I Asked a Home Stager for Basically Free Ways to Transform My Bedroom, and She Gave Me 6 Brilliant Ideas

Home stagers often tout the concept of “depersonalizing” your home so that more buyers can see themselves living in your space. But how does that principle translate to your bedroom, which, aside from the bathroom, is arguably the most personal space in your home?

Rather than think of your home as a “personal” space, you should think of it as an “aspirational space,” says Ana Cvetkovic, principal of Rowhome Design, a Philadelphia-based home staging and interior design firm. “You’re creating this ideal version of a life to attract a buyer.”

But when it comes to bedroom staging, she says, “Potential buyers will see it, and they’ll think, “Okay, if I live here, I will have the fluffiest bed ever. I will have the best sleep of my life. My marriage will be perfect.” 

Wow. No pressure, home sellers! To achieve that aspirational space — whether you’re looking to sell or just want the “fluffiest bed ever” — I asked Cvetkovic for some easy-to-apply bedroom staging tips for free or as close to free as possible.

“Cool” bedrooms have mix-and-match furniture — you want to have a space that looks great, but isn’t too matchy-matchy, Cvetkovic says. But balance and symmetry can be more pleasing to look at for buyers, and you can achieve both with some creative rearranging of pieces. She recommends going furniture shopping in your own home. 

“I believe in working with what you already have,” she says. Let’s say you do have a nightstand with lamps on either side of the bed. The lamps don’t have to match, but you might consider propping up the shorter lamp with books to achieve symmetry. “We’re creating balance and symmetry that convey harmony in the life that is lived in this house,” Cvetkovic says. 

Again, this can be tricky, because showing the place where you sleep is just about as personal as you can get. But you can still take it down a few notches, especially in terms of decor.

“Put as much as you can away,” Cvetkovic says. Taking down personal photos is a given, but if you have religious memorabilia or any provocative art, either remove it or swap it out for something more neutral. If you’re just looking to zhuzh up your space (and not sell it), however, keep that funky art up!

Cvetkovic recommends repainting the bedroom walls in a neutral color to attract more buyers. She shares that just because homebuyers should be able to look past color in a home, they often can’t do it. If your schedule or budget doesn’t allow for repainting the walls, at least repair any holes and scuff marks. This might be as easy as moving a piece of artwork or wall decor to cover up a nail hole, Cvetkovic says. This will help freshen up your space no matter if you’re selling it or not, too.

This one might be a bit tricky to pull off, especially if you’re currently living in the space or if you’re just trying to do a free refresh of your space. But an easy way to make a bedroom look bigger and feel neater is to remove any extra furniture that you can.

“The bed is the most important thing in a primary suite,” Cvetkovic says. Otherwise, a nightstand, lamp, and one piece of wall art should do the trick. If you have the space, you can move your dresser into the closet or downsize to just one dresser rather than two.

Stagers will often swap out a larger bed for a smaller one to make the room look spacious — so if your aim is to make your room look more appeasing to buyers, you may want to do this, too. “If a twin bed is all you can fit without it looking cramped, then use that,” Cvetkovic says. That might not make sense for a primary bedroom that you share with a partner, of course. But if you currently have a king squeezed in, consider downsizing. 

“People aren’t really going to be able to tell the difference between a full and a queen,” she says, adding that the important thing is to show that two people can sleep in that room. 

Speaking of the bed, Cvetkovic offers this recommendation: “Make the bed look as fluffy as possible.” She prefers white for bedding. “That’s how you’re going to make it look like a hotel,” she explains, which is a goal that stagers often strive for in the bathroom, too.  

Use a duvet and a cotton duvet cover for that ultra-luxe feel, too — and consider adding a feather mattress pad on top. A cozy blanket at the foot of the bed can add a pop of color, but it also adds another layer to that bed to make it look soft and fluffy, she says.

It’s always been a head-scratcher for me to see real estate listings featuring dark bedrooms because the curtains are shut tight or the blinds are pulled down — at a wonky angle, no less. Cvetkovic says to open up those window treatments, or better yet, remove them completely to brighten up the space. “After location, natural light is the second reason people buy a home,” she says.