Staging a Living Room: 4 Ways to Prepare Your Living Room For a Showing
To get your home staged for potential buyers, you’ll want to pay careful attention to every room, especially the living room. The living room is often seen as the “heart of the home” and is used for various activities, such as relaxing, entertaining guests, or watching TV. You should focus on creating a comfortable and inviting space that still looks in mint condition. Keep reading to learn a few helpful tips for staging a living room.
Dress for Success: Complete Repairs & Deep Clean
The starting point for any staging project is to do a thorough cleaning, catch up on basic repairs, or address cosmetic problems that may stick out to prospective buyers.
Homebuyers want to see a never-lived-in home, so it’s essential to deep clean your living room before you start. All of the hard-to-remember surfaces need to be tidied before staging. These areas may not seem obvious to you, but buyers can pick up on them instantly.
Here’s a helpful cleaning checklist to keep you on track while staging your living room.
- Clear dust and cobwebs from hard-to-reach light fixtures
- Touch up baseboards and molding to remove dust or mend chipping paint
- Polish hardwood floors and steam-clean all carpet
- Holes, dents, and peeling paint on the walls should be repaired and repainted
- Switch out all dead lightbulbs
- Sanitize all furniture and discard unsightly pieces
Plan the Layout, Axe the Unnecessary Furniture
Once your living room is in tip-top shape, it’s time to plan the layout, starting with reducing clutter.
Since living rooms are so multi-functional, they can accumulate significant clutter. Clutter is okay when it’s your own, but people at your open house don’t want to see it.
Start by getting rid of unnecessary furniture items. Working with the bare-minimum number of elements, such as a sofa, a few chairs, and a coffee table, is best when you go the do-it-yourself route. You’ll save money on storage costs, and you won’t have to rent furniture. Too much furniture in the living room may make it seem smaller.
To make things easier for future buyers, create a well-organized layout by ensuring there is space to walk around. For small spaces, a distance of at least 18 inches between furniture pieces is suggested, while distances of 36 inches are better for bigger rooms.
Strive For Livable But Not Lived In
The secret to staging a living room is to make the space seem inviting to live in without making it seem like someone is currently living there.
Potential purchasers want to picture themselves in your house, which is difficult to do if all they see are personal belongings. Remove any items that reveal your identity and replace them with exciting pieces with broad appeal.
If you have dogs, cats, or other pets, you should clean the rooms where they spend most of their time and use air fresheners. When people come to tour your house, make sure all are out of the way.
Finally, you’ll want to keep things neutral. The goal is to appeal to as many people as possible without making the space dull and overly sterile. Paint most of the room a soothing neutral color, but leave some space for brighter accents, too.
Seal the Deal With Finishing Touches
With the biggest tasks out of the way, you can focus on finishing touches that seal the deal for buyers.
A fragrant aroma may have a noticeable influence on our emotions and thoughts right away. Make sure your property is filled with pleasant scents to put your potential customers in the right frame of mind.
Decorate for the season that you’re selling in. Plush blankets and autumnal tones are great for cooler weather, while bright colors and fresh flowers set the scene for spring and summer.
Finally, make use of mirrors and natural lighting. Mirrors strategically placed in a living room may make it appear larger and brighter. Everyone loves natural light in the living room, so all windows near the area should be sparkling clean and have the shades pulled up.
Ready to Perfectly Stage Your Living Room?
Now that you know how to deep clean, declutter, and add finishing touches, it’s time to get started staging your living room. Are you feeling motivated? Remember what made you fall in love with the home when you bought it, and try to apply that to your staging process.