Atlas Market Insights

What is the difference in styling a home for sale and furnishing a home to live in? Styling a home for sale requires a completely different approach from furnishing a home to live in. When styling a home to live in, we start by taking a detailed brief from the client regarding their practical requirements. Who will be living in the home, how do they like to live, do they have hobbies, children, pets? Do they like to entertain? Once we understand how a client wants to utilise their personal space we can then start selecting furniture items and consider the decorative and styling components to compliment their practical needs. Contrastingly, the goal of styling for sale is to present the home to its maximum potential and appeal to the widest range of buyers. This means styling the property in the way that most people will want to live in it, presenting a desirable lifestyle and evoking emotion in the potential purchaser. When styling a property for sale we also need to consider the photography and ensure we allow for more than one group of purchasers to walk through the home at any one time. We generally have to leave more space for flow through of foot traffic than we would for a home that was being styled to live in. Styling your home professionally can help your property campaign stand out in the market against other listings. Charlotte Dub , National Commercial Manager for Coco Republic , says that for almost all properties, styling reduces time on market and improves profitability. We sat down with Charlotte to gain her insights on property styling and its impact on sales. Why should sellers get their properties styled? All vendors wishing to maximise the sale price of their home should consider styling for sale. Most of us don’t live in show homes and would benefit from styling to some degree. By having a property styled, you can be assured that you have put your best foot forward and are enabling purchasers to see your property presented at its absolute maximum. From anecdotal evidence, I often experience that styled homes sell more quickly and more profitably. In fact, recently some of our styled homes in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney sold in just 6 days. Another important reason to get your property styled is that almost all Australian homeowners highly value interior design. I would go as far as saying that interior design is at the forefront of Australian home living. We have bestselling publications and prime time television shows all based around the importance of home styling and the impact that it can make. Having a beautifully decorated home is clearly a goal of Australian homeowners, so it’s important to appeal to this. How property styling will elevate your home 29