How to stage a flat to sell: a room-by-room checklist

Buyers decide whether to view a flat from the listing photos, and they make up their minds in the first minutes of a viewing. Home staging means getting the flat ready for both moments: taking out what distracts, fixing what worries, and adding just enough for buyers to picture their own life there.

You don't need to redecorate. Most of staging is taking things away.

Step 1: Take things out

• Personal items: family photos, collections, fridge magnets, toiletries. Buyers should see the flat, not you.
• About a third of the furniture. Lived-in rooms usually hold more than they need. Fewer pieces make rooms look bigger and show the floor.
• Almost everything on surfaces: worktops, bathroom shelves, bedside tables. Leave one or two objects at most.
• Half of what is in the wardrobes. Buyers open them, and half-empty storage says there is room to spare.

Move it all to storage, a cellar or a friend's garage before the photos.

Step 2: Fix what worries buyers

Small faults make buyers wonder what else is wrong:

• dripping taps, loose handles and doors that stick;
• dead bulbs, and bulbs of different colours in the same room;
• stained grout or silicone in the bathroom and kitchen;
• scuffed walls. A fresh coat of light, neutral paint is often the best money you can spend on a tired flat.

Step 3: Add only what helps

• Light: warm bulbs everywhere and a lamp in every dark corner. Switch everything on for photos and viewings.
• Beds made like a hotel's: plain white or light bedding, two pillows a side, one throw.
• A rug to define the living area and warm up a cold floor.
• A few large pieces rather than many small ones: one big plant, one mirror, one piece of art.
• A laid table or a bowl of fruit in the kitchen shows how the space is used.

Room by room

• Hall: clear it apart from one mirror and one hook. The first impression happens here.
• Living room: turn the seating towards each other or the window, not the TV, and show where a sofa, a table and a reading chair fit.
• Kitchen: empty worktops, clean fronts, one plant or bowl.
• Bedroom: the bed centred, matching bedside lamps, nothing visible under the bed.
• Bathroom: new towels in one colour, clear surfaces, a new shower curtain if needed.
• Empty flats: stage at least the living room and the main bedroom. Empty rooms look smaller in photos, and buyers find it hard to judge their size.

The photos

Shoot in daylight with every lamp on, from the corners of each room, at chest height. Close the toilet lid, hide cables and bins, and photograph each room only when it is ready.

If you are selling a flat and want a staging plan for it, Gaudi makes one from your photos: what to remove, what to add and where it goes, with a shopping list. Send us photos and we'll reach out with a quote made for your flat.