Positioning Your Great Room for a Big Payout

We’re talking furniture placement here.

When you’re decorating an open floorplan, the placement of your furnishings should always be taken into consideration. If not done correctly, it can mean the difference between a successful sale or a potential buyer moving onto the next home. 

Staging, like interior design, is a visual art. Where they differ is while design is for a specific client’s home; staging relies on precise demographic statistics to build a client profile and stage the home to suit that demographic’s style. In this series of VCHS Staging Tips we're exploring placement of furniture and how to select the right pieces to complement a Great Room, making it feel just right!
Open floorplans are very popular. They create a sense of grandeur, lightness and airiness with incredible sightlines. They are especially popular with families of young children; kids can be close enough for supervision while the parent is in the kitchen.

The downside to an open floorplan is that when you’re preparing to sell your home, a Great Room often confuses prospective buyers, especially if it remains empty. Where does the living space end and the dining space begin? Where do we put the kitchen dining table? Without visual cues and no lines of demarcation buyers will often walk away from the challenge. You can create a sense of intimacy and clear boundaries within a Great Room if you know the tricks.

First item on the agenda is to purchase an appropriately sized area rug to anchor the seating area. There’s nothing sadder than a dinky area rug made to look smaller by an oversized sectional. Consider the bulk and visual weight of your furniture and always opt for something larger than you think would be adequate. A too-small rug can cause a room to feel uninviting. Once you’ve placed the furniture on the area rug (and the furniture is more than likely facing the television) you’re halfway there! Selecting the correct sized pieces is also important. Because these rooms tend to be spacious, it’s best to select large-scale pieces of furniture for maximum impact.

Next comes lighting. Focus the lighting on the main seating grouping. Create a triangle of light for optimal task and ambient illumination. Layer in the art and accessories, pillows and throws. Keep the scale (size) of these remaining components large. Using fewer (but larger) accessories equals more impact, and more impact equals less days on market.

The professional home staging team at Ventura County Home Staging always considers the placement and furnishings for every property we stage. Leave the hard work to us. We've staged hundreds of homes across Ventura and LA Counties. We know what each room needs, and we have the inventory and experience to achieve the perfect look every time.