The average UK house size continues to shrink and today's built homes are smaller, according to #LABC Warranty
This begs the question, what can you do to maximise the size of your home - buyer's need to feel that your home is going to be big enough for them!
Important Facts
Here's two impacts facts:
- 80% of buyers struggle to visualise themselves in your home, so help them on their journey of getting to love your home by creating the impression of space
- Buyers connect with their emotions so make your home a place they want to be
Tips to Maximise Space
# 1 Driveway and outdoors
Make sure this is clear of any obstructions and on buyer viewing days ensure all family vehicles and any other items such as bikes and bins are removed. Not only does a clear driveway give a great first impression, this will also appear more spacious.
Make sure your greenery and planting is proportionally sized - if it's overgrown it will make your garden look smaller than it is. It will also raise a worry that there's a lot of maintenance to do!
#2 Use of colours
Paler, neutral paint colours reflect light and create the impression of openness. That's not to say your home should be bland. Add pop's of colour with your accessories. Using the right colours will trigger the right buyer emotions. Learn more about this here.
If you have dated flooring such as dark carpets, consider replacing these with lighter colour carpets or even alternative flooring. This will make a huge difference to the appeal of your home to buyers because lighter flooring make rooms feel bigger. Using a single flooring material throughout the same level will also add to the feeling of space.
#3 Sort
It's in our company name for a reason - sort! The less you have on display and hiding in your cupboards and drawers the better. The expert here is #KonMarie. The more sorting you do now, the less you'll have to do when it's time to pack. You'll also have less to do when you arrive in your new home.
#4 Light
Make use of both natural and artificial sources.
Maximise natural light coming into your home, particularly on buyer viewing days. Pull back all window dressings unless you're trying to hide an eye sore. There’s various ways of doing this including double roller blinds, day/night blinds, vista blinds and vertical blinds. Privacy film is a great alternative.
Have multiple light sources within each room to create distinct areas. For example, a reading lamp or floor lamp in a sitting room allows the buyer the opportunity to visualise themselves relaxing in this space.
Interior designer, #Claire Tull, says:
“Often overlooked, lamps add enormous value to a room – lamp bases are sculptural pieces, the lampshade offers opportunity to add shape, texture, colour and decorate with light.”
#5 Interior Design Tricks
Interior designers have many tricks to make a room appear larger including:
- using a striped rug will make a room look longer, particularly if you place the stripes across the narrowest part of the room
- to make the room feel bigger, the curtain rail should be fitted higher and wider than the window frame.
- having curtains which fall to the floor creates the illusion of a taller space
- use glass-topped tables such as coffee tables and dining table to create the impression of space
- using furniture pieces, such as sofas, which have legs on display creates the impression of space
- if you have rooms with high ceilings, focus your buyer's attention up using long hanging pendant lighting. This also creates great impact in areas such as hallways
#6 Furniture Placement
If the room layout allows, organise your seating plan so the sofa is opposite a window or door(s) facing the garden - this way when buyers sit on your sofa, they'll dream about how they are going to spend their time outdoors on lazy summer afternoons.
If you can, don't put your sofa around the perimeter of the room, otherwise your room looks smaller than it is. You can use the space behind the sofa to place a console table with lighting and a few key statement pieces.
Avoid too much furniture because this will make the room feel small. Make sure the furniture does not block any entrances and there's a clear path for buyers to move from one room to another.
#7 Shelving & Storage Solutions
Today's buyer's really, really appreciate storage so do what you can to tick that box for them.
Once you've had your sort, use creative shelving solutions to display your key possessions, although do remember to remove family pictures during buyer viewings. Take a look at some of our inspirational ideas. There's other ways to add storage - buy off the shelf storage solutions which can be used to hide away children's toys (this is imperative for buyer viewings). You may also consider bespoke storage for those awkward spaces which in fact can create lots of extra storage.
#8 Create Focal Points
One or two oversized pieces of art in key rooms such as the sitting area or dining space can really make a room feel bigger. Remember though to take down family pictures from the wall as they'll unnecessarily distract your buyers.
Let us know which of the above top tips you've implemented and send us your images to info@sortstyleandstage.com. As always, we look forward to hearing from you.
#chssp, #homestagingassociation, #s12d