Fresh home furnishing ideas and affordable furniture - IKEA
How to prepare your home for sale
Getting your home ready for sale can be tricky, not to mention stressful. That’s why we enlisted the help of Emma Parkinson, a total pro when it comes to home staging. Here are her simple-as-can-be tips to make your home a little less personal and more appealing to buyers at the same time (we promise none of them involve the scent of homemade cookies).
1. The kitchen First things first: all those unnecessary food and gadgets? Get rid of them. Then give the whole room a good scrub (even inside the fridge and cabinets). Once the surfaces are cleared, group your favourite small kitchen items on a tray for a decorative touch (grouping things makes everything look tidier), and add a beautiful bouquet of flowers for delicate fragrance.
2. The living room When it comes to staging your home, prospective buyers should be able to picture their own lives there, so fight the urge to display personal photos. Work within a simple colour palette, add some new textiles for impact, rid the room of typical clutter like remote controls, and make sure all of your light bulbs are still doing their job (throughout the entire home).
3. The reading space Create a stylised look by grouping together books and decorative items by colour, always working within one simple colour scheme (it’s about simplicity, so hide away your pieces that stand out too much). Take a closer look at your plants, too. Are they healthy and happy? If not, consider adding a few fresh greens; they add tons of character.
4. The master bedroom We all love a plush hotel suite, so get inspired by the experience by adding lots of fluffy pillows and double up on the cosiness by using two comforters to your duvet cover instead of one.
5. The kid's room There’s more room for playfulness here, so feel free to keep the colour. And while you should still tidy up as in any other room, don’t allow the space to lose its youthful spirit.
6. The bathroom Maybe more than any other room, it’s essential to get things squeaky clean here. Once it’s been scrubbed from top to bottom, add soft, new towels, a bar of beautiful hand soap, and just a bit of green for decoration.
7. Outdoors If you’re lucky enough to have an outdoor space, show it in the best light by giving your plants, textiles and lighting a refresh. And if the balcony floor is a little worse for wear, throw down a large weather-resistent rug.
8. The entrance This spot has a way of gathering a bit of a mess. So clear away most of your outerwear, leaving only a jacket or two, a few favourite pairs of shoes, and some decorative items.
Emma's best tips:
• Remove your personal photos. Buyers should be
able to imagine themselves living in your home.
• Clear the clutter and keep it tidy.
• Work within a simple colour pallete.
• Group your decorative items for a neat look.
• Add lots of fluffy bed linens to the bedroom.
• Kids’ rooms should be tidy but still playful.
• Scrub bathrooms from top to bottom and
put out fresh towels.
• Liven up both indoor and outdoor areas
with fresh, healthy plants.
We love to see our customers get creative with our products. Go for it! But please note that altering or modifying IKEA products so they can no longer be re-sold or used for their original purpose, means the IKEA commercial guarantees and your right to return the products will be lost.
Made by
Interior designer: Emma Parkinson
Photographer: Andrea Papini
Writer: Vanessa Algotsson