A neat solution

JUST uttering the name Ann Maurice is enough to make most property owners break out in a cold sweat. The straight-talking American interiors expert has become a household name through her popular TV show, House Doctor, in which she dishes out no-nonsense advice to home owners struggling to sell their properties.

Her bluntness in telling prospective sellers that their homes are too messy/too smelly/too dirty or just too badly decorated has caused her to be compared to Anne Robinson as the rudest woman on telly.

But Ann's cutting words are proved often to be wise ones, and 90 per cent of her 'cases' end successfully with a sale.

The philosophy Ann ensues is that of 'home staging' - the technique of presenting your home for sale so that it will appeal to the broadest possible audience. Its basic tenets are to neutralise the colour scheme, banish clutter and remove personal items.

And this very approach has been adopted by Lynne Fawcett, a North Yorkshire businesswoman who has set up her own local 'house doctor' service, Home Interior Solutions.

Lynne, of Sheriff Hutton, who amassed her interiors expertise through years of buying and selling homes, is now offering her own Ann Maurice-style 'home staging' service.

To see exactly what this service entails, Lynne invited the Evening Press along to a consultation at a home in Carlton Husthwaite, near Easingwold.

Here is Lynne's medical report...

The patient

Jessica Lane, 37, lives with her partner Ian Montague and their four-month old son Elliott at The Reading Rooms, a three-bedroom converted church building dating from 1903 overlooking the village green.

With the arrival of baby Elliott, the couple have outgrown the house. They are looking for something larger with a bigger garden and outhouses, where, ideally, Jessica could run her furniture business, Ivy House Interiors, currently in Long Street, Easingwold.

The problem

Six weeks ago, the house was put on the market by Hunters of Easingwold at a guide price of £175,000. It has attracted just one viewer, who found it "too cramped with not enough room for their things".

The check-up

Lynne gave the house a thorough once-over to identify what might be turning off buyers.

She began outside, checking the building's 'kerb appeal'. Immediately she picked on empty hanging baskets, pots with dying shrubs, missing parts of the white picket fence and mismatching pots.

"It's a pretty structure and what you want to do is enhance that," she told Jessica.

Inside, the main living area is open plan featuring a living room with a through dining room/kitchen leading to a bathroom. There are two bedrooms downstairs and a small side hallway with loo.

Upstairs boasts a galleried landing and another bedroom.

Lynne's first impression was there was too much in the house.

"There are lots of lovely features, but they are getting lost because of all the stuff around them," she said.

Highlights of the main room, said Lynne, were the three large stain-glass windows, a wood stove and fireplace and panelled wall.

"It's a very spacious room, but it doesn't feel like that because there are too many ornaments and nick-nacks."

Another problem she spotted was cobwebs, trapped in the high ceiling.

"People see cobwebs and they think 'how on earth do you get up there to get at them?'," she told Jessica.

The main room has a dado rail, dividing the colour scheme into a light yellow above and a deep red below, which Lynne said was too dark.

"People will think, 'this doesn't match my sofa and we'll have to redecorate straight away'," she said. "The majority of people are looking for the easy option - for a home they can move into with the minimum of fuss and into which their furniture will fit and they don't have to do very much to."

Clutter was the main problem identified in the kitchen. "Because it's a small area, people want to see the work space."

Ditto the bathroom, which also was painted dark blue and made the room appear claustrophobic.

Lynne found it difficult to fault the main bedroom and the baby's bedroom, bar from it needing a finishing coat of paint.

Upstairs, the other bedroom was full of furniture, airing clothes horses and racks of clothes under the eaves.

Again, too much clutter was the problem here, said Lynne.

"You have outgrown your space," she told Jessica. "It's a common problem, but people who come to view your house will think there's a lack of storage space."

The diagnosis

Too much clutter was Lynne's primary diagnosis. Further problems were identified with the decor, which needed freshening up with a coat of paint and the whole place would benefit from a spring clean, she added.

The treatment

Lynne suggested putting some of the excess furniture into storage as well as thinning out the bookcases and removing personal items such as photographs, which feature prominently throughout the house.

"People are nosy and instead of looking at your home they are spending precious moments looking at your photos," Lynne explains.

As for decor, most of the house could do with a lick of paint, and Lynne suggested painting the 'open-plan' area all one colour - including the ceiling - to give it a uniform look and make it look lighter and bigger.

Upstairs, she suggested taking some furniture out of the bedroom and making a curtain to cover the clothes hanging under the eaves.

The verdict

Lynne: "Jessica is contented here and has a lovely house, but buyers are going to be distracted from its best features. What she needs to do is enhance the best features by taking the distractions away."

Jessica: "It's funny. It seems you have got to give up on how you want to live in order to sell your house. But Lynne's advice has been extremely helpful. I've picked up some good tips - and I haven't been offended by anything she's said."

u Lynne Fawcett charges £50 for a Home Sale Consultation, which includes a guide on presenting your home for sale. An additional £25 is charged for a written report with recommendations for improvement. She also offers a home improvement service, giving help with re-styling rooms and re-decorating. For more details, contact Lynne on 01347 878788, mobile 07932 691185 or on email at lynne@homeinteriorsolutions.co.uk