Home staging tips to speed up your sale

Home staging in the UK is increasingly popular. Professional companies can charge thousands of pounds for their services but we explain how you can get it for free. And read on to find DIY home staging tips too

Rebecca Gamble Consumer Journalist

When you’re selling a house, you’ll want to do everything you can to ensure your home sells faster and for a higher sale price. Home staging can help you achieve the highest possible price and speed up your sale too. Here’s everything you need to know about home staging — whether you choose to use a professional company or do it yourself.

What is home staging?

Home staging means styling your house so that it’s presented in the best possible light and appeals to a wide range of buyers. You can stage your home yourself or pay for US-style home stagers to come into your home and redecorate it and hire furniture and art to make your home look better. Bear in mind it is possible to get a professional home staging service in the UK for free though.

Is home staging worth it?

According to The Home Staging Association, the average time non-staged properties stay on the market is 99 days, compared to 41 days for decorated homes. In terms of impact on price, it’s difficult to generalise as the potential added value will depend on the condition of your property at the outset and the work you do. However, reports claim it could add up to 10% in some cases. To get a better indication, it’s a good idea to get expert advice to see if you could get more for your sale or speak to a local estate agent for their input.

How much does staging a house cost?

If you’re using a professional home staging company the cost can easily run into thousands of pounds. The cost will depend on the size of your house and the scale of your home staging project.

However, before going down this route it’s a good idea to get advice from our partners, Flyp, who offer a transformation service if the property needs any enhancements or staging to help it sell.

If you sign up with the company and use its ‘Staging to Sell’ service, their tradespeople will make improvements to your property at no cost to you in a bid to increase its value and help it sell faster.

Do I need to buy new furniture? 

When you use a professional home staging company in the UK, they’ll often bring in furniture to make your home look better. But if you’re doing DIY home staging, it’s hard to justify replacing big ticket items like sofas and chairs. See if instead you can revive worn out items. For example, can you buy a new throw and some cushions to improve the look of a sofa that has seen better days? Can you hire a fabric and carpet cleaner and give everything a new lease of life?

Home staging checklist:  DIY home staging tips

If you’re planning to do home staging yourself, even if your home is in pretty good shape, here’s a home staging checklist to get you started.

1. Get the basics right

Declutter and clean your house thoroughly. But be wary of cleaning fluid smells wafting around when people do come to view. Tidy your garden, hide wheelie bins and replace plants in pots if they’ve seen better days. Remove family photos so that potential buyers can imagine themselves living in your home.

2. Give each room a purpose

One of the important DIY home staging tips from the pros is to make sure each room is dressed for their main purpose. So if you’re using a spare bedroom as an office, make sure it’s back to a bedroom for viewings. If a buyer is viewing a 4 bedroom house, they’ll be expecting to see 4 bedrooms.

If your home is open plan, make sure you have clearly defined zones. Many of us have open kitchen diners with a sofa TV area now. Zone these areas off by adding a complementary rug to the sofa/tv area and clearing the dining table so it looks ready to be sat at for a meal, rather than a dumping ground for keys, paperwork and kids homework.

3. Make easy bedroom and bathroom updates

An easy trick to give your home a fresh look on the cheap is to put fluffy, coordinated bath towels in the bathroom and to put on new bedding too. Preferably white towels to give that clean spa feel. Throw cushions and a new co-ordinating quilt on a bed can elevate it. And they’re purchases you can take with you after the sale so easily justified. Don’t forget to clear the bedside tables so they are clutter free too and streamline wardrobes so nothing is bursting at the seams. You want to give the impression of space.

4. Dress your dining table

One key part of home staging decor is to dress your dining table to create the idea of sociable meal times. This could be simply adding a basket in the middle of your table or you could fully dress it with place mats, cutlery and glasses.  While if you’re selling in the summer and have a garden, dress your outdoor table too.

5. Bring the outside in

Adding plants to your home (real or fake) and a vase of flowers in your kitchen is recommended by home stagers in the UK. Houseplants have seen a surge in recent years as our understanding of the wellbeing benefits of being around nature has grown. With a relatively small investment, by adding more plants you can lift gloomy corners and soften a space, and help house buyers feel instantly comforted.

6. Pack away additional TVs

With the exception of the lounge, professional home stagers will usually remove TVs in rooms as they can draw focus from what you want your buyers to notice. So consider packing away TVs in rooms like kitchens and bedrooms.

7. Use mirrors to reflect light

Adding mirrors to your home is an easy way to make your home seem lighter and bigger. So when you’re staging your home, consider putting some up, especially in smaller rooms or hallways. If you aren’t a big art lover, then mirrors can help fill the void.

For more tips, read our guide 12 tips to make your home more valuable and sell faster.

8. Make a good first impression by staging the front of your house

68% of home buyers think kerb appeal is important when buying a home. So make sure the first impression a potential buyer has of your home is as positive as possible. This means: a tidy front garden, windows and roof that appears in good condition and a well maintained pathway or drive. Find more information in The top 10 kerb appeal features – and how to boost your home’s appeal.

Home staging mistakes to avoid

There are some home staging mistakes you’ll want to steer clear of. The main offenders are:

• filling a room with too much furniture
• having drastically different colour schemes in each room
• household smells like kitchen odours or pet smells.

How to find a home staging company near me

If you’re looking for a home staging company near you, the easiest way to find one is to contact our partners at Flyp and ask about their transformation service. By using their ‘Staging to Sell’ service, professionals will make improvements to your property – at no cost to you – in a bid to increase its value and help it sell faster.