INNERSPACE HOME STYLING PRESENTS STAGING TO SELL Enjoy This Series of Tips & Ideas To Guide You Through Preparing Your Home for Sale

Project #1 – Staging large rooms  Large living rooms & bonus rooms are often difficult to show off effectively  These rooms often feel cold & disconnected, or out-of-proportion  Many homeowners struggle with how to arrange furniture in a large space  Potential buyers may feel unsure of how they would make use of the space

The Project Room – Main floor living room Challenges: Large, long & narrow room. Several features to work around: fireplace, double French doors, picture window & large entryway. Furniture is not effectively arranged; some furniture has already been moved out, leaving some areas feeling empty.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Challenges: Dining table is floating in the middle of this huge room, making the areas on each side of it feel like undefined and wasted space. Office desk in the corner feels out of place in the room, and disconnected from the bookcases across from it.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Challenges: Large open entryway is a feature, but it can be confusing to figure out how to place furniture around it. Area around the fireplace does not have any furniture, and is not showing it off as a feature.

The Fixes  Create two smaller, more manageable usage areas out of this one large space.  Put logical themes together: make the room a combination office/library & cozy sitting room  Move the dining table over to the area adjacent to the kitchen, for a more practical pairing.  Furniture placement should avoid leaving empty zones & wasted space; it should showcase the room’s features.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Changes The dining table was swapped for living room furniture to make a cozy seating area in front of the fireplace. By centering the desk just inside the large entryway, we create an attractive focal point right from the front door. Note: the furniture suggests how the space can be used, but is still kept minimal to preserve the open, uncluttered feel.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Changes With the desk in closer proximity to the bookcases, this part of the room now has a “library” feel. A key factor here is that the desk is placed so that there is plenty of room all around it to accommodate traffic.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Changes Creating a separate “room” centering around the fireplace makes the space feel cozy and connected. This shaggy area rug helps to visually define the space and “ground” the furniture.

The Project Room – Main floor living room Changes Now, the desk helps to make a focal point of the large entryway. The dining furniture was relocated to the space beside the kitchen, making for easier entertaining and a more practical use of space. The size/scale of the dining table is more suited to this area.

Project Recap  Break up a large space by creating zones for specific functions, ie: seating area, workspace, etc.  Consider traffic patterns & movement, and the room’s multiple functions when setting up your zones.  Avoid the trap of “gluing” furniture against the walls; play with furniture at angles and in open spaces.  When staging to sell, less is often more; furniture should enhance a space, but not overpower it.  Check out this great online space- planning tool!Check out this great online space- planning tool!

INNERSPACE HOME STYLING  THANK YOU  Watch for more projects, tips & ideas to help you stage to sell.