It is the first question in nearly every consultation, usually somewhere between the front door and the kitchen: what is this going to cost? Fair question. Styling arrives near the end of a long list of selling expenses, and you want to know what you are signing up for.
So here is how the number actually comes together, from two people who have quoted thousands of them.
The Honest Answer: It Depends on the Home
Every quote we write is built for the specific property, because the property sets the brief. A four bedroom family home in Malvern needs a different volume of furniture, art and detail than a two bedroom apartment in South Yarra. A brand new architectural build needs pieces that hold their own against stone benchtops and five metre ceilings. A period weatherboard wants softness and warmth. The furniture has to match the calibre of the home, because buyers notice when it does not.
Where a home lands inside that range comes down to five things.
Factor #1: The Scale of the Home and Each Room
More rooms means more furniture, more art, more of our inventory committed to your campaign for its full length. Living zones, bedrooms, studies, alfresco areas, they all add up. And not all living rooms are made equal, a generous open plan zone asks for far more furniture than a compact one.
Factor #2: The Calibre of the Build
The more high end the build, the more the styling has to match it. A premium home styled with mid range furniture reads instantly wrong in photographs, and buyers at that level have sharp eyes. Better pieces cost more to buy and hold, and that flows through to the quote.
Factor #3: The Area and the Buyer
Buyer expectations in Brighton or Toorak sit differently to other parts of Melbourne, and the styling has to speak to the person walking through on Saturday. We style for the buyer being targeted.
Factor #4: Access and Complexity
Three flights of stairs, a tight lift, a long carry from the street. Installation is physical work, and homes that are harder to load take longer and cost more.
Factor #5: The Campaign Length
Our standard hire covers a full campaign, typically six to eight weeks. Longer campaigns and extensions are simple to arrange and priced accordingly.
The Partial Styling Myth
This one catches a lot of vendors. The assumption goes: keep most of our own furniture, hire a few pieces to fill the gaps, save money. We understand the logic. We also see how it plays out.
Your existing furniture was chosen for living, over years, for a home you were not trying to sell. Hired pieces are chosen for a campaign. Asking the two to sit together means matching scale, colour, era and condition against furniture that was never selected with a camera in mind, and the seams show. One room photographs beautifully and the next one drags, and buyers feel the inconsistency even when they cannot name it. A stylist working around a sofa that is too big for the room is solving a puzzle with half the pieces glued down.
When we walk through and see that, we say so. When we quote full styling instead, it is because the difference will be visible in every photograph of the campaign.
Weigh It Against the Campaign, Not the Couch
The clearest way to think about the cost is against the numbers around it. On a premium Melbourne sale, styling sits at a fraction of one per cent of the price being negotiated. A home that photographs beautifully earns more clicks, more inspections and more competition, and one extra bidder pays for the styling many times over. The expensive outcome is a listing that sits.
If Cash Flow Is the Concern
We work with Elepay, so styling costs can be settled later in your campaign or at settlement through their Style Now, Pay Later options. Many of our vendors take this route, it keeps the campaign moving without the upfront outlay.
The Only Quote That Matters Is Yours
General guidelines are useful up to a point, and then someone has to walk your home. A consultation with us is exactly that: we read the light, the proportions and the buyer your home will speak to, and you receive a tailored plan and a clear price, and if you agree, we take it from there.
