The SOS House- Northbridge.

The house that was already styled

A new five-bedroom home in Northbridge. Fifteen thousand dollars of styling that had to come out. And five days to put it right.

The call came on a Thursday morning.

The agent had a problem he couldn't fix himself. His client, a developer, had just finished a five-bedroom home in Northbridge, the campaign was days from starting, photos were booked in for next Tuesday, and the house had already been styled by a styling company.

He asked us to come and help as nothing was working for the style of the house.

What we found

Furniture that was damaged, stained and worn.

Not dated. Not simply wrong for the house. Worn out pieces that had been through too many homes and should have been retired from hire stock long before they arrived at this one. In a brand-new five-bedroom home, days away from going to market.

And beyond the condition, nothing had been considered. Wrong scale for the proportions. Wrong style for the architecture. Wrong tone for the price being asked and the buyers it needed to reach. Rooms filled rather than resolved.

Our client looked at it once and told the styling company to "Get it out."

What we did

We had five days before the first open home, and we were starting behind, and an entire styling package had to come out before ours could go in.

So we started where we always start, which is with the house rather than the furniture. Where the light fell through the day. How someone moves from the entry through to the kitchen. Which rooms needed to feel generous, and which needed to feel intimate. What a buyer at this price, in this suburb, would be hoping to find.

Then we reconfigured every room to open up the space, light and flow. We brought in furniture chosen for this property, pieces with texture and tonal depth, scaled properly to the rooms they sat in. And we layered in soft furnishings and artwork, the things that give the eye somewhere to rest and a buyer something to feel.

Calm, cohesion and warmth. The three things that had been missing.

The result

The property sold in 4 weeks at a great price.

Our client was thrilled. The agent told us we'd saved the campaign.

Why we're telling you this

Because it shows what styling can actually costs when it goes wrong.

Fifteen thousand dollars had already been spent on furniture that had to be removed before the house could go to market. But what it nearly cost, was the campaign itself, and the price a new five-bedroom home in Northbridge should command.

This is why we say styling is an investment rather than an expense. Getting it right the first time ensures a smooth campaign start, photo’s on time, online marketing ready and a confident agent ready for the first open home. You only get once chance to make a great first impression.

If you're preparing a property for sale and you're not sure the styling is doing what it should, whether the campaign hasn't started or it's already in place, we're happy to come and look.