While not every older person is looking to simplify life, or join the race to catch up with all the fun they missed while they were raising their children – seniors are generally looking for something of a lifestyle change. They recognise that with retirement come some benefits they’ve been longing for. If you hope to capitalise on the downsizing trend that’s so popular among Sydney’s older property owners, you’re just in time to catch the trolley to property styling Western Suburbs or anywhere else in Sydney – it’s bound for big profits.
No matter what your property has to offer, it probably isn’t big enough. Space is the currency in the world of real estate and most of us cannot find a loan to get us enough of it. In a previous blog, we discussed several easy ways to make small rooms look and feel larger through the use of colour, window treatment tricks, and flooring fixes. Today we’d like to touch upon some ways to use furnishings and décor to do the same in your small space.
Assuming you’ve already handled the problem of dark colours on walls and floors, heavy window treatments, and that single uninspired lighting fixture in the centre of the ceiling, here are a few ideas about how to keep that spacious look in a fully furnished room.
Think About Scale
If you’re working with a small space, you need to find furniture to fit comfortably within it. Scale is something we tend to forget about when we happen upon a large modular sofa that begs to be curled up on. Small rooms need smaller furnishings. Look for sofas and chairs without big bulky arms – even pieces that, like the Venus de Milo, happen to have no arms at all can be right at home in a small space.
Also, pieces with exposed legs look better in a small room than those that sit right on the floor. The space under the pieces is not just a place for stray kernels of popcorn and the TV remote. It serves to give the entire room and the buyers who look at it the feeling of “Hey. There is so much space here they haven’t even used it all.”
Less is More
When you’re staging a small space it’s important to look for pieces that serve multiple purposes. One very good example is a glass coffee table that houses four square upholstered stools underneath when extra seating is not needed. You might find such a table with bookshelves or other storage compartments built-in. Furniture pieces that multi-task are essential in small spaces.
You must be ruthless in eliminating clutter in your small spaces so that storage space looks plentiful. Overloading shelves and tables with clutter is a big no-no in any property, but in a small space, to allow clutter to collect and spoil your spacious look is one sure way to keep your house from selling. (Your buyers already have their own clutter problems. They don’t want to see yours. Trust us.)
Traffic Flow
If you are one of the smart sellers, you have already enlisted the help of a home stager who will help you organise the furnishings and the art to make your house look sensational. The stager will have taken measurements and determined how the flow of traffic within your house is supposed to flow. The furniture arrangements will work with this traffic flow to make the entire space feel larger and less crowded.
If you’re doing this on your own, you need to arrange the furnishings you’ve chosen to make the most of the space you have. Each room, each hallway, needs to be thought about in terms of how residents can best use the space and move within it without tripping over each other. This is no small feat.
Given that selling your house may be the biggest business transaction you’ll ever have, we believe it is worth the minimal cost of a consultation. Getting input from a professional whose job is property styling Western Suburbs is an excellent investment. Furniture and art placement can make or break your sale so, even if you have decided to handle everything else without help, do consider a call to a reputable property staging firm to ensure you get this crucial part right.
Image courtesy of Wharfside.
