Tips for Staging Your Home to Sell in Central London
Kevin Gold updated on 4th March 2026
The first few weeks on the market are critical to avoid your Central London property being left on the shelf. To sell quickly, you need to know how to make your home appealing to buyers, and how to stage a house for sale.
But what is home staging? Essentially, highlighting your home’s best features and potential so that you can get the best price, generate a high level of interest and make your property stand out from similar homes in the local area.
We’ve been helping our clients in Camden, Fitzrovia, Mayfair, Primrose Hill, Soho, Maida Vale, St Johns Wood, Regents Park, Marylebone, and Baker Street do exactly this over the years – and to great success. Read on for our tips for staging your home for sale.
What is home staging?
Home staging is the process of getting your house ready for sale. It’s all about learning how to make your home appealing by showing your property at its best, and eliminating the little details that can put them off. Home staging is a valuable technique for any seller, and can take many forms. As a seller you may choose to call on a professional service, or try tips like simply opening a window and adding a well-placed mirror.
Why home staging is important
How to stage a house matters, and you might well be surprised at the difference it can make when you’re selling. It can make your home stand out from the crowd, attract interest, and help buyers imagine it as their own. You don’t need to spend a lot to prepare your home, and you’ll likely see a return on your efforts. Well staged homes can sell faster and even achieve a higher selling price.
Read our top tips to get your house ready for sale, and find out how to make your home more appealing for buyers.
15 Home Staging Tips:
1. Declutter and Depersonalise
It might sound obvious but a clutter-free and clean home is a winning strategy. While you work out how to make your house look good for selling, start decluttering. You’ll need to do this before you move anyway, so donate or throw away the clothes, books or bits and bobs you no longer love or need. Buyers will open cupboards, so tidying them up will demonstrate that your property has sufficient storage.
If you have a lot of furniture, removing some can make your home seem more spacious. Avoid cramming it all into a garage or spare room. Instead, consider using a storage facility.
One of our favourite tips for selling your home is to put away anything too personal. Store your family photos or children’s drawings and let your buyers imagine themselves living there.
2. Redecorate In Neutral Colours
Most estate agents will tell you that clean walls make your home a blank canvas so potential buyers can imagine how they might decorate the space. Applying the 60-30-10 colour rule can add depth:
60% of the room in a neutral main colour
30% in a complimentary neutral
10% of the room’s décor in an accent colour
Try redecorating in neutral tones such as whites and creams, with vibrant art, plants or vases for a hint of personality. If your furniture is bold in colour, a neutral throw or cushions can bring your décor together. When it comes to those pops of colour, draw on seasonal accents if you can. Soft pastels for the spring, or warm tones for autumn/winter viewings to make the house feel cosy in London’s climate.
3. Fix And Clean
Show potential buyers that your property is in good condition by carrying out home improvements you never quite got around to. To stage your home for selling, start by fixing leaky taps, broken tiles, wobbly door handles and mouldy bathroom sealant. Repairs are easily overlooked in terms of making your house sellable to buyers, but their value can’t be overstated.
Make sure all of your light bulbs are working. Good lighting is essential if you hold a viewing on an overcast day or in the evening.
Give the place a good clean. Dust and polish all surfaces and floors, remove cobwebs and clean windows inside and out. Consider arranging to have the carpets professionally cleaned, and remember to clean door handles. Hygiene and cleanliness are a high priority for many buyers, and signs of use, such as fingerprints, can be unappealing.
4. Get The Right Scents
Smells can be off-putting, so avoid cooking before a viewing to make your home welcoming. Keep pets’ litter trays and cages spotlessly clean, or consider sending them on a holiday while viewings occur.
Fresh, natural scents are best, so avoid air fresheners. Not everyone likes artificial air fresheners or scented candles. You’re better off opening windows to air your home before a viewing.
When you sell your home, the timeless advice is to bake bread for the welcoming scent. The idea behind this home staging tip is that buyers will imagine themselves eating and cooking in the home.
When dressing a house for potential buyers, don’t forget to make it look pretty. Staging your house to sell is always smart, and these tips will help you accentuate the best features while toning down any negatives.
Make your home look attractive by changing your bed linen to a neutral design. Replace patterned or dingy carpets with light floor coverings, and remove any dark and imposing pieces of furniture if you can. Try arranging it into ‘floating’ arrangements, neat groupings of furniture positioned away from the walls.
Bare windows make a room look impersonal and shabby, so ensure all the windows have curtains or blinds. Then before the viewing, open the curtains wide to let plenty of light into the room. Create the illusion of space and light by placing mirrors strategically, an invaluable hint for smaller properties.
Try employing subtle home staging tips to bring your property to life without appearing too personal to your family. Make your home more appealing for viewings with new cushions, potted plants and vases filled with fresh flowers.
6. Revive Old Furniture
Give tired furniture an update by re-varnishing, hiring sofa cleaning equipment or reupholstering. It can be more affordable than you think, or your could simply add an attractive throw or set of well-chosen cushions. When you’re staging your home for sale, tips like these can make an impact for a low cost.
7. Kerb Appeal
First impressions count, making kerb appeal an essential part of home staging. Also known as curb appeal, depending on your location, it helps set the buyers in a positive mood for the viewing. In a recent survey by the HomeOwners Alliance, more than two-thirds of homebuyers said their initial impression of the property from the outside was significant in their decision to make an offer.
So, to make sure you sell your home, revamp your front door, power-wash your pathway or drive, fix broken gutters, gates and fences, replace any missing roof tiles and tidy flower beds. If you can, hide your wheelie bins either down the side of your house or in dedicated bin storage. Even putting up a contemporary new house number plate can make a difference.
8. Tidy The Garden
One of the top hints for selling your home is to present buyers with a lovely garden. Outdoor space is high on many homebuyers’ wish lists, and a messy and unkempt garden will be off-putting. Spending a little time and money on your garden can boost your home’s value and help it sell more quickly.
Try these home staging tips to make your garden more attractive. Tidy up your garden by clearing leaves, digging up weeds and dead plants, and cutting back overgrown shrubs. Mow the lawn, neaten the edges, and jet-wash the patio as well.
If the garden looks sparse, a few planted pots can make a difference (and you can take them with you when you move). But you don’t need to add too many plants. Not everyone likes gardening, and most people prefer a low-maintenance garden.
9. Update Kitchen and Bathroom
The kitchen is often a deal-breaker for buyers, so making it look clean and spacious is essential. Deep clean your kitchen, including the insides and tops of cupboards and inside the fridge. Declutter your worktops and cupboards to make it look like there is plenty of food preparation and storage space. Remove any fridge magnets.
When staging your house for a quick sale, try making affordable changes to refresh the heart of the home without replacing the entire kitchen. There’s no need to buy new cabinets. If you are staging your home for sale on a budget, consider buying new doors and handles for a cheaper update if your cupboards are outdated or damaged. Chipped worktops can be replaced relatively cheaply if you choose a laminate option.
The same rules apply to the bathroom. Ensure it’s in good working order and any repairs have been done. Tidy and clean thoroughly as well.
Don’t spend lots of money if it’s not strictly necessary. Not all significant improvements will equal adding value, and may not justify a higher selling price. Unless the entire kitchen or bathroom is unusable without the financial outlay, you will unlikely recoup the costs.
10. Price It Right
Wondering how to sell your house for more? Then ask at least three local estate agents to value your property and compare their estimates to similar properties in the area.
It’s natural to want a higher home selling price, but remember that prospective buyers are comparing your property with the competition. Here’s how you can use the same tools in your favour. Check out the sold prices of similar houses in your immediate area to ensure there isn’t a big difference between your asking price and average sold prices. This information is available online from the Land Registry, Zoopla and Rightmove, and potential buyers will usually check.
Avoid the temptation to over-price your home, as this could put off potential buyers and mean your property is left on the market.
11. Make Your Online Listing Stand Out
It’s said that 97% buyers start their search for property online, and staged photos that stand out from the crowd can encourage viewings. Use home staging tips and make sure your home is uncluttered and clean. Then, schedule photography for a bright day, leaving the curtains and blinds open to let the natural light in for maximum appeal.
The description in your online listing must also be up to scratch. When choosing your estate agent, check their online listings for other properties in your area to ensure that their marketing is of a high standard.
12. Hide Cables & Wires
Untidy cables and wires can make a room look cluttered and messy, and may make the buyer wonder if the plug sockets aren’t in a convenient location. Put your devices and cables away if you can, otherwise, conceal them or use cable ties or sleeves to neaten them up.
13. Clear Surfaces & Worktops
It’s easy to stop noticing your own tabletop clutter, but personal belongings can make surfaces appear cramped. Clearing surfaces can help you to stage your home for sale inexpensively, while making a noticeable impact. Walk through each room staging your home for sale by clearing the kitchen worktops, dining table, coffee table and mantelpieces of anything that isn’t absolutely essential. Tidy extra gadgets and utensils in the kitchen, and gather any odds and ends into a basket you can easily tuck away.
Make a plan for viewing day so nothing’s is left to chance. Include the finishing touches of staging your home, like removing or securing personal items for the viewing, or perhaps try eating out in the run-up to keep the kitchen clean.
Don’t forget your own needs. Plan activities for the kids or the whole family outside the home on the day, and prepare ‘grab bags’ with essentials to take out during viewings.
15. Adapt For Your Property Type
Every home will call for different staging considerations. For instance, consider these priorities if you plan to sell a house or apartment:
Staging a large home for sale
Maximise kerb appeal and entrance hall presentation.
Ensure the property lives up to expectation.
Arrange furniture thoughtfully to make the most of the space.
Staging an apartment for sale
Give the impression of space through well-placed mirrors and other tips.
Avoid overcrowded furniture and clutter.
Leave no doubt about dimensions with a double bed in a double bedroom, and so on.
Problem-solve, for instance, add a compact dining table and two chairs in the living room if there’s no dining room.
Do staged homes sell faster?
According to recent survey results, staging homes could help them to sell 3 times faster. Better presentation may also give the impression that the house is worth more – by some estimates, staging your home for sale can help it achieve a 10% higher price.
How much do professional home stagers cost in London?
Professional home stagers in London typically cost 1% of the asking price of your property. A brief consultation can cost under £100, but the exact rate for hiring professional home stagers varies from several hundred pounds to several thousand. The cost of professional home staging is based on your property size and required work level.
Ready to sell?
We hope the above has given you some ideas on how to prepare your house for sale and may even help you to secure a quick sale if you’re moving away to a London commuter town. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for an estate agent to assist with home staging your London property and to put your home on the market, then we will be glad to help.
Kubie Gold Associates are an independent local firm of estate agents specialising in the Rental, Sale and Property Management of Residential Property in the North-West and Central London market
