When it comes to staging your home, everyone knows that the living room and kitchen are in the spotlight during open houses. Brad Roemer Realtor has mastered the art of a simple, conversational living room that allows potential homeowners’ minds to wander. If you’re not planning to rent out your furniture for a few days of open houses and realtor photos, then there’s still no need to break the bank when it comes to sorting through the infinite design magazines and Pinterest boards to pick out the perfect pieces for your next living room.

No matter the decor style you’re attracted to, there are a few notable elements that you should contrive in your space.

It’s All in the Rug

Choose a rug that transcends your style and neatly separates your living room from the rest of your home. Chances are that you live in an open concept space, and thus are treading quick water to ensure that you pull your living room, kitchen and dining room neatly together. If you wish to go with a patterned option, Etsy has awesome kilim rugs available. If not, West Elm offers an array of neutrals for your tasting. You’ll likely want to choose a large enough rug to cover your seating arrangement and coffee table. A small rug can close off your space, which is exactly the opposite of what you’re going for.

Identify Your Furniture Blueprint

Time for the fun stuff. Based on the measurements of your space, decipher what kind of furniture layout you are going for. If you are confused about your direction, solid and neutral pieces are your safest bet. Individuals who are looking to re-design their living space area and are clueless about the first thing about design often decide to purchase a matching set. While this may be the obvious easy route, it’s often a boring look. Choose your furniture wisely while maintaining the same color palette, yet from different stores (and not all part of the same matching set!). Adding in a futon mixed with simple Major chairs and a long pebbled sofa paired with the final touch of a luxe, glass coffee table will add the perfect amount of structure and class to your living room.

Express Your Personality

That vintage portrait of your great-grandparents from the 1920s? Or that plant that you’ve been eyeing for a few years now with no space to put it… Now is the time for all these items to make an appearance. Your space should not look like a living room–it should exude your family’s personality with a few unique finds. If you’re a wanderlust traveller like Brad Roemer, you can even ship special decor items from your trip to your home as an extra fabulous find. Side tables from South Africa, an ornate mirror from the South of France? These delights are also wonderful conversation starters!

Texturize Away From the Mundane

Texture is the blood that runs through your home. Whether it be a simple woven basket laying in the middle of your coffee table, or a few colorful throw pillows, visual soft elements will bring interest to your living area. Stop going for square and rectangular pieces and literally think outside of the box by incorporating circular objects into your space.