Home staging and pre-sale preparation

Decluttering decides what stays. Cleaning removes dirt and build-up. Styling decides where the furniture and finishing touches go. A property stylist can advise on the layout or supply hired furniture; a cleaner has a different job. Agree on each person's scope before booking.

Start with a walkthrough with your selling agent. Record the rooms you will photograph, anything that needs repair and a realistic preparation date. Presentation can make a home easier to inspect, but it does not guarantee a particular sale price or selling time.

In the entry, make room to come inside without stepping around shoes or parcels. In the living room, check the route between the door, seating and windows. Move occasional furniture if it blocks that route; a room does not need to be empty to feel usable.

Keep enough on kitchen benches to use the kitchen between inspections, with a cupboard or tray for the daily items you will put away. Leave space around the sink. In a bedroom, make the bed and clear the floor beside it. A spare room that is doing three jobs may be easier to present with one main purpose.

Use storage honestly. A cupboard full of hurriedly hidden bags is harder to access and reset. Label moving boxes, keep the things you need every day within reach and store the rest somewhere agreed in advance. Avoid blocking exits, access panels or ventilation.

1. Styling before sorting. Cushions and accessories cannot clear an overcrowded room. Decide what belongs there first.

2. Buying before measuring. Check the floor space and delivery access before buying or hiring furniture.

3. Blocking the route through a room. Walk the route yourself, including with doors open, and move obstacles.

4. Giving every surface a display. Leave useful space for ordinary activities; the room still needs to function.

5. Making storage the dumping ground. Sort and label what you pack instead of shifting the same pile for each inspection.

6. Cleaning before dusty repairs. Finish the work that makes mess, then clean and dress the room.

7. Covering an odour with fragrance. Find and address the source; a stronger scent does not fix it.

8. Ignoring the entrance. Check the first few metres a visitor will use, including the approach and doorway.

9. Leaving photo preparation to the appointment. Allow time to put laundry, paperwork and everyday items away beforehand.

10. Planning a display you cannot maintain. Choose a simple reset you can repeat while meals, work and family life continue.

Ask what the proposal actually includes: advice only, selected rooms, accessories or a full furniture hire. Request an itemised quote and a written list of the rooms and items covered. Compare that scope with the work you can reasonably do yourself.

Check delivery and collection dates, the hire period, extension charges and who handles damage or insurance. Ask whether you can keep using the furniture while living in the home and what happens if photography or the sales campaign is delayed. Make the clean part of the schedule, with clear access before furniture arrives.

Simply Maid provides cleaning services. Property styling, furniture hire, repairs and home-staging courses are separate services to arrange with the appropriate provider.