Dress your home for the season

Staging a home isn’t just about making it look good, it’s about making it feel right. And nothing shapes that feeling more powerfully than the season. The light shifts, the air changes, and so do the emotions buyers bring with them through the front door.

A home that feels warm and cocooning in winter, or light and breezy in summer, doesn’t just photograph better, it resonates. By thoughtfully styling your space to reflect the season, you’re not only showcasing the property at its best, you’re helping buyers instantly imagine themselves living there, right now, in this moment.

WHY IS STAGING SO IMPORTANT?

Bayleys salesperson Sarah Lichtenstein says staging is one way to evoke emotion during an open home which she believes is the key to securing the best possible sale.

“If you don't get your clients to engage emotionally, you're never going to get them up to where you need to get them. So for me, it's got to speak to the clients about the value of the property.”

Her colleague Bayleys salesperson Charlotte Fleck agrees.

“Generally with houses, the walls and bits and pieces inside it are pretty standard, but you can create an emotional pull by giving potential buyers the ability to visualise how life would be in the home, by creating beautiful staging.”

Lichtenstein says the pair have a listing at the moment that speaks to the power of staging.

“It’s beautifully located, and it's really special, but it's not set up luxuriously. We've not had enough emotional engagement, so we're now actually investing and bringing in staging to make it more emotionally luxurious.”

“If we don't do that, it's just a house. Now some vendors already have immaculate styling, but if it's just a really basic, straightforward property, we don't find that people engage in the .”

She says it also helps to set a home apart in the open home stakes - especially with an abundance of supply currently on the market.

“We find if buyers go to several open homes in a day, they might go to two or three and we want them to go ‘wow’ with our properties.”

Fleck says another scenario played out with a different listing which they staged just for the photography, but not for the open homes.

“We took all the staging in for the photography, but the client was still living there, and our staging wasn't something he wanted to live in.”

“So we took it out again and we've been marketing it, but we probably haven’t had the emotional pull in that property.”

Fleck says in her view, staging is the shop front window to a property and should be treated as such.

“It's how people decide whether or not to come inside and view it and whether or not to make the effort.”

HOW DO I APPROACH STAGING FOR THE DIFFERENT SEASONS?

Lichtenstein says taking the seasons into consideration is hugely important when it comes to prepping your property.

“It’s important, because it's all about the moment. When someone comes in and they get emotionally engaged, they do it at that moment.”

“So if they come in, and if they see the photographs in winter but it's the middle of summer, they're probably going to feel a little bit disconnected.”

And if a listing runs across multiple seasons she says it’s useful to consider a refresh to suit the time.

“We’ve got one at the moment that was photographed and done in winter last year, so we're just about to redo that.”

“We'll restage it and re-photograph it to make it look much more summery and autumny, just because otherwise it may come across too cold and dark.”

WHAT DETAILS ARE EASILY CHANGED FOR AUTUMN?

Fleck says textures and colours are a great place to start.

“Things like chunky throws on sofas, adding cushions and rugs.”

“As for colour we’d look at using burnt oranges and olive greens to try and bring the autumn feeling inside, while still keeping the doors open because it's warm enough to have that indoor outdoor flow.”

Lighting is also hugely important.

“That means making sure we've got all the lights on and bringing as much in as possible to make it ambient. Whether that’s from a few lamps or lighting a few candles.”

“The other thing that we might consider is outdoor throws on chairs, so you can still imagine sitting in that area even when the weather is cooler.”

“We’d also make sure the fireplace is stacked, and that it's set to show how you can spend time both indoors and outdoors.”

Fleck says working with temperature is also key.

“We also make sure that when people walk into the bathroom the under floor heating is turned on, and if there’s a gas fire or anything like that we’d always turn them on, because it does create atmosphere.”

WHAT ABOUT THE OUTDOORS?

With most gardens looking more sparse in the cooler months, Lichtenstein says the focus should be on tidiness.

“That includes things like mowing lawns, raking leaves and making sure that pathways are clear and edges are neat and tidy.”

And while there might be a lack of colour from the outside, she says that’s something you can always try to bring inside instead.

“We always make sure there are fresh flowers inside for every open home.”

HOW WOULD THE PHOTOGRAPHY CHANGE?

Both Fleck and Lichtenstein say they’re trying to do things a lot differently with photography.

“We’ve been trying to take more of an architectural photo and more of an artistic photo, instead of just the very standard real estate photo of a room.”

“So we're trying to capture light in our photography movement. That's why we do dusk photos, because dusk really is probably the most emotional way of capturing somebody and getting them to come and look at the property.”

Lichtenstein says sunset provides the perfect backdrop for that.

“It’s always so stunning with those warm autumn colours and the house glowing with the outdoor fire lit.”

“All of that really does come back to creating emotion for the buyer to fall in love with what they see online, and to entice them to come and view the property.”

WHAT ABOUT OPEN HOME TIMES?

Lichtenstein says it’s really important to plan any open homes with the sunlight in mind.

“If it’s a sunny day, we'll pick anytime from 11 till probably two or three o’clock.” But as things get cooler and darker she says a lot of consideration also goes into an evening or night time viewing.”

“We do that a lot after daylight savings ends and as we move into winter. It gets dark around 5pm, so the house looks quite cosy and it does feel quite different.”

HOW MUCH WILL STAGING COST?

Fleck says the level of investment required depends on the type of home you’re selling and whether it might require renovations after purchase.

If it’s a doer-upper, it’s about presenting the spaces well so buyers can see it functions as a comfortable home, while also highlighting the potential to add value and grow their investment.”

Lichtenstein says typically most vendors will spend between $2,500 - $10,000.

“$2,500 would be a small place that just needed to be made a little bit more welcoming.”

“But then a big house with four or five bedrooms which needs everything to be bought in would easily add up to $10,000. That staging would stay there for around 4 - 6 weeks.”

Ultimately by aligning your home with the season, you’re tapping into how people want to live right now, not just how a space looks on paper. It’s the difference between a house that feels staged and one that feels like home. And in a competitive market, that emotional connection can be the detail that turns a viewing into an offer, or multiple offers, extra bids and ultimately an altogether better result.