Staging - Living Room Fundamentals

Before you can begin the job of ‘staging’ your living-room in preparation for selling your house, it may be necessary to focus on some fundamentals. The following tips should help  bring your living-room to the point where you are ready to begin ‘dressing’ it to impress your prospective buyers.

• Clean your living-room windows like you have never cleaned them before. They should really sparkle. This is a cost-efficient way to make a real difference. If your curtains, nets or blinds look grimy, this could really let you down and spoil your chances of a sale.
• Replacing an old curtain rod with a contemporary curtain pole (with decorative edges) can provide some impact.
• If you are still giving house-room to such eighties-inspired horrors as a mahogany fireplace  with a black and gold over-mantle mirror, it may be time to give them a make-over! Consider keying and painting the fireplace a crisp white, preserving the detail. Take the mirror out-doors and spray-paint it. (silver works really well with a white surround, but choose a colour which will be in keeping with the room). Again you’ll retain the basic pattern along the mirror, but you end-up with a more contemporary look.
• If you have an old, electric fire adorned with plastic pieces of fake coal, take them out and add smooth, decorative stones instead. This adds a luxurious feel and you can buy these cheaply from many home improvement shops.
• Dust your lamps and light-fittings, skirting-boards, book-cases and ornaments.
• Your tiled/laminate floors should gleam and if you have carpet, be honest with yourself and get it steam-cleaned if necessary, and hoover if it isn’t. If your wood-flooring needs re-waxed then now is the time.
• Wipe-down coffee tables and clean any finger-marks from light-switches.
• If you have dated-looking wall-paper, consider painting over it with a neutral shade which won’t scare off prospective buyers.
• Should you have smokers in the house, there may be some ‘yellowing’ of paint-work which will have to be dealt with before you conduct the viewings. This, along with the unpleasant odor of cigarettes can leave a negative impression on prospective buyers. Address this before it costs you a sale!
• If you are searching for living-room storage solutions to house clutter, (particularly in a small space) those which double as seating are a great idea. You may also be able to use them as occasional tables.
• Instead of replacing a scratched or worn coffee table, consider using coloured glass, or mosaic tiles to give it a fantastic new look. You can purchase these from DIY or craft shops.
• If your door handles are tarnished, damaged or simply out-dated, replace them with something more in keeping with the room. Current trends are towards shiny chrome, which is very popular and brass is very much out of favour. Visiting thrift shops, markets and salvage yards could yield interesting finds, and you may prefer go down this route for interest, although for continuity throughout your house, using the same handles for each room works well.

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