Tag: home styling

Categories
House Tours Interiors Addict Styling

Stylist helps perfect interiors in long awaited first family home

After saving for more than a decade to buy their first family home in Sydney, nutritionist Faye James and her husband turned to a professional to help give it a cosy, homely feel that wasn’t straight out of a furniture catalogue.

The couple and their children Mia, 13, and Pablo, 10 recently moved into a freshly renovated four-bed home on Sydney’s Northern Beaches. “I didn’t want to just go out to the usual shops and get cookie cutter furniture. I wanted something really amazing but didn’t know where to start,” said Faye. “I searched high and low but ended up feeling frustrated and confused about colour schemes, style and what brands of furniture to be looking for.”

She’s always loved the fresh and organised look of a hotel, Airbnb or property styled for sale, so she started to look for a service that offered styling and furnishings combined. That’s when she stumbled across Furnish and Finish. Their head of design Emily Geister, was tasked with styling the home and she maximised on the space and light, drawing inspiration from Faye’s eclectic collection of artwork. 

“We drew from the type of artworks that were being used throughout the space which inspired us with colour palette and overall feel of the home. We wanted to introduce contemporary elements throughout the space whilst keeping it light,” said Emily. 

Emily was strategic with the placement of the sofas to ensure the space was not closed off and still had clear access up into the dining area. “The home has lots of natural light which we wanted to take advantage of and it allowed us to use darker elements without creating a dark space,” she added. She chose an overarching theme of contemporary coastal and used the whitewash floors to introduce coastal elements throughout.

“We absolutely adore the living space as it was a large portion of our inspiration to follow through to the rest of the home. We loved the incorporation of the clients’ large canvas in this space which allowed us select furniture which spoke to the colouring and themes of the artwork.”

Emily focused on how the living space will be used. “Being just by the kitchen the whole space would be used for entertaining and communication with their family and guests so we ensured that the space was open however still provided maximum seating. “We kept the colour palette consistent through the living and dining as the spaces were joined and were in need of speaking to one another.”

The colour scheme was heavily influenced by the colouring of the large canvas in the living area with its splashes of black and charcoal. “This inspired the colouring of the sofas being a dark charcoal and a black dining table. However, this was lightened with the introduction of timber side tables and console.”

As for the bedrooms, the colour schemes were inspired by the chosen artwork too. Emily also considered exactly who was using the space, whether it was the 10 year-old son, teenage daughter, parents or guest room.

Emily’s 5 top style tips for your home 

  • Use your current furniture or art to influence the colour palette of the space.
  • Understand your aesthetic and functional needs to ensure the space will be used to its full potential.
  • Don’t over style and create a cluttered space
  • Use greenery and florals to keep the space fresh and light – quality fake plants are amazing
  • Give opportunity to be able to chop and change with cushions and accessories by not introducing strong colour palettes in furniture and bedding.

For more on Furnish & Finish | For more on Faye James

Staging a house for sale like an art gallery pays off for derelict terrace

Located in a highly prized pocket of inner-Melbourne, this rundown Victorian terrace was styled for sale with a difference recently…

Styling for sale: 9 expert staging tips

Styling a home for sale is a lot different to how you style it for yourself. The following tips and…
Categories
Expert Tips Styling

Is home staging worth it? You bet it is!

Should you invest in home staging? The bigger question here is why wouldn’t you? Amy Smith, CEO and founder of Huntley + Co, says: “In today’s marketplace, I believe property styling is no longer optional, it is simply essential.”

If you’re in the market to sell your home, it is extremely likely that you have considered styling your property, be that yourself or by engaging a professional. If you haven’t thought about it, no doubt your real estate agent has.

Property inspections, whether online or in person, are like first dates. You only have one chance to make that all important first impression — so why not make the absolute most of that opportunity? Property styling is without doubt the best way to do this and there are loads of other benefits.

Stand out

From impressive campaign photos to immaculate home viewings, professional styling lets your property stand out in the market. It is very much standard practice these days to engage a property stylist. In fact, buyers are becoming so used to seeing homes styled that if yours isn’t staged, it can really stand out – and for all the wrong reasons.

Connect 

A beautifully curated space can be incredibly powerful. Interiors can be completely transformed through purposeful styling. Property stylists are skilled in not only selecting the right furniture and accessories for a space, but for tying it all together to tell a story and craft an aspirational lifestyle beyond our dreams.

“The way we live versus the way we style a home for sale can be quite different” says Amy.  “When living in a home, decisions are often based on personal tastes, functionality and comfort. But when styling a home for sale, the focus should be on tailoring the furnishings to appeal to the likely demographic of the buyer and ensuring that the spaces flow seamlessly for open homes.”

Buyers often struggle to envisage how certain furniture will work in a space. “We need to remove any questions they have, such as if a bed will fit in a room, or how to best place the sofa, so that when they leave the property, buyers feel confident and inspired that the home will work for them,” says Amy.

A styled property has a greater potential to elicit an emotional response from a buyer and as any real estate agent will tell you, an emotional buyer is always your best type of buyer as they are going to be more willing to pay a premium. Which leads me to the next benefit of property styling.

Add Value 

Statistics show that property styling can add a further five-to-10 percent to your sale price within the Sydney market. Styled properties simply appear more polished and can therefore attract higher prices. They also tend to have shorter days on market and stronger auction clearance rates versus their un styled counterparts. With these kinds of returns, investing in property styling should be a no brainer!

“So, if you happen to be sitting on the fence, wondering whether to style your property or not, my advice would be absolutely yes, without any hesitation,” says Amy. When it comes time to sell, having your home styled can be daunting. But if you are able to stand back and see the property through a new set of eyes – the buyer’s eyes – what wonders it could lead to!

–Amy Smith is the CEO of Huntley + Co, a bespoke hire company offering an extensive range of beautiful, on-trend, designer furniture and accessories, with both short and long term rental options. Servicing the needs of the property styling industry throughout Sydney and with no minimum orders, hire as much or as little as you like, and their team will deliver and collect. Property styling made easy!