Present your property well - and reap the benefits!

Home Staging (otherwise known as House Doctoring) is becoming an increasingly popular service among sellers who want to stand out from the crowd, particularly in today's uncertain market where buyers have the upper hand. It is a concept that has travelled from the US, where in certain areas it is almost unheard of to put your home up for sale without having it professionally staged first. Why would you not want to get the most return from what is generally considered to be your largest asset?

Programmes such as "House Doctor" and "Selling Houses" have made people more aware of the fact that a house has to be presented well to attract buyers, and they offer many hints and tips on how to achieve this. However - each home is different - and requires different advice when staging. The art of Home Staging lies in creating a much sought after home for as little money as possible. The services can give a professional consultancy on where to spend this money - to ensure maximum effect, and many offer additional services to stage your home for you and add those all important finishing touches.

These services are a cost effective way of creating the right atmosphere in your home to turn a viewing into a sale. You don't get a second chance to make a first impression with a buyer, so it is crucial to get it right first time.

Once in your home - or when looking at the photos in the estate agents details - , you want viewers to imagine themselves in the space, therefore you need to create the right atmosphere and a blank canvas for them to make this process as easy as possible. Magnolia on all walls and completely taking away a homes personality can be as destructive to a viewing as having a highly personal décor and lots of objects on show - a Home Staging consultant can help to achieve the correct balance - using soft colours, the correct accessories and creating a lifestyle in the space.

My comany, Innerspace Interior Design, provides a wide variety of Home Staging services to the North West of England and UK wide. I believe that bringing in a professional can improve buyer appeal and create the WOW factor that viewers are searching for. It can improve the value of your house for a small cost, lots of creative thinking and plenty of elbow grease! A consultant will not have a personal attachment to the house in question, whereas a home owner more often than not will assume that if they are happy in their home just the way it currently is, others will be too.

Buyers will look for faults in a property in order to get a better deal on the price, so why give anyone a chance to offer less than your homes true value?. For example - If your kitchen looks tired, buyers will automatically think that they will have to fit a completely new kitchen, take 10K off their offer, and maybe more for their perceived inconvenience - whereas for a fraction of this amount, the kitchen could be made to look newer and therefore more sought after.

In this blog I aim to help you with any aspects of your home - whether it be for staging as this entry has concentrates on, or if you want to update your current home or get organised in the home. If you have any questions you would like answered please contact me on info@innerspaceinteriordesign.co.uk or see www.innerspaceinteriordesign.co.uk for more details.

10 Handy Home Staging Tips to get you started 1. Colour - Colour is vital when selling your home. The majority of people (and therefore buyers) prefer subtle colours that are quite neutral, and many will therefore be put off by a bright red living room, or a dark green bathroom. This is for 2 reasons - firstly the time and cost of getting it decorated to their tastes - and secondly, the feeling that they get when they see the room - they cannot see themselves in the room and therefore subconsciously feel negative about the house. Decorating in neutrals doesn't have to be dull either - neutral just means calming and soft, which could be a sage green, a dusky pink, or a cream.

2. Clean - Often underestimated - cleaning is probably the most crucial aspect of selling your home. With numerous new developments on the market, it is imperative to make your home appear as new' as possible. Buyers don't want to think of other people having used the bathroom and kitchen especially - and they also like to know that the house has been cared for. A dirty house can be a red flag that other more significant things have not been dealt with and they may have problems with the house at a later date. Just prior to a viewing I would always recommend hovering, and cleaning all taps and sinks to ensure that they are sparkling.

3. De- Clutter - You may think that your possessions don't matter when selling your home, as they will be going with you to your new home - but many buyers cannot see past them, and will focus on your lifestyle rather than whether the house is the one for them. You will need to pack all these things away once you move, so why not start early? At a minimum, store away any items that the buyers may not feel comfortable looking at (suggestive artwork, memorabilia, too many photos etc), as the buyer may feel that they are intruding into your personal space, and that will not help them to visualise themselves living there. If a buyer feels comfortable in your home they are much more likely to put in that all important offer. To Declutter successfully, I suggest a three tiered approach - Things that are of no use to you anymore, but still in good condition can be given away to charity, things that you want to keep but don't use on a day to day basis can be stored away in a loft or storage unit, and anything else should be shown to its best advantage in your home. This should enable the buyers to see more of the rooms that they are going to buy, and not be too distracted!

4. Space - Buyers are looking for space, and a larger home (or seemingly larger home) will earn you more money than a smaller home. Space can be created in a number of ways, including - furniture placement, use of lighter colours and fewer patterns around the room, De- cluttering, Adding good lighting and simply letting a buyer walk into a room first - all of these will accentuate the space you have in your home and make it appear great value for your buyers money.

5. Define each room - If each room in your home hasn't got a clear function - a buyer may think that there isn't space for it - a good example of this is a home with 2 reception rooms, but no dining room. It always adds money to show a dining room as a dining room - as a second living room will not have the same attraction.

6. Wow Factor - Add the WOW factor as much as possible to each room. This will leave the buyers with clear images of your home, and make it stand out from the others they have seen. Focal points such as a fireplace or a lovely view should be made to stand out and, if possible, should be the first thing that the buyer sees when they walk into that room.

7. Accessorise - Accessories can make a good room look great, if used well. I would suggest using no more than 3 colours in a room, with one colour being used for the majority of accessories. A variety of textures and shapes will also add interest - but don't overdo it!

8. DIY - Any unfinished jobs in your home, no matter how small and easy to fix they are, will cause the buyer to worry about what other issues have not been dealt with as yet. If it needs fixing - DO IT!

9. Ambience - Creating ambience in a home will send subliminal messages to a buyer that this is a place that they like and feel at home in. This can be done in many ways, including soft lighting, welcoming smells and subtle sounds. A buyer will not feel comfortable if they are not animal lovers and there is a large dog in the house, or if a teenager's music is blaring from their room. Make sure all the senses are being utilised, and in a positive way.

10. Storage - Buyers are looking for somewhere where all their possessions will fit easily - and good storage is on the top of many of their wish lists. If you have good storage, make the most of it and ensure that they buyers are shown how useful it is. However, if the cupboards are all full, and there are a lot of your possessions around your home, a buyer will assume that there is not enough storage for you, and therefore it will be too small for them also, and they will walk away. This comes back to point 3 - a good de-clutter will help to ensure that your home is shown to have as much storage as is needed.