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Staging the Lounge

Techniques > Home Staging > Staging the Lounge

The sense of the room | Staging the room | See also

The sense of the room

The Lounge (or Sitting Room or Drawing Room),  is a central place where the family relaxes together and visitors are entertained.

People used to gather around the fire, but these days the television is often the focus, although with expanding media, even this is changing. When not watching something else, people sit around an enclosing curve, chatting and relaxing together.

Lounges can also be a more formal entertainment place, particularly in the more traditional 'Drawing Room' (short for 'withdrawing room', being where you withdrew after dinner).

In a smaller home, the lounge becomes particularly important, as there may be as little as this, a kitchen area, a bedroom and bathroom.

Staging the room

Being a living space, lounges can be both personal and untidy. As a major room, visitors will pay particular attention to this area.

Carpets

With all the usage, lounge carpets can become quite worn or grubby. Giving carpets a good clean is a minimum activity. If they are worn, replacing them with something new is a good idea. This can seem expensive, but the price difference it will make to the house may be much more.

Light

As a major space, lounges should seem light and airy. Ceiling and wall lights should all match, with the same type of bulb to provide a consistent light.

Unless you have an unpleasant view outside, the curtains and blinds should be drawn and tied back to let in the maximum amount of light.

If the room is deep with a window on only one end, then a mirror at the opposite end will help spread light. Light walls will also help bounce what light is available around the room.

Lighting can be used to good effect at night or even in darker corners during the say. Free-standing lamps can be used for good effect, even though you may be taking them with you.

Seats

The seating in the lounge is typically a heavier sofa and arm chairs, although there are may variants on this, such as single wrap-around corner units.

The biggest danger with seating is that it overpowers the room. Large furniture dominates attention and occupies a lot of space. One way of offsetting this is to angle the furniture, so it breaks up the rectangular lines.

If you bump into the back of a sofa or chair when you enter the room, move things around so you get a good vista.

Fireplace

If you have a fireplace, make sure it and any fire utensils are clean, with soot stains removed. If you are showing the house when it is even a bit cold, then light the fire before your guests arrive in time to make the room warm and cosy. With this, beware of creating a temperature contrast with the rest of the house. A warmer lounge can make other rooms seem cooler.

Media

The television is often a focal point, as much by the way chairs are turned towards it (and vice versa) as anything. This may not help the overall impression given by the room.

It is often better to push the TV back against a wall rather than have it pulled out and angled towards chairs. Also tidy away all the control boxes that we seem to need these days.

Tidy up any wires around amplifiers, speakers, and so on. Move loudspeakers to where they look good rather than sound good.

Zoning

The lounge more than any other room is likely to benefit from zoning, where separate areas are created for sitting together, sitting alone, working, eating, playing and so on. A lounge may only have two or three zones, but this can still make it seem much bigger.

And...

Reduce the content of shelves, including ornaments and books. Ensure they are well lit and objectively attractive rather than laden with the personally-meaningful acquisitions of a lifetime.

See also

Home Staging and Cleanliness, Home Staging and Light, Home Staging and Composition