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Styling for sale: 9 expert staging tips

May 29, 2020 Leave a Comment

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Styling a home for sale is a lot different to how you style it for yourself. The following tips and photos are taken from the new coffee table book, Property Stylists of Australia 2020, produced by the International Institute of Home Staging (IIHS).

Image: Styleness

Donโ€™t style to the latest trends
Trends come and go and so it is important to style with items that are as timeless as possible. Select furniture that is neutral and classic with simple lines and then mix it with dรฉcor that is on trend, without polarising buying groups.

Ensure the house has a โ€˜soulโ€™
Itโ€™s not only vacant properties that are presented with no furniture and accessories that have a lack of โ€˜soulโ€™. Sometimes, the way we live means that we think our home is perfectly fine but it lacks โ€˜soulโ€™, particularly in the eyes of buyers. By a โ€˜soulโ€™, I mean that feeling you get when you walk into a home and get that comforting, warm all over feeling – the feeling that you would really like to live right here.

Buyers are not just looking for โ€˜prettyโ€™ when they inspect a property. To ensure a buyer develops an emotional connection, three of the major senses need to be involved. Lovely, but appropriate furniture and accessories are just part of the experience. Creating the right environment with scent, touch and sight are all important to us. Try lighting a scented candle to begin the staging and styling.

Image: Staging Designs

Maximise the space
Less is more when styling to sell. Too much furniture or large oversized furniture can reduce the size of a room and too many accessories can make a space feel cluttered. Appropriately sized furniture needs to be placed so the traffic can flow within the property. Buyers need to feel that there is plenty of room and the traffic flows smoothly. Similarly, itโ€™s great to have beautiful items such as books, vases, flowers, plants and cushions for the buyer to connect to but keep it simple and stylish with beautiful textures, so as not to overcrowd the area.

Stay true to the architectural design and location
When staging a property for sale, it is so important to style it in a way that is sympathetic to the original design of the property. A heritage house in the Hunter Valley will be styled differently to a modern new build beachfront property. The property is different along with the target market, and it needs to be styled accordingly.

This does not mean of course that we only use antique or dark furniture in heritage houses, it simply means we pay a โ€˜nodโ€™ to the period by using a more classic style that will still appeal to a more modern buyer.

Pay attention to symmetry, proportion and balance
It is quite difficult to cultivate that homely feeling when proportions of furniture and symmetry are out of whack, or if there are too many furniture pieces in the one small room. Symmetry and proportion are important rules to follow so the space doesnโ€™t feel cluttered โ€“ or for larger areas, to avoid the space feeling completely empty!

Image: Tweak Home Staging

Style using layers, textures and organic elements
Start with a base and build the layers from there. Layers can be created with flooring, furniture and drapery or a rug, sofa and cushions or coffee table, tray and greenery. Layers are just as important in the lighting options used in a room. They consist of task lighting, ambient lighting and general lighting. These layers help easily explain the function and set up the desired ambience of the room.

Including textures within the layers provides a visual diversity, giving the eye many exciting places to settle. Textures help create the exact feeling you are wanting in each space and are perfect when styling for particular seasons. Light cotton and linens with smooth silks for the summer and chunky knits and plush cosy velvets for the winter.

The final touch is to add elements, and the first one is always greenery. Plants play an essential part of styling. They bring life, colour and texture to the room. By combining organic elements such as wood or shells and adding a metal element, you achieve layers and a diversity of textures in the styling.

Image: Right at Home Staging

Colour
Integrate the colours of a space as central source of inspiration for the colour palette applied throughout the room or the story/personality that you are trying to create. A related colour palette partnered with techniques such as layering, or complementing accessories that use textures, shape, colour and visual interest, create a flow-on effect from room to room, and keep all spaces working cohesively together.

Good return on investment
The word โ€˜investmentโ€™ is a very accurate descriptor of how staging and styling to sell should be assessed. That is exactly what it is, not a cost or a price โ€“ it is an investment in realising the highest sale price that would be paid by a potential buyer for the property. Spend those staging dollars in the areas that are the primary focus of the potential buyer pool. There are however absolute โ€˜must doโ€™ areas, in my opinion. These include the master bedroom, living areas, any room or area directly off the front entry (including the entry and home office), dining spaces, patios and decks (especially in the nicer weather months).

Make an emotional connection
This final golden rule is one that can truly make the difference between buyers wanting to buy your home or looking elsewhere. Everyone leads busy lives and more and more buyers want a home to feel like a sanctuary, so the little details matter and are key to making that connection with a buyer.

Think of it like decorations on a cake. The cake may taste delicious but without any decorations the cake will look bare and not as enticing.
The decorations for your home are all the little things, like the decorative cushions on the bed that provide a luxurious, relaxed feeling, reminding people of hotels and holidays. It is the touch of greenery and plants through the home that help to add life into a space. It is the textures and patterns in the soft furnishings and decorative accessories that can provide that homely feel.

Itโ€™s the combination of these small details that creates a cohesive and inviting space that showcase the aspirational aspects of the property and the lifestyle buyers can emotionally connect with. Remember, first impressions are everything, so make their first impression a lasting one!

IIHS is Australiaโ€™s premier home staging and property styling education and membership provider.

The book is available through all the stylists featured in it: Allure Property Styling | Casa Modello Property Styling | Dynamic Home Transformations | Naturally Styled Homes | Peony and Silk | Right at Home Staging | Simple and Savvy | Staging Designs | Styleness | Tweak Home Staging

Is home staging worth it? You bet it is! | Plant styling tips: expert ideas for apartment living

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Not many friends in life fall into the unofficial Not many friends in life fall into the unofficial family category and they're a special gift. So ends three weeks with @danisteve81 who left her husband and son in the UK (I'm forever grateful they lent her to me!) to come and cheer me up and help me in the most practical ways after I spent Christmas and New Year in hospital. There were tears and I miss her so much already but how amazing to have had all that time together as adults. Such a rare treat and would never have happened without having been through something so challenging. Silver linings and all that. So many other friends have also been incredibly thoughtful and kind. There aren't many times I'd say this without cringing but I am 100% blessed!

I still cannot believe we have been friends since we were 12! 12! Are you still close with your childhood besties?
The renovation of this 80s beach shack @camillo_ho The renovation of this 80s beach shack @camillo_house is a work of art and while almost every surface was updated, the decision to keep the original slate floor was genius if you ask us. 

Owner @clarehillier__ says: "With its purple, pink, red and brown tones, the slate was the starting point for our interior palette."

Come and check out the before and afters via link in bio now and read the reno story. It's a real beauty.

And you can book it for your next holiday too!

Blair Smith Architecture @kateshanasy

#slatefloor #slatefloors #80shouse #80sbeauty #camillohouse #interiorsblog #interiorsblogger #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #jenbishop #realreno #holidayhousesofinstagram #morningtonpeninsulahomes #morningtonpeninsula #morningtonpeninsulasmallbusiness #blairgowrie #blairgowriebeach #airbnbstyle
Me and my boys ๐Ÿ’— Me and my boys ๐Ÿ’—
Just a couple of dorks who've been friends for thr Just a couple of dorks who've been friends for three decades going out for a child-free dinner ๐Ÿ’“๐Ÿ˜
Excuse me while I die of a cute attack ๐Ÿฅฐ @damia Excuse me while I die of a cute attack ๐Ÿฅฐ @damianfrancis 

This doesn't happen often these days!
Hello friends! Just thought I'd say hi. Two weeks Hello friends! Just thought I'd say hi. Two weeks since leaving hospital and I'm doing much better than I expected to be at this early stage. A long recovery road ahead but making progress in how much I can move my arm and although I drag myself through some days non-stop yawning, others I can go for a little walk or out for lunch before collapsing on the couch! I can now tie my own hair back and put on a real bra which is very exciting ๐Ÿคฃ Having my bestie here to help us with the boys, drive me places and just be brilliant positive company is the best thing I could have asked for not to mention the many Dinner Ladies vouchers from friends! Thanks for all your kind messages, cards, flowers, gifts and offers of help โค๏ธ
I definitely feel like a statistic now but hoping I definitely feel like a statistic now but hoping to raise some awareness off the back of my misfortune (and also very lucky escape).

@newsouthwaleshealth have just put out this warning about a rise in serious bacterial infections. iGAS (invasive group A streptococcus) is what caused my necrotising fasciitis and sepsis.

Apparently there's similar happening in VIC too.

It's extremely rare but very serious nonetheless so please have a read and be aware of symptoms. I've linked to the article from a button via my link in bio.

#interiorsaddict #jenbishop #necrotisingfasciitis #groupastrep #groupastreptococcus #sepsis
While new technologies continue to shape the inter While new technologies continue to shape the interior design scene, one that has been getting a fair bit of traction of late isย marble-look porcelain. A cheaper alternative to natural stone, the latest printed porcelain tile technology makes it difficult to distinguish from the real thing.

Founded by husband and wife duo Anton and Rita Bourtsev, Sydneyโ€™s @kaolintiles has a unique offering in this space with over 100 different marble-look tile designs in small and large formats.

More via link in bio now.

#porcelain #porcelaintile #porcelaintiles #largeformattiles #largeformattile #marblelooktiles #bathroomtrends2023 #interiorsaddict #theinteriorsaddict #heartyourhome #realrenovations #goldsink #brasssink #jenbishop #kaolin #kaolintiles #interiorsblog #interiorsblogger
Promise this is the last wretched hospital photo I Promise this is the last wretched hospital photo I'll post and I hope to be home and with my lippie back on by Monday. You know it's serious when I'm lipstick free, right?!

This was about a week ago in intensive care. And although my arm is still bloody sore I'm now on a normal ward and no longer attached to any drips, drains or a catheter. I've come a long way.

This has been the most physical and mental challenge of my life but I'm through the worst. I kept my arm. The doctors saved my life.

I cannot say it enough times. If you're worried about your health, don't hang around. Things can change so quickly. 

A huge thanks to my amazing husband @damianfrancis We've had the hardest year yet and our marriage has never been stronger, even if my rings did get cut off my finger in hospital ๐Ÿ˜œ

As great of a job as he is doing at home with the kids, I cannot wait to get home now. Countdown is on to a new year and a fresh start.

And I can't say enough just how overwhelmingly grateful I am to all the medical professionals involved in my care, from the @healthdirectaus nurse who sent me to Emergency to the exceptional surgeons, doctors, nurses and support staff.

Happy New Year, everyone. Remember you never know what's around the corner and this is not a dress rehearsal!

And huge thank you for all your kindness here. Has been amazing while stuck in bed.

Xxx

For those who missed it, I was unlucky enough to get necrotising fasciitis. You'll have to Google it.
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About Jen Bishop

Jen Bishop is our owner and publisher and an experienced journalist and editor. Interiors Addict has been her full-time job for more than 8 years. She is married to Damian and mum to Sebastian and Charlie.

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