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Suggestions to improve my house...

80 replies

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 19:07

My house has been on the market for coming up for a year with no offers.
I'm about to reduce the price for the second time.
If that doesn't work I'm considering remodelling the ground floor as it has a traditional layout, not open plan.
Any thoughts or suggestions very welcome.
www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86943297

Check out this 5 bedroom detached house for sale on Rightmove

5 bedroom detached house for sale in Sandy Lane, Melton Mowbray, LE13 for £475,000. Marketed by Mike Ford Estate Agents and Valuers LTD, Melton Mowbray

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/86943297

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6
zenai · 10/05/2025 20:17

Reduce the price by the cost of remodelling. Don't even think of doing building works or you will be there for another year!

It's a fine house with great potential. Think about neutralising the colours in the bedrooms, add white bedlinen and maybe voile curtains to get you through. Definitely soften the front driveway/entrance as first impressions are lasting! Easy enough to do with planters and maybe structural plants for height like bamboo or similar (in a pot and take them with you!).

I hope it works out for you, it must be a bit disheartening but if you get cracking on the basics that won't cost too much, hopefully you'll get an offer.

Dreichweather · 10/05/2025 20:18

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 19:42

The long dark thing is a built in fish tank. I know. My exes hobby.

I would take it out and all those units.

There is far too much furniture in the house.

May pay for plans for remodelling and get the plans on right move too.

Radionowhere · 10/05/2025 20:21

It's the internal sitting room. The house has loads of potential but the downstairs has no flow.

NimbleTiger · 10/05/2025 20:26

Large house with potential but looks like an empty box... no kerb appeal get some cheap planters to look inviting ... I think it is oddly presented but maybe went a bit too far with decluttering ...needs somebody with imagination to get past the large empty rooms and vanilla decor to see it as a 'home' best of luck.

fiorentina · 10/05/2025 20:27

I think the photos really look like it needs modernisation. Many people would want to replace the bathrooms, kitchen and update the decor. The front is bare and needs some large troughs of plants or something to break up the expanse of tarmac.
I know many will say buyers look beyond decor but I think it looks a little unloved. But people will pay for the property for the right price, there’s lots of room and potential.

IShotTheDeputyItWasMe · 10/05/2025 20:32

NRTFT
Disclaimer- my house would be torn to shreads on here so please don't take my comments personally.

It's large but quite soulless. It looks like a rental because there is no personality. I know people will decorate themselves and they don't want lots of someone else's stuff on display, but it doesn't feel like a family live there. When you sell a house. You also sell living there. I want to walk into a house and feel like people are happy and have fun there. Yours doesn't do that for me.

I'm not sure I can really imagine using the downstairs with that layout. However, don't make it all open plan. People are moving away from that and besides, you risk having this one cavernous room and that will be hard to sell. Plus it will cost lots.

Maybe give each room a specific purpose so people can see how to use it? Eg put some bookshelves in that little room and turn it into a reading room (doesn't matter what books, it just gives it purpose and personality). Put some random cushions on the sofas etc

Growlybear83 · 10/05/2025 20:32

I think the house looks far too stark and unloved and needs some ornaments, cushions, rugs etc. The kitchen looks so cold and clinical with such bare work surfaces. I think it would be a huge mistake to make it open plan - I find it really off putting to see houses they have lost their original layout.

allthemiddlechildrenoftheworld · 10/05/2025 20:39

@Morrisseyswife the master suite in the attic looks like you have an office in the bedroom and a bed in the dressing room? two offices??? two kinds of units in kitchen/diner/breakfast area/ is your kitchen at the front of the house??? Is there a toilet on the ground floor?

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 20:42

Yes I use the top floor to work from home, as an office. The units in the kitchen and dining area are the same. The kitchen is at the front of the house that's right.

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IShotTheDeputyItWasMe · 10/05/2025 20:42

This is the sort of thing I mean. Imagine the door is the window. Not fitted bookshelves obviously so it will look a bit different but will still give the room a purpose.

Suggestions to improve my house...
Suggestions to improve my house...
Suggestions to improve my house...
Beautifulweeds · 10/05/2025 20:44

It's beautiful ans I would certainly be interested if in that area and could afford it. Xxx

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 20:45

Thanks everyone. All comments are welcome and appreciated.

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IShotTheDeputyItWasMe · 10/05/2025 20:48

Also the empty fish tank would put me off. Could you use it as a feature with some plants or something interesting?
Again, it just gives the house some personality.

Suggestions to improve my house...
Ineedanewsofa · 10/05/2025 21:03

It looks like a student house/HMO at the moment, serviceable but soulless. Are there 3 separate rooms with office chairs and computers in?
I’d put neutral flooring/carpet in upstairs, paint the built in wooden wardrobes white and try to give each room a purpose (so not 3 office rooms!)
Stage bedrooms with nice bedding and cushions, create a reading/cosy space downstairs by the fire with a comfy chair, blanket and lamp, set the dining table, add flowers/plants to downstairs rooms. All simple things that hopefully cost very little.

OttersAreMySpiritAnimal · 10/05/2025 21:08

You've had some great advice already and I'm going to add and reiterate some points. I'm not a developer but I have moved house far more than the average person and will always sort out my house a bit prior to selling so that it goes quick.

Front garden pic is too much hard standing, proportionally the house is about a quarter of the pic when it should be the main feature. Big pots fully of flowers and zoom in on the house a bit.

Downstairs layout. Do not make this more open plan, just make better use of what you have. That middle room with no windows. Dress it as a cinema room/ library/home office. paint it dark, fill it with books, soft lighting and comfy sofas. Embrace that it has no windows.

The lounge is great, put the bureau that is currently in the middle room in the lounge where you have that long rug, make it look like that's why you've moved the sofa forward. Pull the curtains back properly and let all the lovely light in.

Don't touch the utility, though if you have the funds I'd add a downstairs loo here.

Give yourself a hallway at the front of the house. You can do this with furniture. Take out cabinets to ensure you can do this if needed. Floor to ceiling wardrobe on the right as you face the front door inside the house. Leave a doorway width at the end so you can get into the long thin room. I can't quite tell if you have the width to do the same the other side and keep a decent size hall, so if not build a simple stud wall. Add hooks

The kitchen feels very dated. I'd paint the cabinets, probably white or sage green. I'd board and then lino over the tiles with something much more neutral and plain. Ultimately this is the thing most likely to be putting people off the house. Make it look bright and fresh. Will your dining table fit in the kitchen?

The long thin room. Remove the cabinets, make good the walls. Remove the fish tank. Consider adding a door to the lounge. Dress this as a lounge diner. Give yourself a gorgeous little breakfast nook at the window end with an L shaped bench and large round table. Big vase of flowers there. Big sofa and telly down the other end.

Add load of plants everywhere, all rooms.

Upstairs, reduce the amount of random bits of furniture and make sure all bedrooms have beds. use large blankets to make beds look neater without having to iron bedding everyone there's a viewing. Paint the brown wardrobes white.
You could recarpet if you've got the funds.

I think the bathrooms are ok and wouldn't do anything with these. If you can improve the rest of the house people will compromise on the odd thing they might want to redo. Most people want move in ready, not a project.

It's easier to sell a house if there is one wow room, especially if its a kitchen, but really you just want the house to tell a story about how safe, warm and lovely it is to live in. Not every room has to be special but they all have to feel clean and welcoming and have a clear purpose. You can't rely on people to have imagination, tell a story with furniture and 'stuff' to show people how they could live in a house.

I'd love a house like this. Best of luck.

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 21:09

Three of the bedrooms were/are used by teenagers who all have computers and chairs. Plus one office.

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Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 21:11

Painting the wood coloured wardrobes white is a good call.

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Figsaregood · 10/05/2025 21:11

You don't mention whether you have had many viewings? I do think the photos don't show the house off in its best light. I would make changes and have them redone.

Initial observations from photos :

  • Unwelcoming front of house. I agree with what was suggested about adding some attractive plants in containers around the front door. The drive itself is ashphalt by the looks of it, so it would take some work to transform it into a garden if the buyers wanted that. I am about to do that to a house i just bought but fortunately it has block paving, which is easier to remove. So plants in largeish attractive containers could suggest that possibility. The front appears to be east facing and would catch the morning sun, but no downstairs rooms have seated areas looking out that way. Can you rearrange the kitchen/breakfast room so that there is an attractive view from the window?
  • the kitchen/dining room has a small table. It looks too small for a large family to sit comfortably at. Is there room for a bigger one? Also i would remove the tablecloth as it doesn't show off the table very well
-I am assuming the attic room is the master bedroom? If so, then it needs to be presented as such and look inviting. I would remove the office equipment into the downstairs interior room with no windows
  • All bedrooms need to have the beds properly dressed (there are you tube videos on how to do this and it does make a difference). Cover up the underside of the divans as a minimum and make the beds up properly.
  • for the photos the bathrooms should look clean and tidy. So remove all cosmetics and towels and loo brushes and loo rolls. The convential wisdom is if you have to have a towel it should be white, fluffy and good quality.
  • the downstairs room with spotlights appears to have a bulb missing. This indicates that other things in the house may be broken/missing. Replace bulb.
  • the pink carpet in the bedroom is an acquired taste. I would either replace it with a more neutral colour or put a large plain rug over it. Also remove some of the furniture to give a more spacious look
  • the only room that looks onto the garden via the sliding doors looks poky due to the placement of the sofas. This is your main room. Have a look on pinterest or similar for cosy living rooms, move the sofas further out to make it look more spacious for a larger family suggested by the number of bedrooms. If you have the budget i would move the doorway to access this room from the kitchen/dining room instead of from the middle room.

In short - make the purpose of each room clear. Show how a large family could live here comfortably. Present each room spotlessly and tidily (make the beds and don't chuck a cheap tablecloth across the dining table).

Hope this helps. I haven't mentioned how close the next door neighbour's house is on the right, but do check if that could be an issue.
And if you have pets or smoke, then make sure the house smells fresh for viewings.

Good luck. I recently sold my house and watched a lot of videos on what buyers expect. It is a bit of a minefield, but i am sure you will sell to the right buyer.

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 21:12

And the kitchen cupboards too.

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Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 21:15

Thanks for such comprehensive responses. All full of great ideas.

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MereNoelle · 10/05/2025 21:18

Best of luck OP!

MikeRafone · 10/05/2025 21:19

It reminds me of the 1980s

and I think it’s very uncluttered

and so many walls downstairs

GeorgianaM · 10/05/2025 21:43

get rid of the coloured carpets and put neutral colour sown and make the front have more kerb appeal with some pots or something bulky the front door.

Photos aren’t awful but not very good angles and a bit lacklustre/

Buzzybee25 · 10/05/2025 21:44

Is your floor plan correct? Description says there's a downstairs WC, but no sign of it in the plan?
For a house that size, I'd be looking for a downstairs bedroom and bathroom/shower room

Morrisseyswife · 10/05/2025 21:47

No downstairs WC. I'll get that description updated. Thanks.

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