When we shop for anything, we look for ways to get more of the product we want at the lowest price possible. The same is true for real estate, only here the product we’re looking for is space. Home buyers want more space for less money and they will gleefully compete for the opportunity to call such found space their own. It is here, in the hunt for space, that your house stylist steals the show.

Among the many feats of legerdemain home stagers have up their sleeves, creating additional visual space in small areas may be what they do best. It’s one of the reasons a professionally staged home sells in a matter of days, not months, and almost always sells for much more than the asking price. Professional stagers can conjure up what appears to be additional square metres in almost any house right before your eyes.
Mirrors: In the world of professional magicians, there is an occasional reference to “smoke and mirrors”. The professional home stylist doesn’t need smoke to pull off spatial extension, but mirrors are among the best props possible.

Using mirrors, large and small ones, can add a new dimension to any room. Put them up instead of a headboard in the master suite to extend the length of the room. (Either one big mirror or several dozen mirrored tiles affixed to the wall behind a bed or a dining room sideboard can create the appearance of a room beyond.)

In small bedrooms, replace the closet doors with mirrored ones for an instant sense of space. Flank the fireplace with floor-to-ceiling mirrors or simply prop a large, framed mirror against the wall for the desired effect.

Light: If dim and dark creates a smaller, more closed-in space, bright light does exactly the opposite. Toss those heavy curtains and replace them with gauzy sheers or, better yet, leave your spotlessly clean windows naked to allow more space-stretching light into the room. If privacy is needed, install blinds that can disappear almost entirely when they are not in use.

Colour: Decorators of all stripes use colour to create optical illusions. From artists to those who design automobile interiors, professional designers use an age-old formula to apply colour effectively.
The formula is simple enough: 60 – 30 – 10. In your room, your primary colour choice should cover 60 percent of the room. Your secondary colour should occupy 30 percent of the space and the accent colour should take up only 10 percent of your eye’s time. Using this formula, you can create a space that is sophisticated, harmonious, and attractive.

Placement: The placement of furnishings in a room can stretch or truncate the visual space. For example, placing a large or tall piece of furniture near the entry door can make the room appear smaller. When we enter any room our eyes automatically look it over from left to right. So, by placing the largest piece of furniture in a place toward the middle of that visual scan, in the far left corner, the room will appear larger than it really is.

Focal Points: By placing interesting objects near the focal point of the room, our eyes tend to stop the aforementioned left-to-right scan, and linger upon the best feature the room has to offer. Your house stylist will have suggestions about where you want the attention of your prospective buyer to be drawn and entertained, thus de-emphasising any less spectacular points in the room.

Less is more: If you visit a professionally staged home, it’s likely you will notice that certain furnishing pieces are missing. Unless a bedroom is massive, for example, you will probably not see a dresser there. The room seems complete, but the dresser is missing because it takes up visual space and makes the room look smaller. In common areas such as family rooms and living rooms, small conversation areas are set apart and positioned to create visual traffic lanes so that the space appears to be larger than it really is.

These tricks of the house stylist trade can help make your small home feel larger and more commodious. Before you attempt to stage your home yourself, consider that the sale of your home may be the largest business transaction you even undertake. You owe it to your bank account to make it as lucrative a transaction as possible. A professional home staging company such as Urban Chic Property Styling can help you stretch your space, and enlarge the final sales price at the same time. Call us today.