Design and Décor Tips to Make Your Home Sell Quickly

By The Beresfords Marketing Team - 22 November 2021

The first taste is with the eyes, as the old saying goes, and that’s as true for food as it is for selling a home.

We get used to our surroundings and sometimes we don't initially notice what could be improved which is why it's important to take a step back, read through our tips and analyse your house before it comes to market! 

Here, we’ve listed a few simple design and décor tips that will make your home look and feel that bit more attractive to buyers.

It’s common knowledge that having a garden increases a property’s value. A lush green space that one can relax in, surrounded by greenery, is an attractive prospect for any potential buyer.

But why not bring that verdant greenery indoors too? Potted plants, flowers, and even indoor herb beds bring outdoor freshness inside, making a house feel alive and lived in.

Flowers are an obvious choice — bright, colourful, and divine-smelling, they lift any room. These are great to have in your kitchen or dining area when you have potential buyers coming to view your home.

If you lack that green-fingered touch, consider adding a few succulents or cacti to your home instead. A perfect balance of attractive but low maintenance, these are easy to manage and really make a property feel like a home.

Plants work especially well in spaces with neutral colours. A contrasting splash of green against white walls or furniture creates a sense of life and energy, increasing your property’s perceived value at the same time.

Virtually every house has that awkward nook, corner, or hallway that is often left empty. A semi-cupboard that isn’t quite big enough for a washing machine, for instance, or a slight recess left over from a 1980s conversion project.

These spaces are usually left as they are or used as a dumping ground for items in transit to the charity shop, laundry, or tip.

But with a little creativity, you can turn these into spaces within themselves, creating perceived value in your house by ostensibly giving it another ‘room’, of sorts.

A wide landing, for instance, is an open space that is usually left empty in most houses. The most it might be used for is a laundry basket or clothes horse.

But by adding a feature wall, a bookcase, and a high-backed chair (wingback chairs are a particularly gorgeous option worth considering), you can create a welcoming reading nook that will make any prospective buyer fall in love with your home.

An otherwise empty hallway transformed into a beautiful and functional space with just a modicum of time and effort.

The key here is creativity. Look at your awkward spaces and think about how they can be repurposed. Reading nooks, shelves, photo walls, indoor gardens — the options are there, and are virtually limitless.

Natural light is a huge selling point for prospective buyers. A dark, dingy property is not an attractive sight, but a light, airy space with plenty of sunlight will

But what if you lack natural light as a result of design?

Take a long narrow living room, for instance, a common feature of many terraced houses.

Due to terracing, these typically struggle to bring in enough natural light, with a window at one end. But as these tips on styling attest, there are ways to transform such rooms through smart design and decor.

Wall colour is the most obvious starting point. Opting for white (or off-white) colour schemes help reflect what natural light there is. Embracing vertical spaces can also make a space feel light too — opt for vertical patterns and tall furniture (bookcases, curtains, and so on) that emphasize a room’s height, increasing its perceived space.

On the subject of terraced houses, if you do have a long narrow living room, consider knocking through the rear wall into what is often the kitchen or dining room. This lengthens the space, creating an open-plan ground floor and giving you access to more windows at the rear of the property into the bargain.

Of course, this won’t apply to everyone. But if it’s possible (and, it goes without saying, within your budget), it is something well worth doing.

Smell is one of the most powerful and evocative senses we have. A whiff of a baking cake, a scented candle, or perfume can instantly transport us back into a memory that was otherwise lost to us.

And it is exactly this effect that sellers can use to make their property more engaging and attractive to prospective buyers. Indeed, realtors in the US often achieve this by baking cookies with open houses, or at least spraying a cookie-scented aerosol around the property.

But there are lots of other ways you can achieve this too.

If you’re selling your house around Christmas time, for instance, use cinnamon or clove-scented candles to create a festive feel in your home. Combined with some tinsel and a Christmas tree, this makes your property feel more homey to your buyer.

Beyond this, a nice scent also gives the perception your house is clean too.

Scented diffusers are also great for this, and come in lots of different fragrances, with everything from citrus and vanilla to pine and basil. Just make sure you use just a few drops, and keep it in an open space so it doesn’t feel too cloying.

These are just a few simple ways to make your home more sellable. Easy enough to do yourself and often more affordable too, these little design and décor tips will make your home irresistible to prospective buyers. Get creative, have fun, good luck and if you would like to book your free valuation.

Blog written for Beresfords by Laura May from Just Another Magazine