Home Staging | Preparing a house for selling

STAGING for Villas and Apartments

Villa/apartment staging is about illusions. It's beyond decorating and cleaning. It's about perfecting the art of creating moods. Staging makes your villa/apartment look bigger, brighter, cleaner, warmer, more loving and best of all; it makes people want to stay in it.

Contrary to what you might think, it's about more than preparing the villa/apartment to rent/sell. Staging is what you do after you've cleaned, de-cluttered, painted, made minor repairs; it's all about dressing the villa/apartment. It's about adding the small details: the lipstick, mascara and for simplicity, a stunning, single strand of Tahitian pearls. To stage a villa/apartment is a skill like being an artist. You have to take your blank canvas and paint a sensuous portrait without ever lifting a paint brush.

Staging possess the skills of a top-level designer and they create dramatic scenery that appeals to all five senses. Here are some of their secrets: Arrange sparse pieces of furniture in an appealing grouping known as a vignette. Showcase a generous usage of soft fabrics such as silk, lamb’s wool, satin. Display unusual knickknacks in units of 1, 3 or 5.  Drape window coverings with simple lines. Add unique elements to shelving, bookcases and fireplace mantels, which draw attention to predetermined areas. What Accessories do you need to Stage a villa? You may require an array of items to spruce up your villa/apartment. Here is a small sample of items you often use to dress each room in your villa/apartment. How they are utilized is limited only by the creativity and vision of the artist. Mirrors, Plants ,Silk Flowers ,Floor & Table Lamps ,Area and Throw Rugs, Small Love Seats ,Ottomans Afghans, Pillows, Baskets, Tricks & Tips, Magazines, Bed linen

The idea behind staging is to allow rooms to show themselves. "If your villa/apartment is vacant, it's soulless, so be warned. Without staging, it will probably remain so. The kitchen is the heart of the home and this advice is for making that space sparkle:Put out large bowls of fruit such as polished apples, bright oranges, and luscious grapes (these can be real or unreal).  Arrange silk flowers in tall glass vases.

Arrange colourful and fun cookbooks on the counters Bringing the outdoors inside, through the use of greenery and plants again silk maybe an expense but in the long run will pay.In creating clean, crisp spaces and arranging furniture with plenty of room to walk around you will create a desirable space. Bathrooms are essential to dress well. Bathrooms should look open, airy and delightful. One favourite trick is to add baskets filled with spa treatments such as: Towels, tied with ribbons, Scented soaps, Creamy lotions, Moisturizing & Facial jars .

All Terraces and balconies need staging, too. For patios and decks, bring in plants and potted flowers, and add additional colour by setting the picnic table with bright dinner plates. If you require help with staging and dressing your villa/apartment email Lynsay@indigo-retreats.com and ask for her help.The biggest problem comes when a villa/apartment comes to the market for renting/selling and it shows the lack of thought which has gone into getting it ready.

You do find that people stop noticing clutter and badly dressed rooms. Owners often can't see beyond it. How you live isn't necessarily how the person who might rent /sell your villa/apartment lives, so you have to neutralise the property to appeal to everyone and anyone. All too often, however, people just don't do it and then wonder why no-one is interested in their property. The pictures you use to rent/sell your villa/apartment are very important and it is good staging and dressing that will help advertise your villa/apartment.

Your villa/apartment is personal and there are a lot of sentimental items around a home, but when it comes to renting/ selling you just can't be personal. Clutter, badly furnished rooms and over-accessorising are the biggest quirks but, so too are empty shells.

Properties do tend to look tired after being continually rented, especially when the furniture has gone. Too much furniture is off-putting and gives the impression of lack of space, but so too is a villa/apartment with too little furnishing. A homely feel is important.It does take a lot of diplomacy though. It's easier for someone who doesn't live in the villa/apartment to step back and see the flaws. Most people are receptive to it – everyone wants to rent/sell and that is why it is so important to stage and dress your villa/apartment in a desirable way.

People are often neglectful of entrances. First impressions are so important and you can easily have a lovely living room or kitchen, but if the front door is chipped and the hallway has loads of coats hanging up and little Johnny's bike in the corner, then it doesn't create a good feel. Gardens are also often neglected too. People want to see usable gardens.Look is so important. The photography is 80 per cent of the marketing. 

A villa/apartment needs to be dressed; it needs to be more appealing to the renter/buyer. Remember these tips will ensure that your client will return because you have made them feel special by applying extra effort in preparing the villa/apartment for them.The way to look at this process it is that it will increase the interest in the property which is a better for you. However, spending a few hundred pounds on dressing rooms can reap rewards in rental income and even in selling. People want to see themselves in your villa/apartment and they want to aspire to it. Get this right and it's a certain step to clients returning year on year or even buying your villa/apartment.

I charge from £120 for a consultation, accessories and soft furnishings purchased do not have to be expensive, but do have to be chosen with care, bearing in mind colours and fabrics, but this will reap returns in your rental income or selling process. You can't beat a lick of paint too.This is why new builds have show villas/apartments. You buy into the lifestyle they create and you're teased into a Villa/apartment by the aesthetics. It's all about looking less Ikea-esque and more designer. This appeals to clients and this is what will rent/sell your villa/apartment.For more information call me.

Information by:

Indigo Retreats Ltd

Lynsay Doel

Email: lynsay@indigo-retreats.com

Marbella Luxury Villa and Apartment Rentals

Tel:   0845 224 00 63

Mob:  0797 59 85 342