Staging a House to Sell

by Charlotte
(Yorkshire)

This is my father-in-law's house in Yorkshire...

We worked on it a lot over the Christmas holidays, after a previous buyer pulled out at the last minute, but not before (allegedly) removing all the plants out of the garden...

We'd had to remove, and dispose of, all existing furniture, so that the buyer could move in...

...so we were left with an empty and very sorry looking house, to try to sell...

...a difficult job at the best of times, let alone in the middle of a recession, and the coldest winter in many a year...!

The bungalow had an old-person feel in it, and needed some modernisation, so, we set to, to modernise it, and give it a more contemporary, family feel...

...and just to make it feel a bit more homely, after sitting empty for more than a year, it really needed this!

Our job was made a lot more difficult by the fact the pipes had frozen, and burst, so we spent most of the time decorating in our coats, in temperatures around zero...

We had to buy new paint, as the paint we intended to use, which had been stored in our garage had frozen solid and was ruined!

Anyway...

Here's what we did...

Kitchen



The kitchen was very dated, so this is where we spent the most time and money...

Potential house purchasers will look at a kitchen, and if it looks dated, they'll work out how much it will cost them to replace with a brand new one of their choice...

If it looks modern, clean and usable, they'll think they can live with it, until they can afford one to their one particular tastes, so it won't be an issue...



Here, we left the kitchen carcass intact, but stripped away the worksurfaces/countertops and cabinet doors...

We found a reduced line in a local DIY store, in a light color (white) and glossy finish (great for a small space), in a main-stream style...

We matched this with a dark counter top, and white tiles (kindly put up by my sister-in-law, Janet), and picked up this black and white contrast with some nice metal cabinet handles (from our previous kitchen) and a new grey and black speckled flooring...

We chose a cool, pale blue for the walls, to keep the nice, light, open feel in the room, and to add to the 'clean' and 'hygienic' feel - always a good 'recipe' for a kitchen or bathroom makeover...



We added some warmer touches, too, to make the kitchen feel warm, homely, welcoming and lived in...

Some plants, tea, coffee and biscuit canisters, and bright tea towels give a cheerful touch...


Warm colors, such as reds, oranges and yellows, can help to warm up a cool feeling room, and give a really cheery touch...



The eventual buyers actually commented that the kitchen makeover was a big 'draw' for them - they'd viewed an identical bungalow just across the road - and it still had the original kitchen (like the one we'd just removed), which had certainly put them off!

Lounge

We spent some time doing the lounge too - again, this felt a little old-peopley, and, empty, looked rather shabby and un-loved...

We painted 3 walls in a warm taupe/stone neutral (try to keep colors in living areas warm in tone, for sale, as they appear more cozy and welcoming to potential purchasers)...

And wallpapered the third in a nice wallpaper (a reduced line!) with a modern, red, flower pattern...



We matched this with cheery red curtains, added a few vases and accessories, pictures on the wall, and with minimal furniture (but a brand new beige carpet) it was ready to go!

It gave a nice airy and open feel, but the warm (red and taupe/beige) touches, and carefully positioned accessories gave it that homely welcoming feel...

Bathroom

Not much to do in the bathroom, as it had had a new suite, and new tiles, fitted just the previous year...

...so we just made sure it looked welcoming, with some turquoise towels and accessories, to pick up the turquoises and blues in the tile trim....



The bedrooms and hall were kept tidy, clean and had pictures hung on the walls, so that they didn't look unoccupied, in spite of the lack of furniture...

We also painted the hall a nice, soft yellow, a very welcoming color, and great for reception areas...

It also helped to brighten the feel of the dark corridor (hallway)...

Total Cost: about £1000, including materials, but not including any labour costs

The house is, happily, now sold - it sold just as we were putting the finishing touches to our 'masterpiece'...

The new owners are now in possession, and we hope they will be very happy in their new home...

We're very pleased, though, with the simple touches we did to the house, to enable it to sell well, and so quickly...

It needn't take a lot of work, or cost a fortune to smarten up your home, to get a better chance of selling...

For more ideas for staging a home to sell, or getting your house to sell quickly, take a look at my section on help with selling your home

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