When thinking of selling your home, along rolls a big list of questions and topics about how much you should do. Is it worthwhile renovating the kitchen or bathrooms? What things can I do to make a difference to the overall appeal? How could I spruce up the outside? It really depends on your funds available and the current condition of these main areas. If renovations aren’t possible, there are many things you can still do to avoid outlaying big project costs. Most importantly declutter, declutter, declutter…overall this will have a considerable effect on making your home space appeal to others by not having all your own trinkets and excess on show!
Let’s start with a few of the main areas:
The Kitchen – They say you’re not just selling your home your’re selling the kitchen! Often this is so true as its the heart of the home and adds considerable appeal, so you’re likely to get 80% or more of your money back. Renovating your kitchen can start as little as 10k (if you’re savvy ) all the way up to 100k+. The main kitchen project costs go towards bench-top, cabinetry, appliances, tapware, tiling and trade costs for plumbing, electrical and laying tiles. If your cabinets are in a reasonable condition you could look to have these sanded and resprayed from a service like The Painted Door Company , saving you alot of money. Outside these big ticket areas a fresh layer of paint, a new tile splash back, new hanging lights over the benchtop, declutter of items on show and a good spring clean is a great place to start. You could even pick up some new on trend accessories, utensil jar, candle, tea tin, indoor plants and a stylish kitchen clock to change the look. On open home days a very minimalist approach to your benchtop is best with an attractive fruit bowl, cookbook on a stand or a nice looking wooden chopping board will do! Have a look at our resources to help you decide on kitchen plans, colours and accessories. 2020 decor trends , 2020 colours update , kitchen inspiration gallery.
If you have more of budget and can afford to start from scratch, check out our kitchen design tips page for your planning phase and a good local kitchen designer can help you work through each area and the associated costs. For those on a tight budget Mitre 10 did a great article on respraying kitchen cabinetry and our Bunnings link talks about some of the basics that can completely change your kitchen. Very soon we’ll be launching ‘My Home Projects‘ which will go through an entire house plan and give plenty of reno/design advice, a moodboard with our NZ product/colour suggestions for each area of the home…so watch this space!
Bathrooms are another costly project averaging between 20-30k for a reasonable renovation. At either end of the spectrum you can do a spruce up for just under 10k likely to be all over room paint, new tapware, extraction and a new shower or vanity in it’s existing location. Be careful not to spend too much on a spruce up which many interested buyers will just pull out anyway! For a complete redesign from scratch with a new layout, double shower, underfloor heating the works …your’re talking 30k-40k upwards. Similar to kitchen projects it’s the variety of trades involved, builders, plumbers, electricians, tilers, painters and gib stoppers amounting to a huge chunk of the costs! Check out our bathroom inspiration gallery for ideas and planning. We also have a Shop the look page for some of our recently reviewed products.
Outdoor areas are an important space when selling, especially for kiwi’s given our warm weather and indoor-outdoor lifestyle. An entertaining / BBQ space is important so instead of tackling the entire garden concentrate your efforts here. This might mean a new patio to be laid or decking area. It doesn’t have to be top notch kwila, pine is a very good value alternative at $300-400 per sq metre. This is a guide price for a ground level deck excluding your type of screws, extra height, reinforcements for unstable soil, sloping sites etc. You could also add a shade sail to an area for all year round use which can range from $150 – $500 from Mitre 10 or The shade sail company. Then add some potted colour, table lantern and a lounger for an inviting space. If you have any messy areas you could apply Cirtex plastic stabilizers and fill with inexpensive decorative pebbles for a cleaner look. A trailer load or two of brown or black mulch for the gardens is also a great idea to hide weeds and keep things looking smart. For outdoor inspiration see our gallery.
Bedrooms – The main aim is to declutter, layer up beds, freshen up paint and add storage. You may want to choose a new paint colour for the master bedroom or a designer wallpaper for a standout feature. Ensure you layer up the bed with cushions and throws for a cosy-lux feeling. For busy kids rooms, add some cost effective storage cubes, storage box or painted trunk to tidy away toys in this space. If the room is small the storage cube could go in the bottom of the wardrobe or add pretty storage boxes under the beds. There are many clever ways to utilise space within your home, check out some of these great ideas in our recent Clever Spaces blog.
House basics– there are alot of simple spruce up tasks which will make a huge difference both inside and out. Painting walls and tired edges, new curtains where needed, fill and paint ceiling cracks and wall blemishes, repaint window edges and sills. For the exterior, jet spray and clean the house and make sure the entrance is attractive with an inviting mat and potted colour. If you have tired looking wooden doors, consider painting these to freshen up the house. For Next level projects – this could be re-polishing floors, laying new carpets, replacing a front door or any must needed joinery.
Styling – add a simple rug for living areas, colourful cushions and throws for the beds and couches, center vase for the dining table, potted plant and nicely arranged coloured towels for the bathrooms. If you have a bath you could also buy a wooden bath caddy which extends across the bath for a lux-spa at home feeling.
No matter the scale of your prepare for sale project, anything which revives, modernises and styles your home is a great place to start.