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Case study · Home staging · Yorkshire

Yew Tree Cottage

A house in Yorkshire, handed back empty at the end of its tenancy and going on the market. We furnished every room with Curate furniture on rental, added window treatments where they were needed, used what was already there where it worked, supplied and fitted new light fittings throughout, and photographed the finished house for the listing. The photographs get the viewings booked. The rooms, exactly as photographed, are what buyers walk into.

Rooms stagedEight, plus hall and landing Project cost£5,995 + VAT IncludesFirst 12 weeks’ furniture rental Then£600 + VAT a month rental
Living room after staging, from the door: two cream sofas and a tan leather armchair around a glass coffee table, two abstract canvases, a brass chandelier and the bay window beyond, lamps lit
Living room, after. A warm neutral shell, and the colour comes from the furnishings: rust, olive and tan against cream.

The job

Yew Tree Cottage from the drive: white rendered house with red brick detailing, a bay window, and a detached double garage among mature trees
Yew Tree Cottage: empty at the end of the tenancy, and about to be sold.

The brief

The house came back empty when the tenancy ended: clean, in good order, and with nothing in it. Empty rooms photograph small and feel cold, and buyers cannot tell where a sofa goes or whether a bedroom takes a double.

The brief had two halves. First, photographs that stop the scroll and get the viewing booked. Second, a house that lives up to them when the buyer walks in: rooms with a clear purpose, space used well, and a scheme that makes someone want to live there. All at a cost that makes sense for a single sale.

Because it was an end of tenancy, we recommended a repaint throughout first, in a warm neutral palette, so the rooms had some warmth before anything went in and the colour could come from the furnishings rather than the walls.

What we did

  • Furnished every room with Curate furniture on rental: sofas and armchairs, beds and bedding, dining, storage, lamps, art, mirrors, plants and the small things that make a room look lived in.
  • Gave every room a purpose a buyer can read at a glance: where you sit, where you eat, where the second bedroom takes a double. Layouts chosen to make the most of each space, not just to fill it.
  • Window treatments where the rooms needed them. The blinds that were already there and worked stayed.
  • Supplied and installed new light fittings through the house, so every room photographs warm after dark and the ceilings read as part of the scheme.
  • Installed over two days, where a smaller house takes one, and photographed by us the afternoon it was finished. The pictures on this page are the listing pictures.

What it cost

One fee to stage the house, then a monthly rental until it sells.

Project fee £5,995+ VAT

Everything needed to get the house staged and photographed, plus VAT:

  • The scheme, sourcing and styling for eight rooms plus hall and landing
  • Curate furniture, art, lamps, accessories and the televisions on rental for the first 12 weeks
  • Delivery, installation and styling, and collection at the end of the rental
  • Photography of the finished house for the listing
  • Blinds and light fittings, supplied and installed, at additional cost
Ongoing rental £600+ VAT a month

After the first 12 weeks, the furniture stays on a monthly rental until the house sells or you give notice. Everything we supplied and installed stays with the house. And the house can be sold furnished: the buyer can buy the furniture outright, priced on request.

Curate furniture on rental: collected when the house sells, or bought by the buyer

Sofas, armchairs and the coffee tables. Beds, headboards, bedding and bedside tables. The dining table, chairs and bar stools. Wardrobe and chests. Console tables, lamps, art, mirrors, plants and accessories. The televisions are included. If the buyer wants the house exactly as they viewed it, they can buy the furniture outright and it stays where it is.

Supplied and installed, stays with the house

The blinds and the light fittings, at additional cost. The buyer gets them, and the listing photographs show the house as it will be sold.

Prices are for this project and exclude VAT. Every house is quoted on its own rooms, rental period and what can be reused.

Before and after

Same rooms, two weeks apart.

Drag the handle on each picture to see each room empty and staged.

Hallway before: coat hooks on the wall, stairs, patterned floor tiles Hallway after: walnut console table with a lamp under the stairs, framed prints

Hallway

First impressions. A lamp on at the console, the patterned tiles left to speak, and nothing on the walls that competes with them.

Living room before staging: empty carpeted room with a bay window and chandelier Living room after staging: cream sofas, leather armchair, lamps lit, art on the wall

Living room, from the door

A room to sit in, not walk through. Oatmeal and tan with rust and olive accents, warmth from the lamps, and the bay left clear so the garden does the rest.

Living room before: bare walls and an unlit fireplace Living room after: television unit, round mirror over the fireplace, two large canvases

Living room, towards the fireplace

The same palette seen from the sofa. Two textured canvases and a round mirror give the long wall depth without crowding it, and the new chandelier sets the tone after dark.

Living room before: view from the window end towards the door and fireplace Living room after: sofa beneath the window, coffee table, television unit beside the fireplace

Living room, from the bay

Low furniture, layered lighting and nothing in front of the window. Staged, the room feels bigger than it did empty.

Kitchen before: grey shaker units, empty island, herringbone floor Kitchen after: leather bar stools at the island, a bowl of pears, mugs and the family room beyond

Kitchen

Leather and black steel against the grey units. The island becomes somewhere to sit, which is what buyers want from a kitchen.

Kitchen before: run of grey units and island with nothing on the worktops Kitchen after: island dressed with a tray and fruit, dining table visible beyond

Kitchen, from the family room

Seen from the family room, so kitchen, island and dining end read as one space. Worktops kept almost bare so the room looks new and cared for, with greenery and the dining chairs drawing the eye through.

Dining area before: empty corner with a tall radiator and window Dining area after: round dark wood table, four chairs, large mirror and two framed prints

Dining area

A round table softens a square room. Dark wood, a large mirror and a pair of line drawings give a corner that had nothing some weight.

Family room before: empty room with bifold doors and herringbone floor Family room after: grey sofa, two olive velvet armchairs, round coffee table, olive tree

Family room

Cooler and calmer than the living room: greys, olive and natural oak, so the two reception rooms feel like different places to be.

Utility room before: washing machine, toilet and basin Utility room after: folded towel on the washing machine, plant on the windowsill

Utility

Small rooms get the same care. A towel and a trailing plant stop it reading as a cupboard, because buyers open every door.

Main bedroom before: empty room with a vaulted ceiling and a window with a black blind Main bedroom after: olive velvet bed with white linen, oak wardrobe, bedside lamps, landscape print

Main bedroom

Olive velvet and oak for a bedroom that feels settled and quiet. A lamp either side and a new ceiling light make the vaulted ceiling a feature after dark.

Second bedroom before: empty room with a single window Second bedroom after: double bed with taupe throw, bedside lamp, large abstract canvas

Second bedroom

The smaller bedroom gets one big gesture, a full-height canvas, so it feels designed rather than furnished. A dressed double proves the room takes one.

Bathroom before: new white suite with nothing on the walls Bathroom after: oval mirror over the basin, plant stand, towels, wooden stool in the shower

Bathroom

Warm wood and greenery against stone tiles. Bathrooms need very little, but they need something, or a new one looks like a showroom.

Why it works

The photographs get the viewing. The rooms have to earn the offer.

Virtual staging can make a listing look furnished on a screen. Then the buyer arrives at an empty house, and the picture they fell for is not there. Everything in these photographs is real and in the room, and we take the photographs ourselves once the house is staged, so the viewing delivers exactly what the listing promised.

That is where desire is built: a sofa you can sit on, a bed made up, lamps on, art at the right height, and every room with an obvious purpose. Creative use of space, decor and furnishings turns a house a buyer is assessing into a home they are picturing themselves in.

Renting the furniture rather than buying it keeps the cost of a single sale sensible: one fee to get the house staged, then a monthly rate until it sells. The lighting and window treatments are supplied outright and stay, so the buyer gets a finished house.

Next

Selling a home, an empty property, or launching a site?

Call 01565 777000, or send us the address, the floor plan or a few photos of the rooms. We will come back within 48 hours with a price and a date. Real rooms, photographed as they will be viewed.

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