To think some little things make a house look expensive?

It was probably the location and price. I'll be honest, I've never noticed people's handwash and couldn't identify if it was "posh" or not.

Smell is so important so I’d go for some Jo Malone or White Company diffusers. Same fragrance throughout.

Plenty of plants.

It’s not just bricks and mortar. Showing the type of lifestyle can really help sell fast.

Some top tips I received were:

jetwash your driveway/ patio - and enjoy it looking lovely until it sells!
get gutters / facias cleaned
turn on any lights in darker spaces - you can get battery led lights to stick under top kitchen units etc, can bring them to your new home too!
If you have only on street parking and have two cars, move both of them away to create as much easy parking as possible
open all windows up every day -all houses have a smell that you become immune to

I wouldn't be spending money on stuff that you don't really want, but if you do end up getting cheap throws etc they can be used to protect furniture when moving.

We always viewed older properties and seeing the family through the years made me think of our family evolving in that space. It makes places feel homely.

Lots of good points made already, but to address your specific question, I would say things like
mirrors - they create more light and a subtle illusion of space.
fresh flowers and plants - something living in each room
Matching, clean, new bed linen.
cushions, throws (again clean, fresh, new) and small touches of a signature colour throughout a room.
Rugs - don’t over do it, but a little softness underfoot helps.

Clean, no clutter. A few expensive things like a posh handwash, nice towels.
We sold a house first viewers with nice staging.

With my mother’s probate house we took a third of the furniture out of each room. We put eBay and Vinted White Company bed linen with bright quilts folded on the bed ends and White Company toiletries and towels in the bathrooms. There is always a flowering plant as you come in and white silk hydrangeas and orchids. The only ornaments and pictures are very neutral and as non-elderly looking as I can manage.

All cliches and done to death but they work because the house looks light and bright. People comment on the presentation being good.

Well seemingly half of the commentors are offended at the suggestion that staging could influence them, but I think it's pretty obvious that presenting your house really well can influence buyers.

When we sold our house last year, I intentionally sold the viewers a lifestyle, not a house. It was a bright and modern house anyway, in good nick, but I cleaned like a maniac, ruthlessly decluttered, dressed rooms so that their purpose/ potential was clear (e.g. dressed a blowup mattress as a full bed in a previously unused storage room). Our walk in wardrobe was decluttered and arranged "just so" with tidy clothes and shoes so that it looked like a dream wardrobe and not the overflowing mess that it normally was. There was molton brown handwash/ nice soap and fluffy towels at every sink. Fruit bowl full. A new houseplant where some greenery was needed. And I put those bake at home breadrolls timed to be cooked right before viewings started, so the kitchen smelled like freshly baked bread.

Our house sold within 10 days, for over 100k over asking. Say what you want, but I think selling the dream works...

we hired a storage unit to take out some of the mountains of geeky crap my H had all over the house but also ended up taking excess cook books, tupperware, etc, etc.

most folk i know send me houses they're interested in cause i can read a floor plan and spot issues straight away - and you can't cover those kind of issues. but if your house is fundamentally what someone is looking for then you can make a difference to their enthusiasm with how you make it look. i realised when our house went on rightmove how colourful it was compared to the average house - lots of white/cream but we had a (pale) green room and a (pale) blue room and a peachy coloured dining kitchen when a LOT of other houses like ours were seas of beige or grey. it still sold but if we'd struggled that would probably have been the key - to just get it repainted slightly more neutrally.

although lots of posters are being snotty about things like furniture it can make a difference - i've never actually been sucked into buying something because of how it's been staged but there's been a couple of times where the aspirational dream (like solid oak doors, granite worktops, fancy lighting) has come close to neutralising a fundamental issue like a north facing garden! some people are making an investment but many, many people are buying a home and planning their future and want to be able to easily imagine that.

Only my experience, but every time we decluttered, removed personal photos, baked bread and put out flowers, we had an offer. If we didn't bother with the flowers and left things tidy but not minimalist, we didn't.

(A lot of the early offers were too a bit too low to proceed though so perhaps this isn't helpful!)

This is what I was looking for. I knew the house would work from me from the floor plan, or I wouldn't bother viewing. I knew the area, I had a small search area. I just needed a feel for the house, especially if someone had loved it, or neglected it. I just didn't want to see neglect.

Simple things do add to that loved feeling though. Alive house plants. Leaves cleared from outside. Smelling aired and clean. Even if decir is tired, I don't care. I will redo that anyway. I don't want fresh paint, or big efforts. Just clean and cared for. Even if that care involves paint wiped off in patches where mucky wee hands have been. I definitely see past that.

Clean, uncluttered, plain bedding, tots away,

I nearly bought a house for ifs lovely wooden shutters! Been coveting them ever since.

Very random but we got some comments about a pineapple in the fruit bowl. Looked nice and means welcome apparently. It was there by chance.

A surprisingly large number of people react well to a house when it's full of really nice things because you've set the scene as to how the house can look.

They can then be somewhat disappointed when you move out, take their things, and they have all their old stuff in there!

Yes, I think baby pictures are nice. We saw one house where they had loads of family photos from over the years, it was really lovely..

Aww, I like this. I want to see family home if I am buying a family home. I don't mind a blank canvas, but I think it is weird to not see a picture of a baby in a house a baby lives in.

it’s probably worth remembering many buyers will look at 3 or 4 similar properties in a day. While bricks and mortar might be what they are looking for, if you’ve got 3 houses with same sq footage, with similar layouts in a similar area, the “feel” of a house will be the thing that swings it.

so as others have said, get rid of clutter, let them see the space you’ve got.

Light often makes two very similar spaces feel different- so make sure curtains and blinds are fully open. This is one area I would spend money, if you have any gloomy rooms, get good lamps, add mirrors etc to make the room feel brighter than it is.

No thanks, keep the garden outside

Don't get the pets and dirty washing mixed up!!

@NotMeNoNo I'm sure someone bought your house because of your aspirational biscuit tin. Don't deny it! 😂

To some extent I agree with the "no clutter" advice. However, part furnished can make it feel full and lacking in storage. Personally, I wanted somewhere with space for shelving over somewhere empty.

Looked at some EB mugs today in local garden centre. £25.00 !!!

This is what I don't get, seriously. I've never bought a house based on anything the vendors will take with them.

This is useful OP https://www.hamptons.co.uk/articles/10-tips-to-stage-your-home-for-a-viewing#/