5 Reasons Interior Design Is Essential Before Listing Your Home

Choosing to buy a home has always come down to a mixture of logic and emotions, but there's one thing you can guarantee: a home that looks amazing is set to sell faster and for more dollars than one that doesn't.

When you're preparing to list your home, it is important to understand your interior design can have a massive impact on potential buyers. Many design principles can help your home seem substantially more attractive.

Here are just some of the reasons why interior design is so essential before you list your home.

Interior Design Brings People In

The most important aspect of selling your home is marketing it properly to stand out – and that's both online and in person. Online, most potential buyers start their search using real estate websites or searching listings sent to them via email, which includes seeing photos of the property. If your home looks drab in photos, buyers are less likely to want to see it in person. However, if the home looks as though it's fresh out of a catalogue, you're guaranteed to have more people book a home showing—which means foot traffic!

Most buyers will look through multiple listings online before deciding which homes to visit, which they base on both the listing information and the photographs of the property. As there will likely be a few available homes similar to yours, it's critical to use aspects of interior design to ensure your property stands out in the crowd.

You don't want your home to stand out in its online ads only; it's just as important for your home to look amazing when the home viewings start. Many of the people coming into your property have already had a look at other homes, so you'll want yours to stand out. How can you do that? Through the design! Bright-coloured cushions, gorgeous rugs, or a nicely laid-out dining table are guaranteed to catch a potential buyer's eye. While buyers aren't purchasing the furniture, it gives them an idea of the potential the property offers.

Interior Design Creates Space

By having the right interior design, you not only present the home as being in great condition, but you can also give potential buyers an idea of how much space there is. For example, an empty bedroom can look a lot smaller than it does with a king-size bed in it!

It's important to showcase how spacious your home is to prospective buyers. By utilizing the right techniques in interior design, you will effectively create an illusion of more space than there is, which is always a good thing.

How your appliances and furniture are positioned inside your home can dictate how spacious your home seems, as can the use of colour. Rooms painted with a lighter palette of colours can make them seem noticeably larger, which each potential buyer wants to feel.

Interior Design Adds Functionality

By using the right interior design techniques, you can also add functionality to your home. Functionality is one of the most important aspects of interior design. Even the smallest apartment with only a little space can ultimately have more functionality than a massive hole that's been poorly designed.

What do we mean by functionality? It all comes down to using some of the latest principles of interior design to ensure all aspects of homework are better in unison together and feel more inviting. For example, an open floor plan laid out properly will make the room look larger, while a clever choice of furniture gives the vision of a clean space. Adding storage units and beautifully crafted shelving to a room will reduce the clutter people see, giving them ideas of what they can do to the home. The décor you choose can enhance the lighting, height, and general ambience of a particular room, all of which are appealing to buyers.

Interior Design Defines the Purpose

When prospective buyers are viewing a property, Darren Robertson of Darren Robertson Homes explains, “Buyers are generally imagining how they will be able to utilize the internal space most effectively. Interior design can be used effectively here by providing visual clues so that they will have a much more clear picture of purpose.”

You can define the purpose of each room by looking at important design details such as the coordination of colour, impact of lighting, and selection of furniture. Ultimately, you can use these elements to create purpose in each room, which can then increase their overall satisfaction with your property as a whole. You want people to see the dining room as a dining room, the lounge filled with beautiful chairs and a coffee table, and bedrooms complete with beds, side tables, and even toys to give buyers a greater sense of “home.”

Interior Design Increases Property Value

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, when your interior has been well-designed, it can genuinely increase the sale value of your property. Most buyers are generally looking for a home in the right area that is well-designed and functional, so they won't have to spend much more time and money on it. Ensuring your lighting is in the right place and your accessories and any other built-in features are utilized correctly give potential buyers the confidence the home is move-in ready. If there's no work to be done, people are generally willing to pay more.

While you may not afford to change some features of your home, you can leverage your interior design to your advantage. Because in the end, everyone wants the biggest possible return on their property investment.

The Last Word

Using the right interior design techniques before putting your home on the market is easily one of the smartest decisions you can make. There are also courses available for you to learn interior design as a hobby or career. Once you have learned how to use the most effective design techniques, you'll be able to accentuate your property's interior strengths to attract the right buyer. If you don't have the time to do the work yourself, it's easy to find a professional designer who can complete your interior for you.