When it comes to staging your home, many sellers get it wrong. These tips will ensure you get it right.

Napkins stuffed in wine glasses, rose petals in the bath tub, cookies baking in the oven… They seem like nice touches for your open inspection, but clichés like these can appear tacky, overkill, and potentially turn buyers away.

Buyers today expect a high level of presentation when viewing houses, but if every room is staged like a cheesy magazine spread, it can appear ‘salesy’ as though you’re trying to pull the wool over your buyers’ eyes. 

Clearly, you don’t want to present your home in its natural state (clothes strewn across the floor and a kitchen sink full of dirty dishes), but there’s a skill to successful home staging that requires taste and subtlety.

Staging your home to sell: The 4 golden rules

When it comes to staging your home, it’s possible to go too far and put buyers off. If you want a successful sale, stick to the things that work.

So, what are the basic home staging tips that do sell a home? Read on.

 1. Space

If you’re serious about selling your home, all those china cat figurines, frilly pink cushions and eclectic book collections need to go. These things may have sentimental value and appeal to you, but they’re not everyone’s taste. Try to appeal to the broader audience by de-cluttering and creating a sense of space and harmony (you can save your frilly cushions for your new home ).

2. Cohesion

Home staging consultant, Wendy Brown, from Hillside Interior Design advises, “There are many different types of homes from modern contemporary to traditional. You need to choose a style that complements your home and ensure it flows through every room. Cohesion is so important when it comes to home staging.”

3. Style

These days, style sells. Some people have it naturally, others need a little guidance. It’s about adding touches that take a room to the next level making it look eloquent and contemporary. It’s the combination of colours, patterns, fabrics and accessories that pull together to create a desired effect. Houzz offers some great tips and advice on how to style-up your home.

4. Engagement

Co-founder of Shift Property Styling, Adam Luttrell, says, 

“You want to show buyers how they can engage with each room. So, if a lounge room has an attractive fireplace or view, your sofas and chairs should face that feature to make the most of it. I’m often amazed how many times buyers try out the bed because they want to see how a bedroom will feel when they wake each morning. They judge a house on how they engage with it. If it feels awkward, they’ll be put off.”

 

Never underestimate your buyers…

The truth is buyers are more sophisticated than ever. They won’t be blinded by tacky home staging techniques. So get rid of the clichés and stick to the things that work.

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