Design Your Home to Secure a Sale  

Susan White, director of Phoenix Interior Design, the UK’s foremost show-home interior design service, advises on how best to approach home design with the view to securing a sale.

When working with developers on new-build or renovated properties for sale, as a design consultancy, our priority is to work closely with individuals from the outset of a project. This ensures a smooth delivery process and a cohesive design, which ultimately makes the property more attractive to prospective buyers.

As with any design project, it’s also important to build a solid team, quality suppliers and contractors that are all fully briefed and who work well and efficiently as a whole with a shared end goal.

What ultimately sets Phoenix Design apart from other show-home designers, is that we believe the focal point of the target audience is king; and by doing so, we adopt an approach that caters to their specific needs and tastes. Of course individual clients are hugely different in the parameters that they set and as such, our approach includes delving into the history of that specific property, the area, the audience and a client’s needs - to create the most attractive and functional design for the ideal buyer. We don’t adopt a ‘cookie cutter’ approach. We understand that each property is unique and should be showcased in a specific and relevant way. Ultimately each design project undertaken is individually tailored to a clearly defined market.

When looking at specific decorating elements of a home including choice of furniture, window treatments and colour palette – it’s crucial that the concept maximizes the potential of the house ensuring that potential buyers see the natural beauty of the property and that the design doesn’t over shadow that home’s innate charm and appeal. Use of neutral palettes, contemporary furniture and clean lines is a fail-safe approach. Potential buyers need to imagine themselves and their family living in that property with their belongings, carefully chosen art and choice of furniture. A knock out design and ‘wow’ factor that can push the sale over the line, invariably comes from pared down design and this is a template that we excel at.