Media rooms or home theater rooms are an especially attractive asset to high-end real estate buyers who expect luxury features in a home. Just like any other room, staging a media room well means creating a space that helps potential buyers dream about what life could be like in your home! Use these tips to show buyers your media room is the perfect place to hang out and relax!
1. Neutralize paint
I tend to see an unusually high percentage of red home theaters in my consultations. Remember, the goal of staging is to create mass appeal in order to attract a greater number of buyers. While a thoroughly red media room works beautifully for many homeowners, such a colorful design statement will likely limit its appeal to potential buyers.
A neutral (desaturated, non-colorful) palette promotes relaxation and better allows a buyer to envision the space as their home instead of being reminded it’s still yours. In other words, opt for beiges, browns, blacks, grays, and charcoals instead of bright red or teal. Want to use a dark shade for a more optimal viewing experience? Not a problem! Just make sure it’s a dark neutral (not vivid or colorful) paint color. We like Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore or Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze.
2. Use vignettes.
Vignettes are little groupings of props or decorations that create an emotional connection point for your buyers. They romanticize your home! If there’s a wet bar, set out a tray with a couple of empty stem glasses and a wine bottle. Setting a coffee table with a board game or a tray of (fake) popcorn and soda invites potential buyers to picture themselves relaxing in the home with a great movie!
3. Hang oversized artwork.
This is a great trick for media rooms that are devoid of electronics. Hang a large art piece in place of the screen for a touch of color on that giant blank wall. In the Houston area, local artist Stephen Scott creates large-scale custom-framed art and photography to complement your decor. Visit his site at http://artreka.com.
4. Invite relaxation with plush seating.
Add lots of pillows and a coordinating throw to create a comfortable space where buyers dream of unwinding. Hint: If you miss having red paint in your home theater, throw pillows are a great way to add some pops of color back into the room–and you can take them to your new house!
5. Maximize lighting.
Buyers respond best to “light and bright.” Home theater rooms, however, are typically dark and often windowless. Add a floor lamp, open windows (if you have them), and turn on all lights during home showings and open houses so that buyers can see all that this room has to offer.
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Great suggestions! The only thing I don’t agree with is the neutral paint. Using dark paint keeps the theater room dark and avoids any glare from the screen on lighter colored walls. Ours is so dark it takes a while for your eyes to adjust!
Good observation and I agree 100% about dark (low LRV) colors being ideal for a better screening experience. HOWEVER, I stand by neutral being better for selling 😉 Remember, neutral doesn’t just mean beige or light gray. It refers to a low chroma (i.e., not vividly colored) paint. There are light neutrals and dark neutrals and in-between neutrals. So while a dark red would have less mass home buyer appeal, a gorgeous dark neutral — for example, Sherwin-Williams Iron Ore or Urbane Bronze — presents more of a “blank palette” for home staging and still allows for a better movie-watching experiencing. I’ll update the article to clarify — thanks for the feedback! 🙂