If your house is clean, decluttered and spruced up, you’ve already increased the marketability and perceived value of your home. Staging is like icing on the cake that sets a welcoming scene to entice buyers. You’re using emotion to show that your house isn’t just any house, it’s the home you want to come home to and should reflect the lifestyle of the area.
Sell the lifestyle, not the house
Here are some tips for irresistible DIY staging
- Add potted plants inside your home as well as out. Vases of flowers also make a room more appealing
- Add mirrors to cramped rooms to open them up and reflect light around
- Remove old and tired bed linen and replace it with clean, crisp, gender-neutral fabrics that appeal to all buyers.
- Rearrange the furniture in your lounge room so that it is symmetrically arranged to create an inviting conversation area.
- Pull furniture off the walls to create the illusion of space
- Declutter your closets and open the doors. Storage space can make or break a sale so make your storage space look more spacious by taking stuff out and organising it well
- Turn your junk room into a guest room to define and sell the space
- Stage the outdoor area – consider this an outdoor room.
Image: Donna Guyler Design, Paradise Point.
Image: Donna Guyler Design, Paradise Point.
Before open day, give your whole house the going over with a critical eye. Think in terms of buyer, not seller. What does the buyer see? If you don’t think your furniture is going to appeal to your buyer, considering having your home professionally staged. Pop your own items in storage, and a stylist can then set each room up to appeal to your potential buyers. Or, if your home is empty and you’re on a budget, you can also consider having each room virtually staged so buyers can see what each room could look like with furniture in it.
Interview with Tracey, Bungalow Home (Property Styling / Property Stager)
What are the benefits to having a home professionally styled for sale?
“Styling a property definitely makes a huge difference with regard to photography which in turns attracts more people to open homes. We receive regular feedback from Agents to say that their job is made a lot easier with good quality styling and photos. There are numerous homes that we have styled, that have sold in very quick timeframes after we styled them professionally, with at least 3 of those homes selling on the first open home for record prices.”
What can you expect with a home stylist?
“We provide a full property styling service. We generally style homes that are completely empty so that we can create a cohesive look throughout the property for the owner to achieve the best results. That involves everything from furniture, art, rugs, décor and even towels and soap! If an owner wants to try styling on their own, then I would highly recommend good quality bedding, cushions and art to make the largest impact – and decluttering is a must!”
Image: Bungalow Home
Image: Bungalow Home
Styling trends on the Gold Coast vs Sydney/Melbourne
“The Gold Coast is a very coastal city, so a lot of the time we find that a relaxed coastal style appeals to many buyers. In Sydney and Melbourne they look for a more edgy contemporary look. Having said that, we have a range of furniture styles available including contemporary, Hamptons, tribal and coastal. We always stage a home to suit its location, design and target market. For example, we would style a family suburban home very differently to a waterfront mansion. Either way, we style it beautifully to suit the market.”
Image: Bungalow Home
Let’s talk budget – what should someone expect to pay?
“To be honest, there is no set budget as every home has different requirements and so we provide an individual quote on each home. Some properties will require lots of artwork, where another has 3 living areas that all need to be dressed, so we prefer to visit the home before providing any costs to the vendor. On average a 4 bedroom home will start at aprox $7500 plus installation costs for a 6 week period, but we are always happy to work with owners to meet a budget that suits them. Perhaps they only want to style key areas of the home such as lounge, dining, master and outdoor entertainment areas. This can reduce the investment made by the owner in a styling campaign.”
Image: Bungalow Home