I love colour in the home – from my bright red rug that welcomes guests into the hallway to my purple sofas and colourful artwork on the walls. But I seem to be in a minority. That’s not to say that my home is a blinding clash of colours – it is a relaxing space with neutral walls (French Grey and Slaked Lime from Little Greene are my favourites) and a mix of contemporary oak floors and large white porcelain tiles that provide a calming background to my pops of colour.
Staging your home is one of the best ways of achieving a quick sale and it’s not as difficult as you might think. Of course, we all know that selling a home is stressful but the stress can really mount up if you have few viewings and no offers as the weeks go by so avoid that prospect by staging your home before it goes on the market. If you want some inspiration take a look at one of my latest favourite home shows Buying & Selling with twins Jonathan and Drew Scott. They turn up with impeccable staging ideas, a self storage unit to hide away the clutter and a sledgehammer; and within 2 weeks they completely transform a home – and then sell it for way more more than it cost to do the work.
Some home owners feel that buyers will either want their home or not and that nothing much they can do will change their mind; but this really isn’t true. Just think of the time and money that goes into show homes for new developments and you will realise that how a home is presented is important to help buyers visualise living there themselves. In fact, once you’re done watching Jonathan and Drew go and view some local show homes for tips on presentation. Before you know it you will be moving house to your dream place.
A third of the entire planet’s High Net Worth Individuals (the very rich basically) reside in the UK so it is no surprise that there are some very, very wealthy parts of the UK. London of course is the main place rich people reside. Throughout history the most affluent members of society lived in London, but there are other areas where you will find high levels of wealth dotted across the UK, even in some cases, small towns.
The way wealth is determined statistically usually takes a person’s entire worth, including money in the bank and business assets less any outstanding mortgage amounts or other different types of loans. However, sometimes it is judged on the disposable income a person has. For example, West London is the richest part of the UK overall because the average amount of disposable income per person is over £35,000 a year. This is no surprise really as Kensington and Chelsea are in this area.
I hate to think that I might be part of Generation Rent but I’m quickly heading that way and wonder whether I will ever be able to buy my own home. Living in the South East means that property prices are so high as to be almost out of my reach and yet I am paying more in rent than I would on a mortgage – if only I could get a mortgage I would actually have more spare cash at the end of each month than I do now paying rent. The mortgage lending criteria are so stringent now though that I stand little chance of getting a home loan unless I can come up with a large deposit and that looks unlikely unless I win the lottery or inherit some money from some long-lost auntie I didn’t know I had. Or maybe guarantor loans are the way to go to raise the deposit – if only I could persuade my parents to act as guarantor.
It is not uncommon for people with the budget to do so to spend a significant proportion of the cost of their home on having it updated by a professional interior designer. But not all of us have that kind of budget or want to spend it on an interior design scheme. Many expensive interiors have a certain “over-designed” look reminiscent of a smart hotel, which can look fantastic but don’t create the cosy and unique look that can be achieved by using personal mementos (whether they fit the style and colour scheme or not), unique contemporary art or modern art and a more eclectic choice of furnishings and fittings.
But whether you crave a highly-designed look or a more original look for your home there are some basic tips that you can steal from the professional interior designers about home interiors and decor that are simple and relatively inexpensive to implement. These tips can transform your home without requiring a second mortgage to pay for them and if you are keen on DIY then you might even be able to do some of the work yourself and save even more money.
Such a useful infographic from the people at Criterion Flooring…
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