7 Tips for Staging a Living Room

Everyone knows that the key area in the home to consider staging is the living room. Buyers will be looking very carefully at this central social space when they stroll through your home. What they see should impress them.

Yet not all homeowners have a clear idea about how best to stage their living room. Here are seven tips for effectively staging your living room.

1. Remove clutter

This can involve big and small items. Be aggressive about taking away excess furniture. What remains must be of top quality, should use neutral colors, and the items must look good together. Removing clutter also means taking away any framed items (on walls or surfaces) and knickknacks that relate to your family or personal history.

2. Organize furniture around a focal point

All the items in your living room should be oriented toward a single point. This may be a fireplace, a picture window, or a large work of art. Such a cohesive arrangement is pleasing to the eye.

3. Paint the walls

If you are tempted to avoid painting, think again. It doesn’t matter how carefully you chose the existing color or how few flaws there are. Giving the walls a fresh coat of paint in a light, neutral color makes the entire room look cleaner and brighter – which creates the illusion of a larger space.

4. Ditch the television

Unless you have a flatscreen television that is a modest size and is unobtrusively wall-mounted, take it out to the garage. Televisions detract from the visual unity of the space and create a utilitarian ambiance.

5. Enhance the windows

Uncovered windows allow light into your living room and create a perception of extra space, both of which are beneficial. So raise any blinds and either remove heavy curtains or draw them as far as possible to the sides. Move any furniture blocking windows. And make sure the windows are cleaned – inside and out.

6. Ensure that artificial lighting complements the room

If your lighting design – fixtures and lamps – is out-of-date or creates insufficient light, it’s a good idea to invest in new lighting. Buyers need to be able to see clearly the furniture and other items that you have so carefully chosen and arranged.

7. Fix and update items as required

If your carpeting looks old, worn, or dirty, replace it with something modern and stylish. If a doorknob or window fringe is tarnished or discolored, polish or clean it. Every item in the room should appear to be flawless and of top quality.

The living room is the centerpiece of the home. So all the time, energy, and expense that you devote to staging it are justified. If buyers are impressed with the living room, they are more likely to develop a favorable opinion of your entire house.

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