Want to sell to young buyers? Take your home out of the ’80s

If you look past the impression of interior design as a “frills and fluff” business – an impression proven to be aided by ill-fated gender stereotypes – property experts have found that quality styling can add as much as 10 per cent to the sale price of a property.

Staging can also drastically improve sale times, with a recent study finding that 49 per cent of staged homes sold in the first week.

Why does styling work? According to design expert Kellie Richardson, good staging helps vendors sell a lifestyle.

“The only way to get top dollar for your home is to ensure that it offers a neutral style palette so as to broaden the range of people who might find it appealing,” Ms Richardson explained. “You need to present your home in a way that provides people with the ability to imagine themselves living in it.”

With Millennials starting to dominate the property market, knowing how to appeal to young buyers is particularly crucial.

“Most buyers in the market for a family home are Millennials,” revealed the Melbourne designer. “They can’t relate to the ’80s, and nor do they appreciate the style of the era.”

To detox a property of 1980s vibes without breaking the bank, Ms Richardson offered three essential tips.

Cut back the clutter

According to Ms Richardson: “The 80s was a period of excess, where people had big hair, big shoulder pads and big furniture.”

But for the aspiring buyers of today, maximalism is out and minimalism is in.

“Decorative garden gnomes, painted ceramic frogs and high-back outdoor seating with puffy cushions” might imbue a space with one family’s personality, but Ms Richardson explained that an overload of personal details can alienate buyers.

Instead, she advised sellers to stage their property as a blank canvas that buyers can bring their own touch to.

Think clean, not cosy

Contrary to what the uninitiated might think, cosiness is not the key to selling a residential property.

“We don’t want people thinking your home is homely; we want people thinking it is fresh, clean, open and flowing,” said Ms Richardson.

This means that instead of the wafting scents of freshly brewed coffee or baked goods, vendors should focus on light citrus scents in the lead-up to open homes.

In the 1980s, Ms Richardson recalls how “sellers were told to pop some homemade cookies or brownies in the oven just before each open house to ensure the home filled with warm cookie smells”.

For young 21st century buyers, however, orange and lemon scents will be more effective, with Ms Richardson noting that citrus is favoured by scent marketers for its ability to “energise the mind and increase buying behaviour”.

Light matters

It’s no secret that natural light is sought-after by buyers and renters alike. As Ms Richardson revealed, however, clever styling tricks can give the optical illusion of light even in darker properties.

“Declutter and remove furniture that is large and overbearing,” she advised. “Avoid dark wood, lounges with big heavy arms and sideboards that are imposing and take up too much wall space.”

Instead, low furniture, linear styling and light colour palettes are a seller’s friends. Placement, colour, texture, lighting and form all “work strategically to create the desired effect,” stated Ms Richardson.