Your bonus room is, at the same time, an asset and a detractor for your home. It probably offers a lot of extra square footage and a blank canvas for potential buyers…bad news is, many buyers don’t have the creativity to figure out what to do with it.
If your bonus room isn’t staged properly, the space can feel awkward and unusable. Here are five simple ways to stage your bonus room that will make your home a standout.
- Create a Kids’ Play Space
The most obvious – and, if you have young kids, useful! – way to stage your bonus room is to turn it into a playroom. The trick is minimizing clutter with organizational cubes and storage bins and not allowing it to look like a daycare center. You want the room to have order, so choose a bright color scheme and stick to select grown up furniture, not kid stuff. - Use it as a Media Room
Who doesn’t want a home theater? This solution works best if you’ve already been thinking of buying a big TV, but it’s worth the investment as you can take your new gadget with you when you move. A big, comfy couch, a coffee table for drinks, and of course, your big screen TV mounted on the wall is a good start. Framed movie posters and a popcorn machine are just extra touches! - Make a Home “Library”
Do you have a lot of books? Books can read “messy” when selling your home, anyway, so a few sets of matching bookcases can contain them quite nicely in one room. A reading nook by the window and a soft rug to complete the look. Be sure to place plenty of lamps and for goodness sakes, make sure your reading chair has an ottoman for maximum coziness! - Do an Adult Den
Why not create that grown-up playroom you’ve always dreamed of? A pool table, modular bar, and a mounted TV can turn the space into an enviable place for adults to hang out. Alternatives include a ping pong or air hockey table, too. And if you go with a sports theme, just keep it neutral; think “football,” not “Green Bay Packers.” You don’t want to risk your buyer being a Vikings fan!
Staging your bonus room is all about creating livability. You want buyers to see themselves using the space, not wondering what you do with it. Give every space in your home a purpose and buyers will appreciate each inch of its square footage.