Mistakes sellers make – and what not to do when selling your home

Christopher Hammond is the Director of Beau Property. In this article, he talks about the advantages of staging your property before selling.

Home staging and interior design can make or break a property sale. Property developer Chris Hammond, who also runs a home staging company, reveals his tips and tricks to sell your home quickly – and for the best price.

Here are some of the mistakes sellers make – and what NOT to do when selling your home:

Personalising the space – It’s vital your home doesn’t feel unloved, but by personalising the rooms too much, you can put buyers off, and they won’t be able to visualise themselves living in the property. Just because you love a certain genre of art doesn’t mean everyone will (even if you spent a fortune on it!).

Bold colours – To appeal to the mass market, keep paint colours neutral. There are lots of warm, characterful neutrals available with paint suppliers now, so if you have a bright feature wall that your friends have told you is a bit OTT, get the paint brush out and tone things down. Calming, relaxing spaces sell houses. And it goes without saying that if your rooms are all looking a bit tired, give them all a coat of paint to keep things looking fresh. 

Clutter – Clear it out! Decluttering is key. Firstly, to maximise the space and secondly, to depersonalise. Buyers struggle to see past ‘stuff’. If might be stuff you’ve treasured for years or collected affectionately on your travels. But viewers will see it as a mess and often can’t see the potential of a property that simply isn’t tidy. A vase and a couple of home decor sculptures or ornaments can show off shelving or sideboards perfectly – you don’t need your collection of tea pots on display to do that. 

On trend interiors – Sometimes trying too hard and following trends can actually put people off. You don’t want to make your property niche – classic interiors are your safest bet when selling your home. 

Eclectic interiors – These can be beautiful when executed correctly. But if you’re unsure, or your family or colleagues often question your tastes, keep things simple. Clashing patterns and mixing several different textures and colours can create interesting, often inspiring interiors, but if in doubt, don’t be too ambitious with your style. Save your ideas for your new home. 

Statement kitchens or bathrooms – If you must, make your cloakroom or spare bedroom the statement, with darker colours, patterned tiles, or striking wallpaper – keep things neutral in key spaces like kitchens and bathrooms (adding stylish accessories is enough to achieve a ‘designed’ look). If buyers don’t like these rooms, they’ll be worried about how much they have to spend to replace them, and the saying ‘kitchens sell houses’ isn’t a myth. 

Neglecting that all important first impression – Buyers often decide on whether they want to buy a house before they’ve even seen the entire property, so don’t forget about the exterior. And the hallway – Store coats away, and add a large mirror in a narrow hallway to make the space feel bigger. This is not a space to fill with a picture wall you’ve copied from Pinterest. Buyers don’t need to see dozens of family snaps or photos from your travels. A mirror and a house plant are enough, and maybe one or two photographs to dress a console table if you have the space! 

Mood or statement lighting – Mood lighting can be perfect when you’re relaxing at home on a Friday evening, but natural light sells houses. If you have shutters, make sure you have them open to let the light flood in, and if you’re adding new window treatments to appeal to buyers, frame the window with curtains or hang blinds cleverly to avoid blocking any light out. In doing so, you achieve a feeling of grandeur, even in small, dark spaces. Similarly, ‘cool’ statement lighting can again over personalise the space – statement chandeliers or bright colourful LED under cabinet lighting in the kitchen might be something you’ve dreamt about, but remember, your taste might not be everyone’s cup of tea. 

Multi-functional rooms and spaces – Home staging and interior design are all about a clever use of space. But what works for you and how you need to use the space might actually deter buyers. If you have a desk in a bedroom, for example, even a cool one that hangs from the wall and was designed meticulously, it might just be odd to someone who just wants to sleep in this room. Stick to conventional styles and uses of spaces. Something quite obvious but not always a rule sellers follow is dressing bedrooms as bedrooms. Not music rooms, or art studios or home offices – just bedrooms (Although, it is always useful to show there’s space for a desk in a spare bedroom or a living space nook... particularly in the current climate when working from home is the norm for more than ever before). 

Don’t confuse design and homeliness – Buyers want to see fresh, welcoming and warm interiors in new homes; they won’t necessarily appreciate the gadgets and gizmos that you might love. They just want to visualise themselves living there. So, of course, sell a lifestyle, but the main rules are: keep things simple with style and colour, tidy up and clean, clean, clean. Adding a scented diffuser or baking a cake on the open day is sometimes advised by home stagers... And if that helps you sell faster and for the highest price, why not?