7 DIY Home Staging Tips

Photo: @sidekix

Having been stuck indoors for most of the last year, the number of people who have grown tired of their house and are seeking a new place to call home is understandably increasing. Most of us have never spent so much time at home and it’s inevitable that we’ll start to notice the things about our humble abodes that never annoyed us before. That bad paint job in the spare room, the unloved kitchen that’s just not pushing your buttons anymore, the outdoor space that’s no longer bringing you joy, or the lack of a garden that your green fingers have been longing for.

Your home may have been good to you over the years, but for a lot of us there comes a day where it’s simply time to move on. But although you may have fallen out of love with your home right now, it’s important to make sure that someone new can clearly see its charms and will want to snap it up and wrap it up in love again.

That’s why “staging” has become such a buzzword right now…how do we stage our homes that we no longer want, but really really want someone else to want??

What is Home Staging?

In much the same way as car dealers will clean up a car before putting it on the market, retail shops will style their mannequins just perfectly to tempt you to buy, and we’ll make an effort to look presentable going to a job interview; our homes too need to be looking their very best in order to allow prospective buyers to visualise themselves living there and entice them to make probably the biggest purchase of their lives. Home staging and interior styling is designed to show off your property in its best possible light.

The fact that staging your home for viewings can add an average of 10% on to the selling price means that more and more people are turning to professional home stagers to come in and work their magic. But for many, that extra cost is just not feasible at the moment, no matter how tempting it sounds. Well, you don’t always need to hire a professional stager to allow your home to create the very best first impression and let it sell itself!

Here are our tips for staging your home for sale, without the need for an expert…

Photo: @beazy

1. Clutter Be Gone!

It may seem obvious, but one of the most off-putting things for a potential buyer when viewing a house is walking into rooms filled with clutter, mismatched furnishings and, when there are children involved, usually the reality of chaos that comes with juggling family life. When viewing a home, we want to transport ourselves to an alternate reality where life is calm, the cushions are karate-chopped just right, and there’s not a discarded kids’ toy in sight. We want the dream, not the reality!

One rule to go by, is to remove as many personal items on show in your house as possible. That means taking down the, however artistic, kids’ drawings on the fridge, clearing the counters of the bundles of tupperware accumulated over the years and even taking down the family photos that make the home YOURS, not THEIRS! Think of what you would want to see at a showhouse, or an Airbnb that you’re renting and try to match that minimalist style.

In fact, pack away as much of what you don’t need for everyday life as you can, and put it into storage if possible. It may seem like an annoyance and a pretty big undertaking right now, but it really is worth it for that potential 10% price increase along with the prospect of a faster sale. You’ll have to pack up everything eventually anyway, so the sooner you do it, the sooner you’ll get a sale, and the sooner you can move on to your own new dream home.

That’s not to say you must get rid of everything completely. Simple touches like placing bits and pieces away in stylish storage baskets or confining the personal items to one dedicated space, perhaps with the use of minimalist shelving, can allow your home to offer a greater sense of space and calm. Giving the viewers a blank canvas on which to build their own perfect vision for their new home.

You might also want to have a play about with moving your furniture around to create as much open, walkable space as possible and allow the buyer to envisage where their own furniture could fit. Have a bulky extra piece of furniture that will not be coming with you to your next home? Now is the time to get rid of it!

Photo: @andreaedavis

2. Focus on the Important Rooms

If your budget for getting your home ready for sale is tight, then there’s no point wasting it on rooms that are known to not be as important in the viewing process. Research has shown that the rooms that hold the most importance for viewers are the kitchen, bathrooms, living room, master bedroom, and outdoor space. So, yes, you should make sure the other rooms are clean, tidy and clutter-free, but really you should focus primarily on making sure the main rooms are going to give that wow factor.

Make space in the kitchen cupboards so they don’t look full and scream “there’s not enough storage in this house”, and, if possible, try to present the kitchen as though it’s not a mash-up of different styles. Fresh fruit on display in matching baskets can really bring a homely feel to the kitchen, and, of course, make sure there are no dirty dishes lying about.

Clear the bedside tables and replace pictures and personal items with decorative candles that exude calm and create a cosy and tranquil atmosphere. Use storage baskets in the bathroom to hide rafts of toiletries (maybe keep a few nice ones on display like they do in hotels). Steam clean the furnishings in the living room and make sure your curtains or blinds are fully open to let in as much natural light as possible, and if you have a garden, make sure it’s freshly neat and tidy as well. Sometimes the simple things really are the most effective.

Photo: @lianamikah

3. A Whiff of Success

Have you heard of the term “nose blind”? Unfortunately, it’s something that can befall us all. We get so used to the smells, whether good or bad, in our homes that we no longer notice them or even think about what other people smell when they come through the door.

Keep your shoes by the door? Put them away. Piles of dirty laundry? Wash them or hide them far, far away. Like to cook herby or spicy meals for dinner? Hold off on them for a while. Have a dog that just loves to roll about in things it shouldn’t? Well, I don’t really have an answer for that, but maybe try and make sure he or she stays out of mischief for a while. Some people even choose to ask a relative or friend to look after their pets while they are in the process of showing their house. I’m not saying you need to go that far, but it is important to be just as aware of how your house smells as you are of how it looks.

Don’t go overboard on the air freshener though. It’s thought that some people actually associate the smell of overpowering air freshener with there being “something to hide”. Instead, candles and diffusers that let off subtle pleasant smells are perfect for creating a nice ambience and calming aroma to the home. Open the windows to let the fresh air fill the house, and maybe time a laundry wash so the smells of fabric softener scream “clean!” (but make sure there’s no washing hanging up on the radiators when the viewers come!). You could even go as far as trying that age-old selling trick of baking a fresh loaf of bread and putting it on display so its aromas waft through the house! After this year, surely we’re all experts at baking sourdough and banana bread by now, right?

Photo: @jorgendejorge

4. Go Neutral & Natural

Creating a blank canvas allows your prospective buyers to really imagine themselves living in your home, without the glare of having to see their way past décor that, although probably perfectly lovely, may not be to their taste or match their styles. By using neutral tones throughout, lifted by minimalist pieces that create a homely feel, it’s almost guaranteed your buyers at least won’t leave saying something like, “erm, I think I like it, but that colour just HAS to go!”. Bold colours and design choices will likely just give your potential buyers something to add to their cons list.

If possible, think about painting over any loud walls in neutral tones like grey, white or taupe, replace or remove showy soft furnishings and carefully place minimalist design features such as well-maintained plants, natural pampas plumes and natural storage solutions that work to create a sense of calm and neutrality. Natural pieces and materials in the home can not only instil a tranquil ambience, but they are also known for their health and mood-boosting properties. And we certainly want our prospective buyers to leave in a good mood don’t we!

Allowing as much natural light into the property as possible also helps to show your rooms in their best light. Wash the windows, open the curtains and remove any bulky items that might be blocking the light coming in from outside. Additionally, make sure to turn on the lights in every room before every showing to make them appear brighter and more spacious, and for dark corners use table lamps and floor lamps with warm (2700k or less) low wattage bulbs.

Photo: @campfire_guy

5. Show Some Versatility

This one is a little harder to master if space is of a premium but, if possible, it’s good for buyers to be able to see multiple uses for certain rooms in the house. If you have a spare room or garage, maybe spend some time turning it into a cosy home office or even a home gym, to show prospective buyers that this house is perfectly adaptable for the “new normal” that might be facing us all over the next couple of years.

If spare rooms are out of the question, maybe think about creating little areas in the rooms that you have, to show their versatility. Create a reading nook in the corner of the living room by moving the armchair and adding a tidy bookshelf. If there’s space, pop a desk and chair into the living or dining room to show working from home is possible, or maybe even create a little yoga or meditation area in the bedroom.

Photo: @hannahbusing

6. Dress to Impress

Whilst clutter and too many items on display can certainly devalue a property, carefully placed, fresh and healthy plants and flowers can really lift the atmosphere in any room. Try not to go overboard though. A nice, neutral style vase with a small bunch of flowers in the kitchen, a well-kept house plant (that looks alive and fresh) in a pretty seagrass basket in the corner of the living room, along with just a couple of succulents dotted around, should be enough to add some life and freshness to your rooms.

Photo: @beazy

7. Keep It Fresh

Finally, there’s nothing that screams freshness quite like a fresh lick of paint. If the paintwork in the important rooms is looking tired, it really is worthwhile applying a new coat. The smell of fresh paint also lets people know that you’ve really looked after the property and that they’ve no need to add “repainting” to their to-do-list. Even if you don’t have time to completely repaint the house, making sure to touch up any visible marks and patches, redoing or cleaning the grout or silicone in the bathroom and filling any holes in the walls. Make Magic Eraser your new best friend! It works a dream for removing scuff marks.

You’re might be exhausted just reading this, but trust me, the effort will be worth it!

Good luck with your sale, and make sure to take a look at some of our beautiful homeware pieces that might help with obtaining that natural, neutral style.