Sacramento Real Estate Blog

The good news about living rooms is that people live there and spend most of their time there. The bad news about living rooms is that people live there and spend most of their time there. Get the idea? The living room is usually the second impression home buyers get of the house they might potentially buy. (The first is the exterior of the home.) The living room is as important as the bathroom and the kitchen.

I once showed a home that was perfect in every way - the bathrooms looked great, the kitchen was cozy and pretty - everything was fine, except the living room could maybe seat a love seat. That was all the furniture it could hold. While there’s little you can do about a bad floor plan (one wonders what the builder was thinking!) most living rooms can be shown in their best light with a few tips. Follow these and showcase the most lived in area of the home to your homebuyers.

1. Avoid big furniture

Interior decorators and professional home stagers will suggest that you get minimal furniture for your home. It’s one thing if you have a large family and need the furniture for everyone. Also specific members of the family like specific items. So Grandpa enjoys his la-z-boy seat but it doesn’t need to stick around when you’re moving. Make it a point to remove excess furniture so your home is the showcase.

In addition to removing extra furniture, also pay attention to the fact that the size of the furniture is in keeping with the size of the living room and the wall it is set against. For example, you don’t want to set a big couch against a small wall or a seat against a long wide expanse. Less furniture and proportionate furniture make a room look tidy and right in terms of square footage, so be sure to give that impression. Not one of an over-cluttered small home.

2. Keep it light and bright

If you need to turn on some lights as soon as you enter your living room or your eyes need time to adjust so you don’t accidentally fall over something in your path, something in your living room is wrong. It may seem like it’s only orchids that need a lot of sunlight, but those are not the only living things that do. Humans (yes, yes, your homebuyers are human, even though at times it may seem like they’ve transmuted into electronic signatures and faxes and numbers!) like sunshine too.

One of the favorite real estate statements in MLS advertising is “light and bright.” And it sells homes. So take a close look at your home and see what you could do to make it light and bright. Add some skylights? Those might have the extra appeal of saving on electricity and making the home “greener.” How about just cleaning the windows and opening all the curtains? Buyers love sunlight. So give them some natural light and see the looks on their faces change!

3. Pay attention to focal points to set the mood

All too often, the focal point of a living room is the television. Again, it seems fine when you live in the home and watch TV often. It seems comfortable enough to arrange the seating around it. After all, how many quiet evenings do we really sit around the fireplace and meditate into it? Come on, admit it. None, right? But here’s the thing: we still like that idea. And we still buy into the image of that idea. We like the thought of cozy family dinners and quiet evenings in front of the fireplace. Rarely do we fantasize of loud evenings in front of the television set. (Sorry sports fans!) So why not make the fireplace the focal point?

Other ideas for focal points are a piece of artwork. I had seen this done exceptionally well at a listing once. There were track lights installed on top and the art caught the light. It was only later that I realized without the art work, the wall would have seemed like an odd obstruction and an oddly placed part of the old construction. Another idea I saw was a screensaver-like image on a flat screen TV which was obviously going to remain the focal point of the living room. But it looked so much better than the black screen that I admired it. So think about focus. Think about where you want your buyers’ attention to be when they enter the home.

4. Remember current trends and draw attention to them

This is where accents come in very handy and is really the only excuse to need home staging. If you have something in your home that is current and trendy, you definitely want to play it up and draw attention to it. Homebuyers sometimes do marathon home viewings of more than 10 - 15 homes a weekend. It can get worse if they’re traveling from another city and are only in town for a few days. While these relocation clients can be seen as the most serious and dedicated home buyers since they have to move and soon, it can be hard to get their attention.

Don’t let your home blend into the others they see that day. If you want them to come away with more than just a fleeting impression of your living room, draw attention to its best features. Do you have skylights? Then make sure you leave the lights off (and pray for a sunny day!) and let them see how much natural light you get in the living room. Does your living room open into the kitchen and create a nice flow for family gatherings, parties and get-togethers? If that’s the case, ensure that everything is sparkling clean and place a few glasses or even a vase of flowers in the kitchen to draw attention to it. Subtle hints with accents can draw attention to most missed features. Don’t let them miss them!

5. Don’t forget paint

Last but not the least and perhaps the most obvious factor is paint. If your home will be on the market, it is imperative that you paint it. Even if the previous paint job doesn’t seem too bad and there are no obvious stains on the walls, a fresher coat can make a world of difference. Not only does a new coat of paint help clear out the corners and brighten crown moldings that can otherwise look dull and worn, the fresh clean lines make the features of the home bolder and clearer in the eyes of the homebuyers. Paint will also cover up smells (cigarette smells for instance) and create a fresh, clean, new smell in the home. Just be sure to maintain it!

Paint is also a great way to set the tone for the home as soon as the home buyers walk into the living room. Is the home classic or modern? Is it suited to a fast lifestyle or a slow lazy one? Paint can create that dream we were talking about earlier, so use it wisely. Also, this is not the time to experiment. Stick with what most people would prefer. You can try your wild ideas in the new home you move into when this one is sold.

Follow these tips and you should be well on your way to moving out! Good luck!