When you’re selling your house, it’s essential to make the right first impression on potential buyers. One way you can guarantee wow-factor is by opting for home staging.
So, what do we mean by home staging?
Home staging also goes by the name “property styling”. A professional will come along and decorate your space with furniture and other items to create a certain aesthetic that potential buyers can see themselves living in.
Once you’ve done the hard work of cleaning and boxing up all your personal items, a staging expert will add in their own props.
Instead of being your home, it now becomes a show home that visitors can visualise themselves living in and putting their stamp on.
Do I need to hire a professional home stylist?
Home staging is not for the faint-hearted. It can cost anywhere from £500-5000 or a certain percentage of the sale price.
However, it may be a worthwhile investment, as it can increase the sale property of your home – Right Move puts it at 8%, but some sources report as much as 20%.
The cost you pay can be worked out by the number of rooms you want styling, whether the property is still being lived in and how much they have to do to get it looking great.
Benefits of using a pro
- With a design expert, you can rest easy in the capable hands of someone who knows what they’re doing.
- They’re well-versed in all the latest trends, yet know how to adapt modern décor to suit a wider audience.
- They also know where to get their hands on props and furniture for a short time, so you don’t have to buy anything outright.
- Using an expert removes stress – when you’re trying to do everything yourself, decorating is item less on your to-do list.
- They also know the secrets to a home styling that you may not have thought of, such as creating an atmosphere for all the senses.
Is it necessary to use a home stager?
We all dip our hands into home staging to some degree – such as putting out the posh soap and towels when we have visitors.
When you’re moving, you may give the walls a lick of paint to rejuvenate the space and take away excess piles of clutter, but you can do so much more without hiring an expert.
Here are some ideas:
Remove any photos or items that you love that might not be to everyone’s taste.
While it’s great to embrace your individuality in your home space, the idea is to establish a blank canvas that your potential viewers can see themselves living in.
Think inside the cupboards
You may not think of this, but the insides of your cupboards are just as important as your surfaces. People like to have a nose to see how much storage space will be available to them. They don’t want to see your mess, but more importantly, too much clutter will disguise the amount of storage space.
Eliminate multipurpose spaces
While you may enjoy multi-purpose spaces, such as a TV lounge /diner/office arrangement in your main reception room, for the purposes of viewings, give each room one function. If you have a bedroom you use for storing boxes, consider turning it back into a bedroom.
Make use of some basic props, e.g. a throw, a vase, a candle, but remember less is more.
Here are some of the most essential products:
- Get out the good towels – and make the family use the old ones to dry off. Roll them up stylistically according to your colour theme.
- Get out the Febreze if you’ve got animals.
- A brewing a coffee pot is an essential.
- Candles, diffusers and air fresheners.
- Hardback books strategically placed on your shelves or table tops.
- Fresh flowers
Be ruthless
If something is looking past its best, it’s time to get rid (or put it into storage).
Sweat the small stuff
That dripping tap that you can’t hear anymore, you’ve had it so long? The handle that comes out the door every time you pull it? The window that sticks when you try to open it? It’s time to sort it all out. You never know what the viewers will find important.
Clean the carpets
Hire a carpet cleaner if they’re looking a bit stained and dirty. Even if you can’t get the marks out completely, they will look fresher.
Don’t forget outside
Viewers love to have a look outside the house into the garden, so cutting the grass and removing anything that doesn’t belong. Clear your patio and get rid of any weeds growing between the flags. Is now maybe a good time to paint the outside of the house? Get on it!
Use social media for inspiration!
We’re so spoilt with Pinterest, Instagram and design blogs, so now is the time to make use of them for engaging reading and vision boards of how your staged home could look. Have some fun with it.
If it helps, imagine the one person in the world you’d be terrified of coming to your home – They’re now going to pay you a visit: a scary mum from your child’s school, or maybe your own scary mum. Or perhaps the Queen is coming for tea! How would you make sure your home is fit for them? Your viewers are far more important, so give them your best shot.
We can eliminate some of the clutter. Get in touch to find out how.