You know that staging your home can help you sell it faster (and for more money), but what if you have a cozy living room that doesn’t have much room for improvement? Should you just clean the house and hope for the best? Check out these seven tips on how to stage a small living room to find out what you can do to boost your home’s prospects when you list it for sale.
How to Stage a Small Living Room: 7 Tips to Enhance and Enliven Your Space
Your home’s living room can be a make-or-break space for prospective buyers. People know they’ll spend a lot of time in the living room each day, and the area needs to be big enough to be comfortable, feature easy access and have ample multipurpose lighting. Here are seven tips you can use to make your small living room look bigger and more attractive to buyers:
- Create a vision with furnishings
- Plan seating down to the inch
- Go easy on “extra” furnishings
- Stick to functional + decorative items
- Use color sparingly and carefully
- Focus on reflections
- Make sure there’s enough light
Here’s a closer look at each.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #1: Create a Vision With Furnishings
Although it’s tempting to leave your living room fairly empty because it seems like more open space is better, that’s the wrong ideal. Instead, use your furniture to create a vision for prospective buyers. Show them that yes, a sofa will fit with a media console.
Pro Tip: Most people scan a room from left to right when they enter (just like reading). That means you should place the tallest piece of furniture in the far left corner to make the space appear larger. Always keep big furnishings away from the entryway.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #2: Plan Seating Down to the Inch
Arrange seating around a focal point. If you have a fireplace, that’s easy – but what if you don’t? Choose a window, a fabulous piece of art or even the television. Pull your sofa 6 inches away from the wall and leave plenty of room to walk between pieces so the space appears more open.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #3: Go Easy on “Extra” Furnishings
Big and excessive furniture crowds any space, so take out pieces that aren’t necessary to make the room functional. While you’re at it, think about scaling down in size, too. You may want to use a loveseat and a pair of comfortable chairs rather than a full-sized sofa and recliners. In this case, less is definitely more.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #4: Stick to Functional + Decorative Items
Look at everything taking up floor space in your living room and choose whether it’s functional or decorative – or both. If you have pieces that fit both bills, that’s great.
Pro Tip: Many home stagers recommend taking out the television in a small living room unless it’s wall-mounted and appropriately sized for the space.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #5: Use Color Sparingly and Carefully
Dark colors make spaces appear closer and more restricted, so if you have a small living room, light and bright is the way to go. Try to balance color throughout the space, using bold colors only for accents (such as the rug and a few pillows on the sofa).
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #6: Focus on Reflections
Glass and metal items reflect light, so they’re naturally good choices for small living rooms. Add a mirror across from a window, use metal photo frames and consider adding a glass coffee table if those things are feasible in your space.
How to Stage a Small Living Room – Tip #7: Make Sure There’s Enough Light
Take down heavy or dark window treatments and let in as much natural light as possible. If you have dark corners, add a floor lamp.
