Staging a house to appear suitable for a young family

[Thaerta]

Will be marketing my house next year - 4 bed detached in a great catchment area for all levels of schooling. Large garden.

Our DCs are adults and have homes are their own so it's time to downsize.

House is nice enough but doesn't really reflect it's potential for a growing family. I know viewers can use their imagination but is there anything I can do to make it appear more child friendly? How should I stage it?

I really wouldn’t buy a cot - I think it would be very odd to look round a house of an older adult age children to see a cot in a pretend nursery! Any small office size room can be easily visioned as a nursery!

Actually the worst is when a room is staged as a nursery to hide the fact it’s a tiny room! We viewed a house once where the third bedroom had a cot, and then the estate agent did a very earnest spiel about how easy it would be to build a custom made bed as a standard size wouldn’t fit. We ran a mile from that!

So on reflection adding a cot might make me think you’re hiding something!

The only time I looked at a house that had been 'staged' it made me wonder why they had done it. The answer was actually that it was really small - computer (big at that time) boxed up in a cupboard, large furniture in the garage. I think buyers can figure out for themselves whether they want it - Location, location, location etc. Just tidy up and declutter a bit.

I wouldn't worry, people are interested in the size. It may be people who are older looking anyway (we wanted double rooms as kids all over 18)

We live in the catchment for two hugely popular schools. We frequently get letters through the door asking if we are thinking of selling.

Frankly, if it has three or four bedrooms and isn't actually falling down it will sell immediately. It would never occur to me to stage anything.

Our neighbour's house "requiring updating" had offers within 3 hours of going on the market, based on photos and floor plan.

I just brought a 4 bed that very obviously had one woman living in it! As long as you’ve got the space then they will know it could be a family home. Good luck!

• No repairs needed
• No particularly old-fashioned decor
• Nothing dangerous
• Bath in bathroom
• Bedrooms as bedrooms
• Decent sized dining table
• Tidy garden with a lawn and secure fence
• Parking for 2 cars

What's your view on putting two single beds into one of the bedrooms rather than a a double?

Nope.

If you need a home office and are currently using the smallest bedroom do a swap.

So make sure the smallest bedroom has a single bed and furniture in it. So it looks like a bedroom.

And put a single bed plus desk, but not a massive desk, in a larger bedroom.

I'd find it odd if it was dressed like that tbh . Don't worry about OFSTED the parents will have looked into that

The first piece of information I look for, after inspecting the floor plan, is the total square footage. Enough, or not enough. I don't actually know what I want to buy or where as we get ready to downize for retirement, but I do know that unless there's 1700 sq ft, DH is going to say NO, too cramped.

1700sq ft cramped… for two of you in retirement?! Our family of 5 lives in a house smaller than that and we don’t feel cramped at all.

Things I wished I'd had in a house with young kids included room for a table in the kitchen, or potential to knock through into a big kitchen diner family room. And a kitchen window that over looks a nice sized garden where they can run free but not escape, and where you can keep a casual eye on them.

Good for you @WaddleAway , but DH is 6' 7" tall and takes up a lot of room. A room most people would think quite large seems cramped.

It drives me potty when people tell me as a single person I should live in a smaller house!!

why do people assume other people should live their lives by their standards and preferences!!!

I agree with pp that I wouldn't bother with buying anything specifically to stage your home. We've just sold our 5 bed home in the catchment area for Outstanding schools, and we were convinced it would be to another young family like ourselves but we've ended up selling to an older couple with an adult daughter in the army so it'll only be 2 of them here most of the time! People will be looking at the space rather than what's in it, so as long as it's uncluttered so that the space can be seen you should be fine.