For many people they have lived in their homes for many years and have become comfortable and used to the way their house has been set up. They often find it hard to visualize their property styled or set up in another way and believe the way their house is set up should be fine for wider buying market.
Below we list the common styling mistakes seen by our property styling team when visiting clients homes for consultations
Styling for your personal taste: we often arrange our homes to express ourselves – our travels, collections, families, favourite colours and unique personal tastes in decorating and furnishings. However, when selling a home the goal is the opposite – a clean, neutral, blank slate that will appeal to a wider audience of potential buyers.
You do not want viewing of your house to become distracting. Accent and feature walls are dated and we strongly advise to paint over these in a unifying neutral colour. Similarly your blue couches and bright floral 90’s bed linen may work perfectly and comfortably for you, but it isn’t allowing the potential buyer to see anything but your personality in the house. Studies show that a majority of buyers are unable to envisage what could be done to a property when it is poorly styled. It is best to neutralise furniture and add ‘moveable’ pops of colour such as cushions, accessories and artwork. Buyers know that this colour won’t be there when they move in, but it gives the house a warm and inviting feel.
Inappropriate furniture choices: your home should determine your choice of style. Don’t explore industrial themed furniture in a traditional style home. This will clash and look out of place. Similarly trying a coastal theme with light wood furniture on brown or dark wood floors will also be out of place.
Inconsistent styling theme: when styling rooms in your house for sale, its important not to think of them as a single entity. Every room in the house should tie in and connect to those around them in some way. If they don’t, the entire house will look disjointed. The overall feeling of the property should be one of balance and consistency. Having a range of styles of furniture throughout the house or worse, in the same room, will create a mixed match look that may clash. It’s important for a cohesive and attractive looking property to just pursue one style throughout your home, don’t explore traditional in your kitchen, contemporary/modern in your dining room and a coastal bohemian themed living room.
Overly staging the property: it is good to set the scene for buyers by including one or two vignettes. A vignette is a “scene” created by a group of accessories designed to compliment and highlight the rooms function or decorative details. However avoid overly staging rooms, such as a breakfast tray on a bed or fully setting the dining table. These are dated styling concepts and make the room appear busy.
Under-staging the property: there is too little furniture and sparse decorations making the home feel cold and lifeless. Highlighting special features and focal points with artwork and accessories is paramount for tying together the styling look of the property. Accessories enhance the furniture and architecture of your property. Accessorising makes rooms more visually appealing and photograph better. It’s the small details in accessories that is eye-catching to the potential buyer.
Ask yourself the following questions:
- Are you unsure how to set up the rooms in your house to maximize space and sale potential?
- Do you need some help styling and setting up your house to enhance its presentation for inspections?
- Do you feel like you need to modernize or update your home, but don’t want to buy new things?
- Do you have your property on the market and have had very few viewings from potential buyers?
- Do you have your property on the market but have received offers lower than expected?
- Have you had your property on the market for a long time?
If you answer yes to any of these questions then you need Home Moving Planners for professional house staging to present your home for sale.
