If you’re thinking about selling or renting out your home, getting it ready for viewings is crucial to ensuring that quick sale or rent. Here are Decology‘s top tips to style your home to sell or rent in order to maximise its value and ensure a positive outcome.
Create a blank canvas
We’re not saying you have to make it completely characterless, but while you may love a pink wall or a life-size mural of you and your dogs, the likelihood is that your potential buyers or tenants won’t. Dark or rich colours can make a room look smaller. People genuinely find it hard to see that great-sized living room hiding under overpowering décor. A neutral, light beige, off-white or even grey will both make a space seem bigger and airier, but also allow people to see it as a blank canvas and imagine themselves there.
Give every space a purpose
Sometimes when we live in a house for a long time, spaces get confused and suddenly you can’t really see what that dining room is actually for. Space is a premium and potential buyers and renters need to see the possibilities of each and every room or area. Stage each zone or room to give it a clear and specific purpose, such as study, reading corner, conservatory sitting room and not a general dumping ground or wasted space.
Organise and de-clutter
Of course all your pictures, photos and ornaments or knick-knacks may be sentimental or important to you, but to people who don’t now you, they just look like clutter and can very quickly overwhelm a space and make it seem smaller. Spend a weekend de-cluttering. Remove half your photos and ornaments. Invest in some shelving units and storage boxes (you can take them with you). Make the house look tidy and organised. Too much “stuff” just makes a house look messy and lacking in storage space. A big no-no.
Finish what you started!
Inevitably there will be areas of your home that have been works in progress for some time! Dedicate a weekend to finishing off all those little DIY tasks, particularly things like plumbing and tiling. Get someone in if necessary, to make sure it’s all done property (particularly for if you’re renting out your home, as you will be liable for anything that goes wrong).
Keep a tidy garden
Your home styling must include the outside areas too. It’s very important to always keep a tidy garden! This is the first impression that any tenant or buyer will get and a messy garden is not a good indication of how the inside is maintained. Give doors and windows a lick of paint. Screen off bins or move them to the back. Add some pots or hanging basket. Make sure your lawn is neat and well maintained. Throw out any broken outdoor furniture or old garden toys. Create a clearly defined area for outdoor seating.
Borrow some greenery
If you don’t have any outside space, it’s worth bringing in some greenery to breathe life into your home. Either use actual plants, plant accessories or make a feature of a window that looks out onto greenery. You can even bring in some garden style corner to a space near a big window.
All this may seem a chore, but the better prepared you are, and the more appealing you make your home, the quicker it will sell or rent and the sooner you can move on to your new home.
Feature photo source: Country Living
Article created for Decology – online interior design service.
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