The importance of preparing your home for sale can never be underestimated. You want all your prospective purchasers to fall in love with your house, and we’ve covered many topics on this blog to help you prepare for open homes. Today we’re looking at the room it’s always difficult to make the most of… If you have a box room or small space, this one’s for you.

We have 10 tips to make even the smallest space feel grander than it is:

1. Do it with colour – Lighter walls and floors will always help a room appear more spacious. Whilst darker colours give a feeling of coziness; if you’re looking to open up a space go for whites, creams or neutrals.
2. Get striped – Invest in a striped rug, place it to ensure the stripes run along the longest length of the room. This will create an optical illusion and elongate the room.
3. Show off your legs – If you have chairs that have exposed legs, (rather than those with solid bases), move these pieces into your smallest room. Once again it comes down to an optical illusion, being able to see underneath pieces of furniture will optimise a light and airy effect.
4. Change your drapes – If you can, ditch the curtains all together. If you can’t, use lighter voile like fabrics or blinds as window coverings. Heavy curtains will restrict the feeling of openness.
5. Mirror, mirror on the wall – Make my room seem bigger for all! Yes, a simple touch like hanging a large mirror will automatically create a more spacious feel.
6. Clear the clutter – Get rid of the ornaments and knick knacks and embrace simplicity in your smallest spaces.
7. Don’t over stack your shelves – Leaving some space on a bookshelf or unit will create a feeling of openness.
8. Be transparent – Glass or perspex furniture won’t take up too much visual space
9. Light the way – Lighting is critical. Make the most of natural light. Avoid harsh down lights and make use of smaller side lamps or wall lights around the edges of the room to distribute light and create a sense of space.
10. Raise their eyes – Get your visitors to look upwards, this can be achieved by painting your ceiling in a bright colour, or hanging shelves high on the walls.

In a recent blog post we offered you a practical guide to decluttering… So you’ve been decisive and had a massive cull… You’re on first name terms with the good people at your local op shop because you’ve donated so frequently… And yet still not everything has a place.

When you present your house at an open home, one of the ways you can make a great first impression is to have a sense of order. Clean surfaces and tidy corners will give your home that all important feeling of space, an attractive proposition to your discerning buyers. However, let’s face it, prior to your sale you still have to live in your house… We know how difficult it is to keep on top of things, especially in a family home, so we thought we’d put together a list of 5 storage solutions that you can use to clear your corners faster than Mary Poppins could sing a verse of that famous tidy up song “A Spoonful of Sugar”!

1. Have a few large wicker baskets handy. Use these for quickly gathering and storing toys, shoes or any other manner of household detrius.
2. Invest in some secret storage furniture you can take with you when you move, a footstool or ottoman with hidden space is one of the most useful items you can own.
3. Purchase a colourful hanging bathroom bag for each member of the family; install some hooks on the wall or back of the bathroom door. When you have an open home everybody’s personal items can be gathered from the surface and hidden away.
4. Allocate an “In” tray. Head to the stationary stop and pick up a letter tray so you can keep all your paperwork into one spot.
5. Check out those very same op shops that you’ve been donating to, for some vintage style suitcases. Pop one in each of the bedrooms and family rooms; either on top of the wardrobe, on a wide shelf or a small stand. Placed artfully against a wall these can make fabulous retro feature pieces, but are so practical; you can quickly gather up loose items and hide them away in the blink of an eye!