The Smartest Ways to Update Your Living Room When Selling Your Home

Selling your home? You may have some work to do.

If your living room is suffering from a lack of luster, there are some key ways you can improve its appeal for any buyer. Start with relatively small fixes that will give you a lot of bang for your buck.

Here are the smartest ways to update your living room without spending too much money.

Update Your Living Room for Buyer Appeal

Buyers will be looking closely at your main living spaces when they tour your home. They want to be able to see themselves living there, but they’re also looking for aesthetic appeal. Give them both with these updates.

1. Rip Up the Dingy Carpet

Carpet is out. In the areas of your home where you get the most traffic, it does nothing but collect dirt and dust. Reserve it for bedrooms or other quiet areas, and rip it out in your main living areas.

A major boon of carpet-less floors is they’re easier to keep clean, especially when you have kids and pets. Another bonus? Whether you go for tile, hardwoods, or some other flooring, it instantly makes your living spaces look better.

2. Refresh Hardwood Floors

If you’re lucky enough to have original hardwood floors, revive them to make your house looks its best.

If you uncovered hardwood when you ripped out carpet, you may have a bit more work to do. Pull up nails or staples leftover from the carpet install, and scrape up any glue or adhesive. Sand the entire surface with a pro-quality sander rented from the hardware store. Finally, finish with a rich stain and high-gloss polyurethane to keep them looking beautiful.

3. Update Your Living Room and Accentuate Built-In Character

Find ways to accentuate and show off your home’s character if you want to sell fast. These features add to your home’s unique beauty and can be huge selling points.

If you have nice trim or decorative molding, give them a fresh coat of paint to set them off from the wall color. Do you have built-in bookshelves? Don’t overcrowd them with personal belongings to better show off the structure, not your stuff.

If you have a fireplace that’s a bit dated, consider updating the mantel, cleaning or painting the brick, and cleaning out the interior so it doesn’t look sooty or grimy.

Update Your Living Room the Smart Way

You don’t have to go out and buy all-new furniture or tear down walls to update your living room. Instead, focus on the bones of the space, pare down your possessions to let features shine on their own, and polish up any selling points or architectural details. These inexpensive fixes will let you show your home to best advantage, making it easier to sell.