The words ‘home staging’ might sound like an oxymoron. How could something as natural and wonderful as a home ever be ‘staged’? But these days up-styling your home for a sales campaign is a bold faced reality. With Sydney properties flipping faster that you can say ‘carpet cleaning’ – home styling is suddenly standard practice. Its impact can be felt in the photographs, where the whole feel of the home is more warm and inviting. Without doubt, styling brings added appeal to the home. We sat down with local style setters Adam de Launay, Tanya Guiffre and Megan Morton to get their expert tips on home styling.

Books, greenery and artfully placed soft furnishings are just the details needed to impart a sense of warmth in the master bedroom, at Marriott Street in Redfern.

“Everything I do is really about detail. I approach property styling like I would an editorial shoot for a magazine. With BresicWhitney, I know we are dealing with a very educated audience. It has to be high-end and aspirational. You have to quickly renovate the whole place in your mind. I don’t like to hide anything. I like to accentuate the positives” says de Launay.

Linen duvet covers and accent cushions explore the attraction and tactility of natural fibre. This bedroom is casually styled to create a homely and lived in look at a small apartment located on Onslow Street, Elizabeth Bay.

“I try to create ‘moments’ in the house, so that people not only get swept away in the entire look, but they have a reason to pause at the beauty of a little Tom Dixon dish for example. Whether it is an owner-occupier coming through, or an investor – they are really buying the story of that home and its occupants. They’re buying the lifestyle. I always make quite restrained choices overall and then use subtle accents to give it personality.”

Adam’s styling tips

Proportion

Gain an understanding of proportion. It’s the ‘101’ of styling and interiors: yet an understanding of space and volume is crucial to getting the look right. Choose the right sized pieces of furniture, keeping it comfortable and functional. For owner-occupiers who are styling their own homes this may be more about subtracting rather than adding.

This glass desk, typewriter and Vivienne Westwood book add personality to an interstitial space – seen at a terrace on Liverpool Street, Paddington.

Story-telling

Remember even though it’s your home – it’s still advertising. You are telling a story. If the story of the home is suited to an upwardly mobile professional couple who eat out a lot, then the focus shouldn’t be on the ‘Cook’s Kitchen’. Instead, emphasise where they could display an art collection, or entertaining spaces. If they love going to galleries in Paddington and having friends over for drinks, put emphasis on the deck and the lounge because that’s the heart of their lifestyle.

A simplified and refreshed kitchen opens out onto the deck at 3 Comber Street, Paddington. This home was styled with single leaves, scent reeds and high quality kitchen products to create a sense of space in the small galley kitchen.

Follow the narrative through all the rooms

Be professional and consistent with your chosen narrative. Picture the house as scenes from a film and keep the one theme running throughout the home. There should be a sense of flow. Follow the narrative of the single gay guy with a fixie or continue the mood of the couple who collect art. Don’t neglect whole chunks of the house and forget to style them.

Declutter

The key for successful styling, particularly for an owner-occupier, is to remove all unnecessary items that clutter the home. Refreshing soft furnishings is a big winner. New artworks, rugs and some live greenery. If you are going through the process of doing a campaign for your home, it is good to ‘hit the refresh button’ and really clean up.

Simple, neutral furniture is chosen to complement a small living room in an apartment on Onslow Avenue, Elizabeth Bay.

Flowers and plants

Dead plants say you gave up years ago. If you need to, hire some plants and let them perk up the interior with their fresh scent and bright green leaves. With floral arrangements think ‘different’. You don’t have to stick Gerbras in a corner like a left over from mother’s day. Contemporary flower arrangements can include a huge branch of blossoms, a tropical collection of leaves or something more rural. Don’t make flowers the after-thought. It will show.

75 Jersey Road, Woollahra was styled by the team at Evolve Styling. It was on the market for 2 years before it came to BresicWhitney, the highest offer received during this time was $1.75m. Around $25k was then invested in home improvements, before it sold for $2,440,000.

Next, Tanya Guiffre from Evolve Styling explains the importance of Open Houses and photography, “People looking to buy homes these days are far more sophisticated than ever before. Lifestyle programs have really made people so much more aware of the value of good presentation.”

Tanya’s styling tips

Don’t make it obvious

The key to good styling is that it doesn’t look like it has been styled. It shouldn’t look generic or like a Harvey Norman catalogue.

In Paddington at 2 Hopewell Lane – styling, gardening, painting, storage and new photography was needed.
The highest offer received on this property prior to completing the works was $1.08m. Approximately $6,000 was spent on improvements, before being sold within 1 week for $1,190,000. Styled by Evolve.

Be objective

Staying objective is the most important aspect to a campaign. Most owners can’t take themselves out of the equation to see clearly what needs to be done. Professional styling is a win/win situation. The agent sells the property quicker and the home fetches a higher price. It pays off.

5 Mary Place, Paddington was purchased for $890,000 in May 2013. Less than 2 years later the owners were able to achieve almost $200,000 more without actually doing any work to the property. The impressive presentation contributed to the sale prior to auction and this home was styled by the team at Evolve.

Think like a woman

Often the trick is putting a feminine touch on the property, because women have the ‘fall in love’ factor. Don’t forget how influential women are in the home. Women have strong opinions and their feelings can really sway a sale.

5 Vialoux, Paddington was passed in at auction with another agency at $1.9mil. After Evolve styled the property with softer, more feminine furnishings, the property was re-photographed and a fresh campaign was run. It then sold at auction for $2,2,00,000.

Perennial qualities

Light, space, fresh and open – these are qualities that are really important to most people. A blank canvas. A place to grow. When people come into your house, they really need to be able to quickly imprint themselves on the space. They need to see themselves living there. Your overtly personal items prevent them from doing this completely and quickly. So remove all personal items if you can, and let potential buyers get involved in the house.

This terrace at 174 Underwood Street, Paddington was newly renovated and the owners required help to style the property in a way that would make the most of the renovation and ensure it appealed to a wide range of buyers. After styling by Evolve plus gardening and cleaning it sold prior to the auction, well above the owners expectations for $2,210,000.

Known as the ‘House Whisperer’ for creating rich interior atmospheres that people fall in love with, powerhouse stylist Megan Morton shares her personal techniques for styling.

Megan’s styling tips

Pay for advice, take the advice

The reason to use a professional stylist is because you need an independent 3rd party opinion to guide you to where the market is, not where you think the market is. The professional stylist understands the need, desires and touch-points that matter to consumers now. This is what you are buying, ‘intel’ from someone at the coalface of successful property marketing.

Mimic the buyer

Consider a dignified and logical walk through of your home. Most people have furniture in their home out of habit. When you imagine people walking through sometimes the things you own can be in the wrong spot. No matter what you do, if the ingredients aren’t right, you can’t get a good result.

Lay the foundations

They key to styling is having your spatial relations in check. You need a good foundation before the styling overlay starts. Most people I know put a console or a hall stand in an entry hall because they think that’s what they should do. But no matter how large your home is, if you have more than 6 parties coming through at an open, it can cause a bottleneck.

Know your audience

People have a set list of requirements in each price category. Automation is important to the premium market.  From TVs to curtains as well as sound and air. Lower price properties need to have decorative spirit and spunk to pull them over the line, as this is the most over-run sector of the market. Especially apartments in the east.

Real world inspiration

I find my inspiration in the pedigree pages of old books, and magazines from the late 80’s. The internet is rabbit hole, relentless, energy zapping and potentially timewasting, Real inspiration is found in the real world. When it come to property styling inspiration, I also always do a quick assessment of the local market to see what is selling the area.