Preparing your home for sale takes a lot of effort and money. On average, U.S. home sellers spend an average of $6,570 to get their house ready for sale. This includes everything you would pay a professional to do, such as carpet cleaning, painting, and full-service staging.

Although you might be tempted to skip staging in order to save money on staging, DIY staging can actually be a great option. This allows you to present your home in the best possible light without having to hire a professional.

What Is DIY Staging?

Do-it-yourself staging allows you to use your own decor and furniture to give your home a warm, inviting feel without spending a lot of money.

Consider starting in the living room if DIY staging is something you are interested in. Buyers like to imagine themselves entertaining or relaxing in larger spaces. Your living room should be about decor, not tile and appliances. These can be costly to fix or replace.

Living Room Staging: Step 1: Complete Repairs

Staging efforts begin with minor repairs and cosmetic fixes that can deter buyers.

Suppose you have more serious structural or mechanical problems that the buyer will identify. In that case, you can decide whether to fix them before listing or wait until the inspection period to discuss them.

These cosmetic problems can be easily fixed to prepare your living space for staging.

• Polish Floors:

  Buff any floor scratches and replace damaged tiles or floorboards. Steam clean carpeted living rooms to remove unsightly stains.

• Replacing Lightbulbs Is A Smart Move:

  You want a bright room for showings. You should consider upgrading to LED lights that last longer and are brighter. Smart lightbulbs are also a popular option for buyers looking for smart-home features.

• Patch Walls:

  Before you paint, fix any holes, dings, or peeling paint. This will make your house look cleaner and more organized.

• Get your fireplace cleaned and inspected. Then, you will be able to see the difference and have a better buyer's inspection.

Living Room Staging: Step 2: Deep Clean

A thorough cleaning is essential before you list your home. Buyers are looking for homes that have been well maintained. While most sellers will focus on the kitchen and bathrooms, it is equally important to clean the living room.

• Clean Lighting:

  Spiders enjoy hanging out in light fixtures, particularly recessed lighting. To clean them, use a handheld vacuum cleaner or a long broom. Dust any fixtures and chandeliers.

• Clean Baseboards, Molding:

  Clear dust from baseboards. If there are scratches or chips, they may need to be repainted.

• Steam carpets:

  Steam-clean wall-to-wall carpet to remove stains and odors. This is particularly important if you have children or pets.

• Clean Windows:

  Dirty windows can block natural light and make a living space look cluttered. Use a water-vinegar mixture and a squeegee to clean windows. Avoid cleaning them in direct sunlight. They will dry too fast and leave streaks.

• Clean And Freshen Furniture:

  Make sure that any furniture you are going to stage with is clean and free from odors. To remove odors from sofas, curtains, and rugs, steam clean as much as possible.

Step 3: Design Your Living Room

Because living rooms can be used for multiple purposes, clutter is a magnet. In addition, personal items can make it hard for buyers to visualize themselves and their belongings in their homes.

You might want to store personal mementos and collectibles when staging a living space for sale. You can either rent a storage unit in your local area or purchase a portable storage unit you can take to your new house when you are ready.

DIY staging is a great way to save space and keep the essentials that make up a typical living room, such as a sofa, chair, and coffee table. Storage costs will be lower, and furniture can be rented instead.

This quick guide will help you avoid making mistakes in your living room staging.

Keep It:

• A set of living room furniture, including a sofa, side tables, and coffee table in neutral colors appeals to a wide range of buyers.

• Plenty of artwork to make your home look furnished and lived-in

• Add visual interest to your home with small decor pieces.

Store It:

• Decor or furniture that appeals only to very particular tastes

• Furniture with bold patterns and loud colors

• You don't need to use heavy window treatments. Instead, opt for sheer curtains, which let in more natural sunlight.

• Collectibles can clutter a living space, so your collection may not be appealing to most buyers.

• It can be difficult for buyers to imagine themselves in the space if they have family photos or other personal keepsakes.

• Large wall quotes that are too old and distract from the room's features, such as these outdated wall quotes, are a great way to draw attention away.

Living Room Staging: Step 4: Paint

Painting is a popular home staging task, with 46 percent of sellers painting before listing.

Painting is an affordable task. So even if you aren't a skilled DIYer, you can still complete a living-room painting project.

You'll need to pick neutral colors to decorate your living room. A Paint Color Analysis found that homes with light taupe living spaces, especially those with pink, tan, or peach undertones, sold for $2,793 less than they were expecting.

How To Paint A Living Room DIY

• First, get a sample. Every space and every time of the day is different.

• Buy high-quality brushes, rolls, and other materials.

• Preparation is key. High-quality products can be achieved by priming, sanding, and tapping.

• Choose high-quality paint. A flat finish best serves living rooms.

• Keep consistent undertones. Cool gray is a popular color, but it may not match the rest of your home if you have warm-toned flooring and furniture. You should instead choose a warm white, greige, or combination of gray and beige.

Living Room Staging: Step 5: Stage Furniture

Selling a home is not enough. You must also sell a lifestyle. Set up the furniture so that it creates a mood. Perhaps it's a family relaxing around the TV or an engaged couple hosting their first formal event.

Consider your target buyer when looking for living room staging ideas. Consider who is buying in your area. Is your house best-suited for this person? Are you a young couple looking to buy a starter home? A young solo professional? A family with children?

It's important to use what you have and not try to create something completely out of place with the style of your home.

How To Arrange Furniture In A Living Space

• Move the furniture away from the walls to make the space appear larger.

• You can give purpose to awkward spaces. You can add a desk, a sofa table, or a book nook to an empty wall.

• To increase natural light and brightness in the room, hang a mirror next to a window.

• Consider the focal point of your room (such as the fireplace), and then design your layout around that.

Living Room Staging Step 6: Add Decor

Decor that makes your living space feel homey is the final step in staging. While you may not be able to reuse some accent pieces, they can be replaced at many big-box stores or discount shops.

Reuse what you have bought in your new home. This checklist can be used to help you stage your home:

• Set The Coffee Table

  Even if your coffee tables are old, you can make them look newer by adding decor, staining, or painting them.

• Install The Fireplace Surround And Mantle

  You can refresh the fireplace, which is an important focal point in a living space, without having to do a major overhaul. You can add some accent pieces to draw attention to the mantle.

• Install New Hardware For Built-Ins

  It's a quick and affordable way to update your living room by adding new hardware.

• A New Area Rug Can Be Added

  An area rug is an inexpensive option that will fit the space and complement the color scheme. In addition, the room can feel cohesive if the rug is well-sized (where the rug's edge covers all furniture pieces).

• Accent Throws Add A Pop Of Color To Your Home

  For a cozy, homey feel, update the color scheme of your living room by adding slipcovers to your throw pillows or a throw blanket to drape over your sofas and chairs.

• Modernize Light Fixtures

  It is easy to replace light fixtures, and they are often quite affordable. You can also sell them or take them with you when you move to another place. You should choose fixtures that are in keeping with the period and style of your home.

• Emphasize Architectural Details

  Your home should have unique architectural features that are immediately noticeable to potential buyers when they enter the house. Here are some examples:

  To highlight rustic beams, draw the eye upwards with artwork or high-hanging mirrors.

  To show off large windows, open the blinds and drapes.

  You can bookend your fireplace with large pottery or floor plants, or you can stage built-ins with books.

Fear Not Color

Keep in mind the 60-30-10 rule. The dominant neutral color should be used for 60% of the room's walls and the area rug. You can make furniture your secondary neutral color (30%) and use accents such as throw pillows, blankets, and frames (10%) to brighten up the room.

While the ultimate goal is to attract the most buyers, it's important to remember that everyone should feel happy and energized upon entering the building. A neutral palette can be enhanced with a touch of coral, Kelly green, or navy blue.

Greenery Is A Great Addition

Plants can bring life to a room, whether they are faux plants like a fiddle leaf fig tree in an a basket, or real plants that don't need much maintenance. Cut flowers in a vase or succulents as a centerpiece for a coffee table are beautiful touches.

Use The Rule Of Three To Create Vignettes

A vignette can be described as a collection of attractive objects that sets the tone for a space. These items look great on a coffee table or a tray. The most appealing to the eye are three-piece groups.

These are just a few examples:

• For a winter vignette, place unlit candles in a vase surrounded by pine cones.

• A table lamp, fresh flowers in a small vase, and a crystal on the side table.

• A stack of 2 books, a small potted flower, and a table clock.