Housekeeping: How to Style Your House to Sell it Fast
Autumn is one of the busiest times for house sales, so make your home irresistible to buyers with smart planning and professional staging
Often, the longer we live in our homes, the less we see them. This is fine during the day to day, but when it comes to selling your house, you need to view it with fresh eyes; in fact, with a potential buyer’s eyes! This means disassociating yourself from your property. Begin by telling yourself that this is not your home, it is a product to be sold, like a can of beans or a car. Let go of your emotions and focus on the fact that soon this house will no longer be yours. By looking forwards, not back, you can begin to make the changes that will turn your home into property catnip, irresistible to any buyer. Then simply follow these essential steps for a speedy, successful sale.
Declutter every room
Remove knick-knacks from shelves and clear everything off your kitchen worktops. Treat this as a useful way to get ahead with packing, and sort through possessions as you go, giving any unwanted pieces to charity.
Remove knick-knacks from shelves and clear everything off your kitchen worktops. Treat this as a useful way to get ahead with packing, and sort through possessions as you go, giving any unwanted pieces to charity.
Tidy inside cupboards
Buyers love to poke around, opening cupboard doors and snooping inside wardrobes. So give them a nice surprise by beautifully ordering these spaces. This sends a positive message. If your cupboards are this neat, you must take really great care of the rest of your home. It also suggests that this home is easy to run, with ample storage, and allows the buyer to believe that, if they buy it, they can live an uncluttered, organised life, too.
Buyers love to poke around, opening cupboard doors and snooping inside wardrobes. So give them a nice surprise by beautifully ordering these spaces. This sends a positive message. If your cupboards are this neat, you must take really great care of the rest of your home. It also suggests that this home is easy to run, with ample storage, and allows the buyer to believe that, if they buy it, they can live an uncluttered, organised life, too.
Pay attention to detail
Create an overwhelming sense of order and calm by being meticulous about how objects are arranged. In wardrobes, line up shoes neatly and hang shirts together, with hangers arranged in the same direction. In the kitchen, stack plates in neat piles, alphabetise spice jars and turn cup handles so they all point the same way.
Check out more ways to declutter your home
Create an overwhelming sense of order and calm by being meticulous about how objects are arranged. In wardrobes, line up shoes neatly and hang shirts together, with hangers arranged in the same direction. In the kitchen, stack plates in neat piles, alphabetise spice jars and turn cup handles so they all point the same way.
Check out more ways to declutter your home
Edit your furniture
Almost every room looks better with less furniture in it. So rent a storage unit and use it to stash some of your pieces. Remove any furniture that blocks walkways through rooms and store pieces that are tired or damaged, too. Create plenty of room for buyers to move around, leaving just enough furniture so they are clear about each room’s purpose. You don’t want them wondering: ‘What is this room for?’
Almost every room looks better with less furniture in it. So rent a storage unit and use it to stash some of your pieces. Remove any furniture that blocks walkways through rooms and store pieces that are tired or damaged, too. Create plenty of room for buyers to move around, leaving just enough furniture so they are clear about each room’s purpose. You don’t want them wondering: ‘What is this room for?’
Pack away favourite items
If you plan to take the curtains with you, take them down. If the chandelier over the dining table is a family heirloom that you will definitely never part with, pack it away. If buyers never see these items, they cannot want them. Once you tell a buyer that they can’t have certain pieces in the house, they will want them all the more, and this can ruin a sale. Pack them away and replace them if necessary.
If you plan to take the curtains with you, take them down. If the chandelier over the dining table is a family heirloom that you will definitely never part with, pack it away. If buyers never see these items, they cannot want them. Once you tell a buyer that they can’t have certain pieces in the house, they will want them all the more, and this can ruin a sale. Pack them away and replace them if necessary.
Make minor repairs
Every homeowner has a mental list of odd jobs that need sorting, from repairing leaky taps to patching chipped plasterwork and fixing the kitchen drawer that jams. Now is the time to do those jobs. If your DIY skills are limited, consider hiring a handyman for a morning or a day to blitz these small tasks.
Every homeowner has a mental list of odd jobs that need sorting, from repairing leaky taps to patching chipped plasterwork and fixing the kitchen drawer that jams. Now is the time to do those jobs. If your DIY skills are limited, consider hiring a handyman for a morning or a day to blitz these small tasks.
Consider a paint job
You may love your colourful walls, but don’t give buyers the excuse to simply remember your home as ‘the one with the bright pink bedroom’. It’s worth painting rooms in a neutral shade, as buyers often struggle to see beyond a bright scheme.
You may love your colourful walls, but don’t give buyers the excuse to simply remember your home as ‘the one with the bright pink bedroom’. It’s worth painting rooms in a neutral shade, as buyers often struggle to see beyond a bright scheme.
Check kerb appeal
First impressions start on the street outside, so pay your home’s exterior some attention. Make sure the front garden is neat and free of litter. Mow the lawn, prune plants and hedges and paint any faded window frames. Make sure your house number is clearly visible and that bins and recycling boxes are hidden. Plant some yellow flowers – sunny yellow is said by some to evoke a buying mood – and hire a pressure washer to blast paths and paving clean. Finally, stand outside your house and ask yourself whether, as a buyer, you would want to go inside. Does the house welcome you? The answer should be yes!
Read about how to hide recycling boxes and bins
First impressions start on the street outside, so pay your home’s exterior some attention. Make sure the front garden is neat and free of litter. Mow the lawn, prune plants and hedges and paint any faded window frames. Make sure your house number is clearly visible and that bins and recycling boxes are hidden. Plant some yellow flowers – sunny yellow is said by some to evoke a buying mood – and hire a pressure washer to blast paths and paving clean. Finally, stand outside your house and ask yourself whether, as a buyer, you would want to go inside. Does the house welcome you? The answer should be yes!
Read about how to hide recycling boxes and bins
Clean thoroughly
Make your home sparkle with a thorough clean. Wash windows inside and out, polish chrome taps and fittings, bleach grotty grout and dust everywhere. Try to vacuum daily, keep on top of mess and thoroughly air your home, too. In the bathroom, put out fresh towels and make sure the loo seat is down!
Make your home sparkle with a thorough clean. Wash windows inside and out, polish chrome taps and fittings, bleach grotty grout and dust everywhere. Try to vacuum daily, keep on top of mess and thoroughly air your home, too. In the bathroom, put out fresh towels and make sure the loo seat is down!
Take one last look
Linger in the doorway of every room and image how your house will look to a buyer. Make sure window treatments hang level and examine how furniture is arranged, moving pieces around if necessary. Does the room have impact and appeal? Does it look as though nobody lives here? Answer yes and your work is done!
Have you sold a property? Share your recipe for success in the Comments below.
Linger in the doorway of every room and image how your house will look to a buyer. Make sure window treatments hang level and examine how furniture is arranged, moving pieces around if necessary. Does the room have impact and appeal? Does it look as though nobody lives here? Answer yes and your work is done!
Have you sold a property? Share your recipe for success in the Comments below.
Pack up photos and family heirlooms and begin to depersonalise your space. Buyers should not be distracted by pictures of your auntie and cousins, and even your collection of paperbacks can send out signals, so tidy them all away. Buyers should be able to picture their own personal pieces in each room and they can’t do that if your stuff is there. They should not be speculating about what kind of people live in this home. You want them to be thinking: ‘I can see myself living here!’