Leeds interior experts share top tips on how to stage a house for sale

You may have heard 'top tips' such as baking fresh bread before showing a buyer around to make a place feel 'homely' - but it actually goes much deeper than that.

Home staging is all about presenting your home in the best possible life for a potential new buyer.

This involves detaching from the emotional memories and feelings you have towards the house, and seeing it with a much more critical eye.

Stepping back allows you to see the best parts of your home and the not so good parts which means you can then look at staging it to be the best it can be.

Research from Purple Bricks found that 20 per cent of canny sellers in Leeds are employing the services of interior stylists and professional property stagers to sell their homes.

Property stagers are contractors that source and install bespoke furniture, accessories, soft furnishings and artwork to style a home for potential buyers to view.

It is a booming industry now taking off in the UK, perhaps inspired by popular property shows such as Netflix’s Selling Sunset.

However, 41 per cent of people redecorated themselves and 29 per cent purchased new homeware items, such as soft furnishings to make their home more sellable.

Leeds-based interior experts Jon and Beth Miller, from Fresh Start Living, said staging is just all about maximising your homes potential.

The husband and wife team said it can just be simple things like decluttering, or more practical things like furnishing your home to reflect what buyers want.

Here are Jon and Beth's top five tips for what to do to help maximise your selling potential:

1. First impressions count.

Having good kerb appeal is paramount to making sure your home isn’t discounted within the first few seconds of a viewing.

This means tidying up a front garden and hallway, and making sure the entrance is welcoming.

You could potentially even paint your front door a striking colour to help create an initial wow factor.

2. Furnish your home to reflect what buyers are looking for.

If you’re marketing it as a 3- bedroom house, then it needs to have three beds in there.

Buyers often can’t see past how rooms are being used currently.

So, if you use a bedroom as a storage room then consider putting a bed in there.

Or, if you’ve got an open plan space but no dining table or seating, then consider adding a dining table or small sofa to demonstrate how the space can be used.

3. Have a declutter prior to selling.

Having lots of stuff around means that the space looks smaller than it really is, and prospective buyers will be keen to make sure that the property has enough storage for their needs.

So, make sure you put things away and demonstrate that it’s a home with good storage.

4. Repair anything before selling.

If somebody can clearly see a visible problem then they’ll wonder what hidden issues there may be with the house.

Ensure you fix any issues, no matter how small.

5. Don’t sweat too much about colours and style.

We don’t believe you need to totally redecorate your home before selling. However, if you find that buyers struggle with a particular colour or décor after viewing then you could potentially consider doing it then.

In Leeds, Purplebricks’ research found that minimalistic light and natural coloured spaces with light-coloured fabrics remain a sought after interiors trend.

This is despite current trends for maximalist interiors.

When looking to buy a property, the most sought after interiors were natural and light spaces with lots of light-coloured fabrics, favoured by over half (56 per cent).

White or magnolia shades are still in demand with 27 per cent looking for this in their new property.

Bold and bright interiors with on-trend colours were favoured by just a quarter.