Artfully placed daffodils and the smell of freshly brewed coffee may make your home more attractive to potential buyers, but how can you ensure that your decor hits the right note too?

Here are our top decorating tips for anyone trying to sell their home.


There is no doubt that a beautifully decorated and furnished home can help potential buyers to imagine living there themselves.

Even in a difficult market, making your home look as attractive as possible could therefore mean achieving your asking price rather than settling for a much lower amount.

To make sure that your decor is a selling point, it is therefore important to get everything from your paintwork to your furniture just right before putting your home on the market.

Colour scheme
Deep purple may be your favourite colour, but painting the walls of your living room a rich, dark shade could easily make the space feel claustrophobic for buyers.

While the odd feature wall in a bright colour should not prove off-putting, and too much white can make your home seem clinical, it may therefore be worth heading to your local DIY store for a pot of neutral paint to lighten up any very dark rooms before inviting potential buyers into your house or flat.

Clutter
It can be hard to think objectively about items that hold sentimental value, but while few personal flourishes can show your home has character but too much can make it hard for them to imagine themselves living there.

If you have a lot of ornaments - or clutter - on the surfaces in your home, it may therefore be a good idea to box them up while viewings are going on.

Furniture
Too much furniture can make a room feel cosy, but the downside is that it can also make it feel smaller than it is.

At the opposite end of the scale, however, too little furniture can make a space feel cold and empty - which is why it is always preferable to sell a property that is being lived in.

So try to look at the rooms in your home from the point of view of a potential buyer, and move your furniture around - or store it away somewhere - if you feel the balance is not right.

If you have any old, threadbare pieces, it is also a good idea to put these out of sight - or at least cover them with throws - when estate agents are bringing people round.