How to Utilise Interior Design for a Property Flip

You might be reading this if you’re in this scenario: You’re in a position to start a property flip and now looking to create your interior design specification. So how do you tailor your interior design to your target audience?

In this case, your target audience is your preferred buyer. Who is the kind of person/people you hope will buy your property when it comes to market?

Usually, interior design helps to tailor a property’s aesthetic towards an ideal buyer. However, when it comes to flips, the aim of the game is to target your property at a mass group of people. You also don’t want to let the type of property you are flipping dictate who you will sell it to. For instance, many property developers purchase bungalows and expect to sell them to an elderly couple, and go down the route of tailoring the property to a specific taste, only to find that they have interest from a young couple or first-time buyers!

With flips, being too specific with interior design can drastically reduce the pool of buyers. Equally, trying to appeal to a broad audience can make your property look like every other house on the street. It’s a fine line!

This blog will explain how to utilise interior design for a property flip, show you the pitfalls to avoid, and suggest ideas you may not have considered.

So, let’s take a look.

The Emotions of Buying

Before we look at how to decorate your flip, let’s first cover the emotions of buying a property you’ll want to understand before making any design decisions.

Have you ever heard of getting “the feeling” when viewing a house? It’s something most people strive for when considering potential houses. People want to get that “feeling”, which usually means they can see themselves living in the home.

People buy houses with emotion first. They’ll then run the numbers and weigh the pros and cons to justify their decision with logic. However, without the feeling, they won’t follow through with an offer.

So, when designing the interiors for your flip, you will need to create that emotion (“the feeling”) that allows viewers to imagine themselves living in the property. You need to sell the dream.

What Are the Interior Design Rules for a Flip?

Neutral Colours

Pick at least two neutral colours to use throughout the property; one light and one dark. The lighter colour can be used in the kitchen and utility spaces, whereas the darker neutral can be used everywhere else.

Don’t Paint the Town Beige

There will always be the temptation to paint everything white or, heaven forbid, beige. However, doing so can leave the house looking unfinished and your buyer factoring in the cost of redecorating when they move in.

Features

Consider any opportunities to create unique features in the property. You’ll want to keep these subtle, but features help your property look unique. You could invoke character by creating a fireplace, adding additional windows to bring in more natural light, developing a feature wall, choosing exciting wall tiles, or investing in carpentry.

Kitchen & Bathrooms

Your kitchens and bathrooms are, arguably, the most important rooms in the property. Why? They’re the most difficult and expensive rooms to change.

In these rooms, stick to neutral colours. While the style might change slightly depending on the target buyer, choosing light colours and clean lines is always best.

Staging

Ultimately, the aim is to get your buyer to imagine themselves living in the property. That’s why staging is your best friend. You can hire a stager to bring furniture and any accessories needed to bring your home to life and ready for the market. Staging allows you to be broader with your interior design choices and then go to town with how you dress the house (which can always be changed if your target market changes).

Consider the Function of the Property

While “the feeling” is so important, logic will help your buyer decide, so how the property functions for each target demographic is vital. Here are our top tips for designing a house with different demographics in mind:

Young Couple/Single Buyer

Go a little more contemporary – this is where we can carefully use trends—nothing too garish or permanent, but you can afford to add more colour/fun features.
Home office space – this could be in the kitchen, lounge or spare bedrooms. Remember, a lot of people work from home these days.
Spare bedroom or nursery – either for having guests or to give the option of starting a family in the home. These help people to imagine themselves staying for the long term.

Young Family

Bathtub – Young children need a bath, so a bathtub is an absolute must.
Utility space – if you can create a separate utility space, great. Even a dedicated utility cupboard somewhere would be a great selling point.
Children’s bedrooms – can you add something fun, like a gender-neutral mural? Children’s bedrooms are an opportunity to go to town on staging!

Large Family

Entertaining space – large families are usually looking for ample space to entertain the wider family. An open-plan kitchen/diner would be something to consider.
Utility space – again, more people means more washing, so a separate area for a utility becomes essential.
Additional bathrooms – ideally with showers (large families would prefer not to have a queuing system every morning)
Kid’s space/games room – if you have enough space to create a kid’s or games room, this can be a big bonus

Older Generation/Bungalow

Accessibility – walk-in showers, pull-down shelves in the kitchen and accessible wardrobes help elderly buyers to imagine the ease of living in your home.
Modern – nothing ultra-modern, but somewhat. Think about clean lines and comfort (carpet in the living room and bedrooms, and bathrooms which are easy to clean)
Timeless – an elderly couple will unlikely want to redecorate in 5 years.

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With any of your design decisions, always remember that you are showing buyers the possibilities of the space in front of them. It doesn’t mean they have to use it as you have demonstrated or staged, but it shows flexibility within your property and helps sell the lifestyle.

Could you do with some help on your next flip? We have many services, from space planning to complete interior design and staging, to help you make the most of your flip project. Book a discovery call today!