Styling the house

The recommendation from the agent was to ‘style’ the house before we put it on the market to sell. He suggested we pay for a stylist to do the job. My husband thought it was a better idea for us to do it. That way we could keep the things we paid for and use in the future. As a designer I did not like the idea of getting someone else to do the job I was qualified to do.

Our house is just a few years old. We designed and built it as owner builders. Our children have long since left the nest, so we haven’t got a lot of stuff in the house. We are not hoarders and have not accumulated years of clutter. And we are both tidy by nature, so it seemed unnecessary to pay for a stylist.

Comments from others affirmed this view. Some told of stories where the owner hated the styling and told the stylist to take it all out. Others said the styling in many homes for sale all look the same.

So we jumped in to the task happily. We spent money. We bought large prints for the walls. We replaced an old couch with a new outdoor setting for our deck. We bought floor rugs, cushions, throw rugs, new Manchester sets, a new TV, furniture, and bathroom containers.

It has been a fun and expensive experience and the house is now up for sale. Fingers crossed. Below are some photos of the results.