Home Staging is the process of making a home look more attractive to potential buyers by using professional styling. Also known as house dressing, property styling or property presentation, the process is designed to optimise a property's potential. A stylist will expertly place furniture, soft furnishings and other accessories to try and achieve a faster and more profitable sale of a home.
Why Use Property Styling? 
Home buyers fall in love with a property based on their emotions. Great house dressing will allow them to visualise their family living in that home. It is far easier to visualise a family home with great furniture styling, than when the rooms are empty.
A cluttered or poorly styled home can sometimes turn buyers off as much as finding mould, or damages to the property. If a buyer cannot see themselves living in the home within the first 15 seconds then they may write the property off completely. Home staging is proven to help a property sell quicker and often for a higher price. Rather than considering professional property presentation as a moving cost, think of it as an investment in showcasing your property’s potential.
The Benefits of Home Staging 
A Sense of Home: The biggest benefit of property styling is that it gives the house a real sense of home. Buyers will instantly be able to imagine how the home will look if they lived there. 
Neutral Style: A property stylist will be able to style the home in one consistent style in every room. They will be able to select a style that fits in with your property and target client. Also, they will be able to remove the clutter and distinctly personal items that often prevent buyers from being able to visualise their own family living there. 
Highlight the Positives: A property stylist will look at the home from a buyer’s perspective. So, they will be able to highlight all of the positive aspects of the home.
Disguise the Negatives: Need to make a dark room look brighter? Need to make a small room look bigger? Got an awkward feature in a room? Home staging can help you combat all of these issues.
Industry Knowledge: Home stagers style properties all day, every day. This means they have enormous experience at presenting a property in the best way possible. They are aware of current trends and everything else that comes with making a property look great. Their experience will result in a beautifully styled home as opposed to one that is over or under styled.
The All Important Edge: Home Staging will give your home an edge over the other un-styled properties on the market. Your property will be more memorable than the other competing properties. 
Sell Faster and For More: Styled properties tend to sell twice as fast as empty properties. On average, a styled property will also sell for a higher price. The small investment in property styling is completely negated by the increase in sale price.
Home Staging is about attracting the best buyer for your home by optimising the potential of the property. Once that buyer walks through the door of a top styled home, they will not want to walk out without making an offer. If you are thinking of selling your home, then definitely consider hiring a property stylist to present your property in its best light.

Until next time…
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All very exciting to see an article in NZ Property Investor about furnishing rentals that I was asked to provide commentary for.   You have heard me say this on many occasions about houses for sale and Amy Hamilton Chadwick the author of the article hits the nail on the head -  An empty property is so uninspiring - it's hard to imagine yourself living in a bland box.   The right furnishings help us envision ourselves living in a space and can make a room look larger and more inviting.   Furnishing a rental property can have a similar impact, making it more appealing to tenants and easier to rent.
"Furnishing a rental is really a compromise between trying to achieve a nice look and spending the least amount possible".  It's all about what the investor wants to spend.   This really is the key for investors and the trick to a great furnished apartment at a cost effective price is to mix and match, spending more on items that get the most wear and tear i.e. sofas.  Shop around, wait for sales and spend less on items like bedside tables, lamps etc that aren't high use furnishings.   

You’ve made that all important decision to sell your home - fantastic!   The real estate agent has advised that decluttering would be a great idea and aid in the selling process.     You’re motivated and ready to organise but still a little apprehensive about where or how to begin.   So let’s take a look at how to make it happen!

1. Make it manageable
If you are juggling work, school, children and a myriad of other responsibilities it is not going to be realistic to set aside entire day/s to organise your house.   It also takes a special person to have the energy and focus to spend an entire day organising.  It makes much more sense to schedule a manageable amount of time for one project or space and ensure you write down the day and time in your diary and commit to it!.

2. Attack what’s nagging at you daily 
Choose an area that nags you daily.   By seeing the fruits of your labour from the beginning of your decluttering war you will feel more motivated to continue.   You now know you’ve got this when you can see the result!   

3. Ask yourself three simple questions 
Organising requires you to think about what’s really important to you, what you really love and want  to keep moving forward and to make decisions based on the conclusions you reach.  

4. Use four boxes and ensure you complete the task as you go
These four boxes will go with you on your decluttering journey throughout your home!  Label the bins Keep, Sell, Donate, Toss and use the bins to keep you on decluttering track.   Once you have completed each project and the bins have items in them ensure you complete the task.  Take the toss items out to the rubbish or recycling immediately.  Put the items for donation in your car for dropping off.  Find a space for the keep items.  Photograph and list the items for sale.

5. Three year rule
Seriously, I am being extremely generous here!!  If you haven’t used it for three years, more than likely you won’t use it again - get rid of it!.   

Happy decluttering!

​Until next time...

Dress your property to WOW potential buyers.

Even in a "hot" market, some homes sell faster than others.  There are steps you can take to help showcase your home and attract the most number of buyers possible.  You want to portray the property in the best light.   

DO declutter and depersonalise; buyers want to imagine themselves living in the home.
DON'T rely on a buyers vision; dozens of open homes can exhaust one's imagination.
DO keep a relaxed and realistic feel; buyers want a house to feel like a home.
DON'T show an empty property; vacant rooms don't make for good marketing photography.  You want to entice people to visit!
DO think of the season you are selling in.  Lighter/brighter colours in the summer and in winter create a bit more luxury with layers of throws and cushions in lovely rich colours. 
DON'T forget to clean.  Have the floors/carpets professionally cleaned, clean the windows, scrub the bathrooms and kitchen until they are spick and span. Make any necessary minor repairs to the home.   Make your home move-in ready!

And if you need assistance please let us know.

Until next time…

We've said it once, we'll say it again; Winter is a great season to sell your property, you just need to be savvy about it.

The same number of people want to buy a home but there tends to be fewer options for them to consider. The biggest difference between the Summer and Winter markets is the number of sunshine hours. By dressing your property, the cosy "at home" feel is present no matter the weather outside. 

So if you, or someone you know, is "umm-ing" and "ahhh-ing" about putting their house on the market in Winter, go for it! We can help with the rest.

​Until next time...

We've had a bit of a break from updating the site lately but not because we've been on holiday, we've just been too busy!

The past two weeks have been spent staging six houses and furnishing one apartment. It never ceases to amaze us just how different houses can be - even ones just down the street from each other. We always treat our staging jobs as individual spaces; each home has its own personality or character that needs to be played with.

But we digress... we just received a lovely email from a happy client saying, "thank you" and it really has made our day.

We do our best for our clients and sometimes our work is acknowledged, other times its not - no big deal. But when we do get something back, it makes us feel even better about what we do.

So, thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this post (and any others). We appreciate you, your time and your support.

Until next time...