Home styling, before selling your home, has become a very important part of maximising the potential value of your property. Specially within a very competitive market.
Preparing you home before putting property on the market - images Pinterest
Make sure your house is beautiful from the outside. Potential buyers will maybe drive by your property a few days before scheduling a showing. How can you pass this first test: see that the wood work is painted, give the entrance door a new coat of paint. Plants can make a big difference, it will give a fresh touch to the over-all look.
cleaning - decluttering images Pinterest
Start with decluttering and depersonalising your space. Find some tips on my blog post A Fresh Start. When all has found its place, the room will look bigger. You will anyway have to go through everything and see if you want to take it with or not, this is the perfect moment. Donate or sell unwanted items. Invest in some nice boxes to give it an organised look. And clean every corner in the house, it should be spotless.
Walk through the house with the eyes of a buyer, as if you would see it for the first time. Make notes as what you would notice as a buyer. So you can improve the weaker spots in the house and enhance the good things. Take out bulky furniture. When you have to many things in the room, the room will look smaller, once you take out this big armchair you will see that you can easily walk around and have visually more space.
taking out bulky furniture makes space look bigger
Maybe you should rent a storage space to store any personal belongings that might detract the attention of the buyer: family photos, collections, excess toys, religious items. Once you take out a part of your cloths your closet or walk in dressing will look more spacious. Storage space in general is a huge selling point, is one of the reasons people want to move.
organising - images Pinterest
I can imagine you are not into repainting the house you want to sell, but repainting will give it a clean look. Use neutral colours, the same colour throughout the house as it will make it look bigger, feel larger. You want to create an environment the buyer will love.
paining the walls in neutral colour - images Pinterest
Why staging? The objective is to help the buyer the see themselves in your home. This doesn't mean you have to buy a lot of new stuff. Sometimes, what's really needed is simply moving stuff around and repurposing it.
- you will make more money
- your home will sell faster
- you will earn the money you spend back
- your on-line photos will stand out, think also of hiring a professional photographer
Entrance will give the first impression
entrance is giving first impression - images Pinterest
Kitchen
- let the smell of coffee or fresh baked cookies fill the room
- no time to cook: a scented candle can do too, but please, no artificial spray.
inviting smell of coffee and cookies coming out of the oven
- kitchen: open a cooking book, it creates idea that it is perfect space to prepare lovely dinners
- a fruit bowl can add a splash of colour
give people feeling they want to move in tomorrow - images Pinterest
Living room
- put some fresh flowers in a vase, this will bring positive energy
- play some soft music, peaceful, on low, to create a calm and happy mood
- fill an empty corner with an armchair, a small table and some books: is creating a relaxing ambiance
take special care of lost corners - images Pinterest
- make an arrangement that will inspire for conversation
- draw attention to a special corner, add a colour to attract the eye
- arrange those paintings, which are scattered around the house
- remove any unwanted item from view: remote control, magazines, personal belongings
- no pets: they can be loud or adorable: one way or the other, they distract
decorate with some books, flower arrangement, but keep it simple - images Pinterest
Bathroom
- give it a spa-feeling
- add some candles and a small flower arrangment
- put some small soaps on a tray
- can be beautiful to have a nice selection of shower gels, body creams, in case it is a regular bottle out of the supermarket: take of the label and the bottle will get more allure
- take care to lower the toilet seat (which I think is always a good habit)
- repair leaking faucets
give a spa-feeling to your bathroom - images Pinterest
Bedroom
- take care you bed is made up with fresh ironed bedlinen
- add some nice pillows and a throw, they will add some drama, and bring a luxurious feeling to the room
adding pillows will give a luxurious feeling - images Pinterest
Some last tips:
- take care the house is always spotless
- decorate but keep it simple
- create an ambiance where the buyer wants to live
- invest some time and money, it will pay back and you will sell quicker
- contact a professional, if you have no idea where to start or feel un-secure to re-arrange
Succes!