Ensuring your home looks its best before selling is essential, and presenting an inviting and attractive living room is an important part of the process.
Many people spend thousands of dollars getting their home ready for buyers, but there are plenty of effective and low-cost ways to make a great first impression. This article will show you 6 easy steps that will help you get your living room ready for a photoshoot that will attract buyers.
1. Make Light Repairs
When it comes to impressing potential buyers, making the right repairs on your home can make a big difference. Living rooms are where you relax with family or entertain guests, and the upkeep of the room should reflect that.
Even minor cosmetic problems can put off potential buyers, so repairs are worth the extra effort. Quick, albeit important, repairs include patching and repainting walls, polishing floors, and replacing old light bulbs.
Remove any scratches on the floors by polishing or replacing floor boards. If you have a carpet, keep it looking fresh by steam cleaning it. The walls should be free from stains, dents, and peeling paint. These simple changes will make the room look bright, cheerful, and well kept.
2. Deep Clean and Declutter
Potential buyers are looking for a clean, well-maintained home. Although cleaning the bathrooms and kitchen is necessary, the living room is an important room that often gets overlooked.
Dirty windows, dusty light fixtures, and stained carpets are sure to draw unwanted attention. If you have carpets, it’s always a good idea to steam clean them before a showing. Bad odors and stains will make your entire house seem dirty and unmaintained.
Removing unnecessary clutter is also important as it makes the room feel more open and spacious. Presenting a room free of clutter will allow potential buyers to imagine what it might look like when they redecorate.
Additionally to these basics, learn more about cleaning and decluttering your property from the tips on preparing a house for a real estate photoshoot from a few professional photographers interviewed by Real Estate Bees, a national US platform for all kinds of real estate professionals.
3. Repaint Walls
Repainting your living room with high quality neutral paints can have a seriously positive impact on the sale of your home. Painting is an inexpensive and easy repair that even the most inexperienced DIYer can complete. This step-by-step guide by DIY Network can help you with the task.
But before you start painting, you should understand the tones of your room. Warm greys, lavender-browns, and taupe are great colors for warm-toned rooms, while cool greys work well for rooms with cool-toned tile floors and blue-grey furniture.
Once you’ve chosen a few colors that match the tone of your room, test a sample before painting the entire space. The same paint will look different in different rooms, and you should make sure it goes well with the space and light of your living room.
4. Arrange the Furniture
Although you might not think the furniture arrangement of a room makes a difference, it can have a huge impact on how appealing a room appears. Good furniture arrangement can make a room look bigger, brighter, and provide it with a focal point.
Most people want a living room that has a lot of natural light. If you want to make your living look brighter, try hanging a mirror on a wall that’s opposite a window. To make the room appear bigger and more spacious, arrange chairs and sofas so that they aren’t touching the wall. Adding a small sofa or bookshelf to an awkward space will give it a purpose, and buyers will be able to see the potential.
5. Stage the Fireplace
When staging a living room for selling, it’s important to find the room’s focal point. The fireplace is often the focal point of a living room, and it will definitely attract the attention of the buyer. However, most buyers won’t be impressed by a fireplace that doesn’t look good or work well.
Take some time before showing your home to get the fireplace inspected and cleaned. Whitewashing the bricks and decorating the fireplace with plants and appropriate books will help to elevate it.
Showcasing stylish fire safety equipment, such as a fireplace screen or a cover will also help buyers feel more comfortable with the idea of having a fireplace and provide the feeling of safety. Particularly a custom-made equipment can fit an interior perfectly adding to the decor, just like presented in this guide to fireplace safety equipment by Precious Baby Protectors, child proofing experts from Houston TX.
Making your fireplace look safe and attractive is especially important when you many buyers in your neighborhood are newlyweds or have small children.
6. Decorate
You might be tempted to keep your living room sparsely decorated when showing it to buyers, but it’s important to help buyers see your room’s potential. Choose tasteful decorations that show off the room’s best features.
A new rug can elevate newly polished floors, while decorative pillows help enhance the furniture. Brighten up the room with mirrors and hang artwork on any walls that seem too empty. Fresh flowers are also an easy way to make the space appear well maintained. Look through these vivid slides on GoodHousekeeping.com to find some inspirations for your living room.
No matter how you decorate the space, choose items that enhance and compliment the colors and layout of your room. In order to avoid making the room feel cluttered, remember that less is more when it comes to decorating.
