Spring touches

Spring

touches

When you are selling in spring, the most agreed upon suggestions for home presentation are spring cleaning, de-cluttering, gardening, repairing and styling.

Cleaning is obvious but sparkling windows and glass work, freshsmelling carpets and curtains, and gleaming timber really do brighten everyone’s mood.

An uncluttered house looks more spacious and inviting. Plus, there’s a lot of your work done when it’s time to move out after you’ve sold.

Springtime in the garden… no more needs saying! Make the most of your outdoor spaces to appeal to buyers.

Don’t create a bad impression through rust, peeling paint, chipped walls, creaky floorboards and damaged finishes. The sale price generally does reflect a property’s state of repair – or disrepair.

If you don’t turn to the professional stylist, at least go online and get ideas on how to best set up each room.

The weather often creates an infectious spring fever that can appear to work its magic on buyers.

Have you thought of these simple ideas for staging your property in spring?

• Don’t just make the bed, make it a showpiece. Tip: a layered look works better than obscuring it with pillows and cushions. • Display beautiful towels. Tip: Rolled white towels are reminiscent of a five-star hotel. • Have a vase of fresh cut flowers.

Tip: Don’t overdo this! • Create interest and warmth with an attractive throw rug. • Go posh with a bar cart. • Feature eye-catching artwork.

Tip: DEFINITELY don’t overdo this! • Make a good first impression outdoors as it’s the first thing to be seen. • Put a fresh coat of paint on the front door.

The biggest name in colour is possibly Pantone, which releases an annual ‘Colour of the Year – more to do with shades than a single colour and said to be forecasted two years out. A favourite paint brand, Dulux, has its ‘Colour Forecast’, a yearly round up of what will be on trend in the foreseeable future, and which is considered remarkably accurate.

Spring can also turn a homeowner’s fancy to renovations. Among the most popular are making kitchen improvements, adding new window furnishings, updating timber flooring and resurfacing driveways. New benchtops can really bring a kitchen together, while bifold or pivot windows are popular. Built-in grills and pizza ovens are hits in outdoor kitchens.

According to one contemporary design and lifestyle specialist, Philip Fimmano, these were the trends we’d be looking at in 2019. How did you fare?

• Terracotta would be the new kid on the block. transforming kitchens, bathrooms and shared open spaces.

• Texture and textiles, including the hanging of textile art, would be a continuing theme.

• Rounded edges and organic shape would be more prevalent.

• Terrazzo would have a major revival and merge with other materials such as concrete.

• Botanical linen pillows would be in vogue in summer (velvet for winter), as would wicker furniture and rattan mats. Made-to-measure wallpaper would allow us to

‘landscape’ our interiors.

• We’d see the return of the indoor plants but grouped in one place rather than spread throughout the house.

• After the kitchen, the bedroom would become the new room of focus – as a place to lounge, rest, work, read, text and catch-up on screen-time. The home office would become less ‘officious’ and the living room reinvented.

It is even possible to find people forecasting interior design trends for 2020 and beyond. One prediction is that the ‘upcoming 2020-2021 season will bring greener and more sustainable initiatives’.