H&IS and Corum sit down with interior designer Patricia Rodi to find out why home styling makes your house nicer to live in — and easier to sell
This interview with Patricia Rodi was written in partnership with Corum
“Home, to me, isn’t a physical space,” says interior designer Patricia Rodi. “I think home — and this sounds a little cheesy — is where the people who I love are. I’m originally from Sweden, so my family is scattered around the world. I really feel like Scotland’s west coast is my home base.”
To her 625,000 Instagram followers, Patricia is a source of honest interior design advice. On screen, she is unpretentious and playful, sharing aspirational style boards and renovation updates (and the odd relatable DIY disaster) from her six-bedroom 1870s house. Each piece of shortform content depicts the French-Swede’s infectious love for beautiful, consciously-crafted things.
“My husband, Patrick, and I were looking for a property for quite some time before we found this one,” Patricia says of her west coast home. “He was very drawn to this house, but I was apprehensive. I knew it would be a big renovation project, but could admit that it had good bones.” The pale white cornicing, original hardwood floors, bay windows and never-ending views won her over. “We viewed the place four times before I finally stood in the living room and thought, ‘I can see myself in here — even on a rainy Tuesday afternoon’. And that’s when I knew: this is my house.”
Patricia’s CV puts her miles ahead of her counterparts. She is co-founder of design studio Rodi · Cécile, a Franco–Scandinavian interior and landscape design studio working across the UK and Europe. “We create homes and environments shaped by atmosphere, craft and a quiet sense of emotional presence.” Patricia also created La Maison, a customisable sofa cover collection, with BEMZ. “My collection of hand-drawn prints for slipcovers is designed to give your IKEA sofas, armchairs, and cushions (well, all your furniture really) a second life — without starting over.” This symbiosis of style and substance (which can be a rare find), gives Patricia’s content authority whilst still feeling as warm as the afternoon sun that often floods through her living room windows.
To view a home with nothing in it was an odd experience for Patricia. “The UK estate market is very different to Sweden’s. When you put your home on the market in Sweden, you style it. Everybody does. Because they understand the impact of walking into a home that is styled, as opposed to empty.”
According to Patricia, home styling helps people envisage their lives in a space, as opposed to simply wondering where they might place the sofa. Research backs this up: experts found that styling your home (or ‘staging’ it) before you put it on the market, speeds up selling time by up to 72%, while emotional connections created by staging actually increase perceived house value up to 42%.
Corum‘s deputy managing partner Marc Leslie says that selling a house is indeed about selling a lifestyle: “When it comes to interiors, it’s no longer just about space, but about light, flow and having areas that allow you to properly switch off at the end of the day,” he says. “For example, a conservatory to read in, a sun room to paint in, a yoga studio to unwind in.”
“How you present your home prior to selling it is very important,” believes Patricia. “It can be the making or breaking of whether it sells.”
About Corum
In Scotland’s ever-evolving property landscape, a home is about far more than bricks and mortar. It’s about lifestyle, character and the way a space makes you feel. This philosophy sits at the heart of Corum, an estate agency that has spent decades championing homes with personality, integrity and a strong sense of community.
Corum was founded on the belief that an estate agency should provide a truly exceptional customer experience. Since 2003, Corum has quickly established itself as a leading name in Scottish estate agency, helping thousands of clients buy and sell their homes.
With nine branches across its network, Corum covers the length and breadth of Greater Glasgow, Ayrshire, the Central Belt and the west of Scotland. The brand’s reputation for excellence has been built on a clear focus on quality, consistency and delivering for clients at every stage of their move.
e: westendenq@corumproperty.co.uk
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