Property Styling 101: What they do and how can it impact your end result?

Selling a property is stressful enough without the added strain of ensuring its good looks will attract your ideal buyer. “Thanks to social media and reality television, buyers have become very sophisticated,” says Anka Baric of Luxe Property Lifestyle. “As a property stylist our job is to focus on the property’s potential buyers’ needs and wants, and then work hard to create a space they will want to live in.”

For many sellers, the property stylist is their secret weapon; a professional who is not only trend-savvy, but who can solve the trickiest of interior problems, and quickly. “We style for the market and the buyer,” says Sara Chamberlain from The Real Estate Stylist, “and our job is to make the vendor money. We are like stylists on steroids! There is always an enormous amount of pressure to deliver quality design and solve creative solutions to problems in just a matter of days.”

So is hiring a property stylist a worthwhile investment and can it really impact on your end result? We grilled three property stylists from around the country and asked them what they do, how they achieve it, and how it can help you.

Geoff Lewis, Bowerbird Interiors, Sydney

Geoff Lewis from Bowerbird Interiors.

Who approaches you for property styling?

Real estate agents, developers and direct clients who want their property, whether it is worth $500k or $15 million, to look its very best in order to attract the highest price possible.

Photo: Bowerbird Interiors.

What do you look for when you first view a property?

Our goal is to come up with a style and layout that will best compliment the property and appeal to the demographic it is being marketed to. Our team is made up of qualified interior designers who curate items from our furniture inventory to fit the brief.

What can property owners expect to get back from their investment? Our business is all about return on investment. For example, our team recently worked on a brand new five-bedroom home in Maroubra, and created a high-end soft industrial scheme based on the property’s good natural light and premium finishes. The buyer was the first person that saw the property when it was empty. After seeing it furnished, her offer increased from $4,000,000 to the final sale price of $4,350,000.

Photo: Bowerbird Interiors.

How much can clients expect to invest in this service?

Because our pricing is property specific, we prepare a proposal for every property. For a partial style, our prices start at $2,500 and can range in excess of $20,000. Across the last 600 properties we have worked on, the average price is around $5,000 to $6,000.

Sara Chamberlain, The Real Estate Stylist, Melbourne

Sara Chamberlain from The Real Estate Stylist.

What is your approach when styling a property?

We consider the demographic of likely purchasers and the architecture and style of the property. We look at it empty, and then decide on design and layout, whilst keeping in mind natural light, any interesting features, and details that may create a challenge.

Where do you source your furniture and homewares?

Because we can service up to 80 properties at any one time, we have our own warehouse of furniture and accessories to borrow from. It makes sourcing a true luxury for us.

Photo: The Real Estate Stylist.

Have you come across a property you can’t work with?

We work with all properties, but generally steer away from large traditional federation homes, as our furniture is more suited to contemporary styling.

What can property owners expect to get back from their investment?

Every weekend we see properties fetching up to $5,000 or $10,000 per $1,000 invested in the styling process. So if a client spends $5,000 on styling a small house, we expect them to see an extra $25,000 on the sale price.

What is your best styling tip?

Good lighting is essential. If you don’t have at least five lamps in your apartment, you are not creating the right effect.

Anka Baric, Luxe Property Styling, Brisbane

Anka Baric from Luxe Property Styling.

What do you look for when you first view a property?

I look for any under-utilised spaces and find ways to maximise their potential.

Where do you source your furniture and homewares?

Be it an entry level unit or a high end luxury property, we have different furniture suppliers to loan from. If we are doing a partial style, which means working with some of the owner’s existing furniture, we loan additional pieces to complement theirs.

Photo: Luxe Property Styling.

How creative is your role?

It is always creative to an extent. We sometimes work with smaller-than-hoped-for budgets, which means we have to get the creative juices flowing to come up with interesting solutions.

Photo: Luxe Property Styling.

What is your best secret styling hack?

Paint your walls white and take a trip to Kmart. They always stock really good on-trend furniture or homewares items that look deceivingly high-end.