Furniture placement for selling

Good furniture arrangement is the key to making a room look great. However, many people have trouble with what goes where. Have you ever stood at the doorway to a bedroom, or the center of your living room, and said, "Something doesn't look right” You may sense that the arrangement is awkward, but you can't put your finger on it. But, each room has an optimal arrangement for staging, and you can determine this by avoiding the most common pitfalls.

Too much furniture.

Curate your best pieces. It’s more advantageous to have a few impactful pieces of furniture, rather than a roomful of some good and some mediocre pieces. Keep a few larger pieces (couch, upholstered chairs, beds, bookcases) unless they are in worn condition or outdated. Colors and styles from years ago don’t make your home look fresh and modern.
Remember that homebuyers are looking at multiple homes and will size up your home to homes with new and trendy furniture that left them with a positive impression. If a room is too "busy" and cramped, the eye doesn’t know where to rest

Not enough furniture.

Unoccupied homes tend to be more sparsely furnished. However, when selling a home key rooms should be staged. Most homebuyers that see unfurnished rooms, percieve these as a problme room, that raises questions. “Are the sellers "house poor" and ran out of money for furnishings? Maybe they’ll accept a low ball offer.”
An empty room also may bring attention to flaws in a property which would normally not be apparent in a furnished room.
Placing some large pieces of furniture in that empty room will be helpful. If it still looks a little barren, an area rug can tie the furniture placement that you have together. Add some free standing shelving along the wall or as a room divider. Large pieces of artwork will create an inviting and charming atmosphere for the room.

Buyer’s need to envision the full potential of a room. Bedrooms need to be perceived as functional living spaces and not just an afterthought.

Avoid poor traffic flow

Make sure home buyers can move effortlessly through all your rooms. The flow of a room should not pass through a conversation area or wind its way through the room. The passage of the room should be obvious, and it should look wide and unobstructed. Most of the room should be visible from the entryway, and the doorway open fully.

Avoid any impedement to the traffic flow that makes a home buyer feel they must jump over furniture to get into the room. Beautiful features of a room can be blocked by large, bulky furniture.

A room needs to have purpose, the one it was meant for

Each room needs to self explanatory. Will your Realtor have to instruct buyers that, “This is the Master bedroom”. The function and purpose of the room should be obvious because you've staged it with the with appropriate furnishings, accessory pieces, artwork.

Create a focal point

Every room needs something impactful that draws the eye to it. Something that conveys warmth and qualilty. Create your focal point with a centerpiece that sells your home, even if it is not part of the sale. A striking piece of artwork or a well arranged seating area makes for a focal point that buyers will immediately identify with. A view is an excellent focal point, so arrange the furniture to showcase it. When the room has no established focal point, you’ll need to create one.

Edit the small stuff

It’s commonplace to see homes with an assortment of small pieces of furniture such as chairs and side tables which can be perceived as "clutter". Try removing items that don’t contribute to the look you’re trying to achieve. Unify by using similar colors and tones.

Making your home visually appealing to buyers will help them to feel "at home" right from the start!