Three top tips to help show your home off best when selling..

New  clients often ask what they can do to create an immediately appealing impression of their home, so they can impress potential buyers and, hopefully, achieve their goal of selling their home rapidly, at the right price, and so move on to their new dream home.

There are three things we ALWAYS advise:

1. Declutter
2. Fragrance
3. Add fresh flowers

It’s our experience that it’s the little things that settle a home in the buyer’s heart. Most people shopping for a new home don’t expect the bathroom or kitchen to be perfect, fully intend to redecorate to their own style and simply want to be able to easily imagine themselves in your space (once you’re out of it, of course).

People buy into a lifestyle as much as they buy into the number of bedrooms or room for a conservatory. To do this, you need to think of your home as a little like a stage set. What do you want it to say not about you, but about how wonderful it would be to live here?

Declutter

We have written about the importance of decluttering a few times now, but it bears repeating. If your home is filled with photos and souvenirs and nana’s old teapots and baby’s first wellies and scruffy dog toys and all the ephemera of our lives we soon develop clutter blindness to, potential buyers won’t be able to imagine themselves in that space. An overflowing coat cupboard says nothing more than lack of storage space. Kitchen cupboards with ten mugs too many say lack of storage space. A bathroom with eight towels crammed onto one radiator says lack of space, full stop. Family photos everywhere may be a joy to you, but mean nothing to buyers – they simply prevent the eye from flowing easily around a room, and disguise all its good points. 

Fragrance

This is something we have talked about in the past, too. We have all, in our role valuing or showing homes, visited houses with a LOT of scented candles burning, or diffusers in every room. The first thing that leaps to mind is – what are they trying to cover up? However, it is also unarguable that careful use of fragrance in the home creates an ambience of welcome, inviting visitors to tarry a little, and ultimately creating an environment where buyers can easily imagine themselves. We advocate careful fragrance layering, and you can find out more about it here: 

Fresh flowers

If the house is tidy, and smells good, why throw fresh flowers into the mix? And we are talking fresh cut blooms here, not houseplants, which we also love but are a whole other subject.

Flowers have been shown to have a wonderful, positive effect on people, affecting our moods, and improving our health.

Research has shown that flowers can genuinely boost your mood. Researchers have put this side effect down to a culturally learned association of flowers as a symbol of positivity. Flowers are, of course, present at some of our happiest events – we give them when visiting friends, as housewarming gifts, for anniversaries, birthdays and, of course, statements of love and romance.  Flowers can trigger memories of these special events or of the lazy days of spring and summer, a time when most of us are generally happier. By adding fresh flowers to certain rooms in our home, we can trigger a positive response in people viewing our home.

Flowers also make the perfect finishing touch to a room scheme. At this time of year, a vase or jug packed with bright yellow daffodils, for example, throws vibrant spring colour into any space, bringing a sense of cheer and positivity.

Flowers to use when selling your home

Keep it simple. 

The key really is to avoid too heavily scented flowers such as stargazer lilies, as some viewers might find these overwhelming, and stick to simple arrangements of seasonal blooms. Don’t squeeze them into every room. Place them where it’s normal – kitchen table, hall table, sitting room side table. Going overboard looks like you’re working too hard.

Keep it clean

Always make sure you change the water in any vase of flowers before a viewing, and pull out any flowers looking a little tired.

Keep it seasonal

At this time of year, hyacinths, daffodils and tulips are a must-do. Multiple bunches of daffodils, which are in local supermarkets already, are perfect for filling a vase – and the more the better. If you’re at home without many vases, improvise – use jam jars, milk jugs, pint glasses… Or visit your local charity shops and see what you can find there. You can always re-donate once you are in your new home – though maybe you will have acquired a flower habit by then and want to carry on.

Keep a lid on it

Don’t go mad with expensive floral displays. You want your floral decorations to look like it’s a normal part of your existence in this home, not like you’re setting up for a photoshoot with Cheshire Life.

Browse your local supermarket offering or visit your local florist. As we move into the warmer months, more and more UK grown flowers will become available – the impact of five sunflower heads standing proud on the kitchen table cannot be overestimated.

Flowers are a symbol of joy, a splash of colour and a hint at an Insta-worthy lifestyle. Why wouldn’t you want a little bit of that in your own life?

Eddie – Friday 28th February 2025.