1/.  "YOU ONLY GET ONCE CHANCE TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION".  

Make it count.

The first time a potential seller walks into your home, they will probably make up their mind whether they are interested or not, within the first few minutes or even seconds. A real estage agent can try to sway them, but visuals speak louder than words, and for buyers, a purchase is often something more emotional not logical.  How do they FEEL in your home?  Can they see a future for themselves in this home?  Does it evoke a lifestyle or luxury they aspire to?    Or does it feel like a display home?

Your home deserves better than fake plants. Or an overused generic style.  It deserves to be SHOWN OFF, at its best.  And when you make a strong first impression, you make your home stand out. You make your home memorable - which increases its value to buyers.

 The 'Empty House Syndrome' 

Arguably the worst first impression is to present a home empty.  WHY?  Because walking in to an empty home always feels a bit sad.  An empty home feels like its been abandoned, discarded, forgotten, given-up-on.  It feels like it was not worth enough to the buyer for them to furnish it.  It feels second-hand, second-rate  - a ghost-town of its former self.   

'The Confusing Void'

Also - in an empty home, can buyers imagine what it will be like with furniture in it? And what goes where? Probably, after a bit of thought, but that takes work.   Your house has become a void of empty space - and that can be confusing.   Some buyers can't "visualise" as well as others- and everyone needs to SEE to believe.

The last thing you want is  for a buyer to find themselves wondering, or asking, "is this the dining room? Or a living room?"    Instead, with 'Jeuje', we will prepare a beautifully inviting dining table that will leave them wanting to sit down for a meal.   Your goal is to entice buyers to feel like they want to stay in your home - even BUY it- not leave. That means capturing their imagination, and creating an emotional connection. As interior designers, we've got lots of styling 'tricks of the trade' that will help do just that.

If it's an empty room, they will likely instead just walk out of it very quickly.  (Next time you are at an empty home for sale, watch a buyer and count the seconds. 1, 2, 3... gone!)

You might also find them saying "The room is very small". Because it's empty.

"But Wait- " you might ask, "don't empty rooms look bigger?!"   Actually no, they often feel smaller, because they are simply a void that that gives us a sense of scale. A chair or bed for example gives scale: you realise you can happily fit in there and cosy up with a good book - if you're sitting or lying down. When the buyer is simply walking around, in a few steps they've quickly covered the length of the room and encountered only the wall.  Those 4 walls have instead become akin to a cage, enclosing them in. Instead with a cosy throw rug over a sofa or a bed, you would entice them to settle in...

Also, if there's no other furniture in the house, the first thing the buyer will think about is their own furniture- which might not have been refreshed in the last few years, or decades.  The last thing you want is a buyer imagining their old furniture in it and wondering if it may not fit,  instead of just showing them what WILL fit in your lovely house.  Again, your real estate agent can help them with any questions, but even better- prove that "yes, a queen bed really does fit in that bedroom that looks smaller without furniture in it".

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - even more so when it's your own furniture.

"Couldn't I just use my own furniture?" I heard you say.  " My furniture is vintage... not old".  

We all love our furniture. The problem is, that in our mind we still remember how it looked when we bought it brand-spanking-new, and haven't noticed how worn its become over time, or missed out on noticing that while time has marched on, our furnishings haven't.  Your furnishings is filled with your memories, so you will naturally feel attached to them.  But an objective 'eye' will quickly notice any wear, tear, or dated furnishings.   Such as if your furniture is still rocking a 70s vibe but its no longer the 70s.  Your furnishings may not be 'on trend' and you don't want to turn off potential buyers that might feel the whole house looks dated, simply because of its furniture.) So keeping things modern, and spacious, is usually best.

All-neutral palettes are now looking dated- and on the way out

Another all-too-common mistake is styling your home all beige or white.  

The beige-on-beige and white-on-white-on-white trend is on the way out.  Here's some proof, from the  trend setter of home selling, HGTV: 

https://www.hgtv.ca/interior-design-trends-on-their-way-out-in-2024/

Did you know- the "neutrals" trend started from the popularity US home renovation shows like HGTV , which gave tips to house-sellers to have neutral walls and flooring to easier sell their homes to buyers (so the buyers wouldn't have to re-paint or change the flooring to suit their furniture.)  BUT it wasn't intended to mean NO colour at all.   The The colour was meant to stay -through the furnishings and stylings.  Not to be totally eradicated.  When word got around that neutrals were the trend, they were here to stay - but they were never meant to be void in colour.  Instead the interior designers have long been emphasising the power of the "pop of colour".

2/ Professional expertise

 including in spatial planning, and colour psychology:  how colours can enhance your room- as well as buyers' interest.

"My friend says that I should have everything in neutrals, or I'll scare off buyers".

Actually, you might scare off buyers if it's too beige.   Just google "beigification" and you'll get a flood of blogs explaining that (to many people) "beige = boring".

Many home staging companies are still living in the all-neutral world. At Jeuje, we live in a world of colour, and offer you a fusion of styles, and a range of colours that are not polarising but popular and can help energise your buyer into a buy.  Because by going- neutrals or all-coastal you are taking a real risk that it will feel too "vanilla", or so white that its "sanitised" and lacking in personality.  You want your home to stand out, and be memorable to buyers.  That means you want it to be charming, or bold, or cute, or cosy, or colourful.  Because colours inspire and excite buyers into action.  Neutrals can be so 'calm' that they bore people into inactivity, and look like everyone else on the block.  Have your buyers seen that 'coastal couch' in every other home?  If so, then it's likely lost its impact when they see it in your home.  It has become 'generic'.   That same 'coastal look' or 'neutral palette' that is everywhere on the coast of Australia has become generic.  It can make your house look like a 'display home' instead of a real home, that your buyers can see themselves living in. 

At ' JEUJE' , we're not not afraid of colour. We know how to use it, to enhance your chance of a sale.  Unlike many other stylists who call themselves designers without actually having the qualifications,   Founder/Designer Wendy Clare is a qualified interior designer with a diploma of interior design - not just a stylist. That means she's studied colour theory, and the design principles that can make the most of the unique features of your home, and detract attentaion from any features that are lacking.   She works to create an atmosphere that will evoke a connection in buyers, which will help make them attached to buying YOUR home instead of someone else's.

Just like we all want to live our best life, your home needs to be shown at its very best too, so that buyers will feel they will live their best life, by buying your home.

That means that it needs to be "Jeujed" - to be spruced up, finessed, polished and looking perfect.

3/. 'A SUM IS GREATER THAN ALL ITS PARTS'.

We don't just use stylish products. We also use design principles, textures, materiality  - and colour - to enhnace your home's features and evoke an atmosphere, create a first impression with flair,  (individually customised to) fit YOUR home 

We take the hassle out of presenting your home, and can help your home SELL FASTER and FOR MORE MONEY.   Because with our design 'tricks of the trade' we can help your home stand out, so its memorable to buyers who visit, and catches people's eye on the real estate listings too.

We want you and your real estate agent to make as much money as possible.  We are with you on your journey, sharing your goal for your house to sell quickly and for a record amount.  It will give us pride and joy too to see that "SOLD" sign on your home, and we'll do everything possible to "jeuje" your home to make it happen.

4/ "MONEY ATTRACTS MONEY".    

SPEND MONEY, TO MAKE MORE MONEY FROM YOUR SALE

Staging can increase your homes value over 10%.  To quote a Central Coast real estate agent "property staging can even increase your sale another $100,000".

It’s not so much a  cost as an *investment*, in your future as well as  your home.

5./ CHOOSE 'EASY'

Selling your home can be stressful.  Adding the staging and styling on top of that, makes it even more stressful.  Why not leave it to experts?  You can sit back and watch “The block” in TV instead of the stress of feeling like YOU're on it.

6./ 'NEW FURNITURE, NEW LIFE'

Hey if you decide to “love it” not list it, as you love your ‘new improved’ home too much, now that it’s “jeujed”, you or your  house’s buyer can even keep the furnishings instead at a generous price for swapping your  staging to purchase the furniture package instead  .  You get the furniture - and the interior design for your home effectively for free.