Bathroom Design Ideas... for Selling Your Home

If you are planning to sell your home in the near future, the bathroom design and staging ideas below will help you ensure a quick sale and maximum profit.You may also ask the question should I do work to my property in a market where property prices are falling. ‘Well’ the answer is definitely, if you still want to maximise your profit and minimise the time your property sits on the market. In today’s market more than ever you will receive much lower offers on your property if it needs updating than at any other time. Estate agents have been reporting massive price drops in properties requiring works, in many cases as much as 30-40% below the market value.Home sellers often ask the question, "Do I really need to bother about the bathroom when marketing my home for sale? Won’t someone want to do it up themselves just the way they want? I can just clean it up a bit, right?"Let's look at these questions consecutively. Yes, without a doubt you do need to be bothered about bathroom design and staging when selling your home. Most people when buying a home these days have to work hard to afford the mortgage so it is much easier for them if they can move straight into a home that looks fabulous as it is. Cleaning the bathrooms is the first step to preparing them for buyers, but you should definitely not stop there.The clever trick is to make your bathroom look like it cost a fortune whereas in fact it was fairly economically done.In many cases you do not have to fit a complete new bathroom which can be costly and time consuming. You can often work with much of what you’ve already got and cleverly updating it to make it feel like a complete new and luxurious fit.Bathrooms Do Matter When Selling a HomeIf you've ever watched one of the many home staging or design shows on television, you probably heard somebody use the phrase "kitchens and bathrooms sell houses" and I promise you this is absolutely true. That's because estate agents and property professionals know that these areas contribute largely to a home's value. A well designed bathroom will also increase the home's appeal in the eyes of buyers. An important point to remember is the initial thought when you think ‘new bathroom’ is generally an expensive one. So as a buyer you are much more likely to put lower offers in when a bathroom looks shabby, to allow for works needed and the hassle of doing them. Therefore as the seller you could potentially loose thousands for having a badly presented bathroom.In simple terms, bathrooms are a huge selling point for home buyers, and they therefore deserve your attention. So yes, bathroom design is an important part of doctoring your home for saleHow to Doctor & Stage a BathroomYour plan-of-attack for the bathrooms can be summed up in two words — cleaning and updating. The clean part is obvious, but giving your bathroom a modern look is also very important. After all, the last thing home buyers want to see when viewing your home is that the bathrooms need updating this means spending lots of extra money, lots of time and a lot of stress.Your estate agent will also value your home for considerably less if your bathroom needs updating as he will need to persuade new buyers that they are making a significant saving for the inconvenience of doing this work themselves in comparison to other properties that are well presented.You must aim to create a bathroom that is sparkling clean, bright and modern and if you can add the feeling of luxury this will really add extra value. These are the key factors to staging a bathroom for a quick sale.Bathroom Staging & Design TipsHere are some specific tips for maximising the appeal of the bathrooms in your house and adding profit to your property sale.•Before marketing your home and inviting buyers inside, clean those bathrooms until they sparkle and appear brand new. Signs of usage, such as toothpaste residue and soap scum not to mention a dirty toilet bowl, will really put buyers off. •If you have a pull cord light switch you can easily change the string and pull for something clean sleek and contemporary. Go for chrome and simple as apposed to gimmick. •If the fixtures in your bathroom are outdated (Taps, handles, mirrors, etc.), you should replace them with sleek and modern fixtures. This single bathroom design idea will do wonders for transforming this room.•Stay well away from brass fixtures — they are dated and bring the 1980's to mind. There are only a small percentage of buyers who like brass fixtures. To see what the current style is, browse a recent interior design magazine for ideas. •Replace dirty shower curtains for new or for the best results remove completely and install a chrome and plain glass shower screen. This is much classier and will gain you much better viewing points.•If you have the budget and you really want to increase your home's appeal and value, consider wall to floor tiling and a heated chrome towel radiator. These are very popular with buyers right now, and give that chic and stylish end result. To save money you could consider tiling half way from floor to wall with the exception of around the bath if a shower is present which would need to be tiled above shower head height and best to go all the way to the top. •Tip: When tiling it is imperative to hire a tiler who is qualified and really good at his job, to tile for you. Tiling is not an easy task and a badly done job of tiling can actually bring your profit down and ruin your bathrooms new look.•Mirrors are a great way to lighten and brighten small bathrooms and add space and depth when needed.•Decorate the towel rail with good-quality new fluffy towels in subtle complimentary colours. Coordinate the towels with the overall colour scheme (match them to the bath matt, accent colours, etc.). •Appeal to the senses, fresh flower arrangements or healthy green plants do a lot for a bathroom, both in appearance and aroma. Remember, when potential buyers visit your home their agents will probably be whispering "kitchens and bathrooms" in their ears. So when staging your home to sell put some extra effort into these areas. Your aim should be spotlessly clean, bright and luxurious.