the feel that visitors are walking into a safe place where they can relax and let their guard down. Think "snuggle up by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and your favorite book" type of event.

This will encourage people walking through the home to settle in and enjoy themselves. Adding nice touches like flowers, cookies, and candles creates a nice mood for this type of theme. You want people to feel comfortable so that when they leave they will associate good feelings with the experience and, ultimately, the home.

3. "Pinterest"

You guessed it, this is a Pinterest inspired theme. Literally, there are thousands of ideas to choose from. I've narrowed the search to "DIY Party Decorating Ideas" to make it a little easier.

Pinterest has many tutorials to choose from. Since free is generally always in, the DIYs (do it yourself) that you find are fairly cheap and easily reproducible. I'll have you converted into a Pinterest lover yet! The nice thing about this is men can also find things that work for them. Granted, a lot of the items you find can tend to be a little girly, but with a few modifications to any idea (colors, material, design), you can pretty much make anything you want. People LOVE Pinteresty things, so don't be shy with this one.

4. "Traveler's Guide"

Obviously, you aren't going on a road trip. What you are doing is showing a house and you want people to fall in love with it. What is an essential on a road trip? A map. You want to hit all the highlights on the way to your destination.

This can be as simple or complex as you want. Make a list of key features of the house/property you want to highlight and put it together on either some nice stationery or just a plain, old-fashioned Word Document and press Print! You do not have to be creative for this one. The goal is for it to look nice, but you don't need to spend a great deal of time or money on it. If you have Microsoft Office, it usually comes equipped with the Publisher application. Publisher has a number of ready-made templates for pretty much anything you could ever want to print. If not, even Microsoft Word has built-in templates to make your itineraries look great!

Wrapping Up

The goal with any theme you use is knowing who your audience is. What kind of feeling are you going for? If you are selling a high-class condo, the "Cocktail Party" would do nicely. The "Homey" theme would go well with a family home that is back on the market. The nice thing about all of these is you can tweak them to make them as fancy or personal as you want. It works well with any budget and timetable. People respond well when any event is well organized and put together – not to mention when they get to take freebies home. If they feel welcomed and safe on top of all that, you've already won half the battle.

To view the original article, visit the Showing Suite blog.