Hard to comment without seeing pictures ... Can you post any, at least of the current flooring?

I'd say yes to the various updates listed above, except for #4, the wood paneling accent wall. If this room needs other major updates as described above, it's likely the new owners would just be tearing that out anyway. I'd just update with paint (and maybe flooring?) and call it a day. If you're not going to truly renovate, let the new owners pick what they want, and save your money. If I was a potential buyer, I'd see having to remove that paneling as yet another item on the to-do list.

Maybe just place a VERY large sisal rug (like just a 6-inch border of flooring showing between rug and wall)?

Yes...you need to post photos for best feedback.

Thank you, I've got tons of pictures, but none of that room since it's such a disaster. I will snap a few pics this evening and post them.

You're doing way too much for someone planning on selling in a few months. You'll see very little of this money back in terms of re-sale value. Doing very basic cosmetic fixes and call it a day. Paint, fix flooring if it's hideous, replace that ceiling, but don't both doing a feature wall, expensive lighting, or anything extra.

Thank you Sina. I get that it sounds like we might be going overboard. Again, whatever work we’re doing is entirely on our own. The only thing we’re getting professionally done because we have to is painting the outside of our house. Giant mess, lots of chipping paint in certain spots. Trust me, I didn’t want to have to spend that money, but it’ll help drastically improve our curb appeal.

I guess we’re aiming a little bit high because we want/need a fast sale. We’ll be relocating out of state around May, so our house isn’t something that can just sit on the market for a really long time. I’ve been keeping tabs on what’s for sale by us, and there are a few very nicely done houses popping up on the market lately. And then there’s a bunch of crap, per the usual where the entire house needs to be redone. Because it’s Northern NJ, nothing is cheap, even if it needs work!

We will go with the basics like painting and see how things look and then go from there. We’ve got lots of higher-end finishes in our kitchen and bathrooms. I’ve got no problem being “cheap but still nice” in the family room. ;)

Pics NOW how do you expect help with no context.

I just posted some photos, and please don’t mind the mess. We’re in the process of getting rid of some old furniture annhilated by our cats and general de-cluttering. The camel-color sectional piece will remain in that room, along with the TV/stand. Really going to clear it out as much as possible to maximize how big the room appears. I mentioned we have cats - if we do go with carpeting, they will have LIMTED access to that room! Certainly don’t want them destroying it!

PS. I would like to make it known that the awful curtains in that room are NOT something I personally chose. My husband randomly got them one day because he thought we needed new curtains...his design sense is pretty awful unless I’m helping him. I now fully oversee ALL of the design-related purchases.

For further comparison purposes, here are some photos of the rest of our house so you can see it’s agtually pretty darn nice! Only thing I wish we had done is a white kitchen. But, hey, white can get dirty more easily...

Thank you Rachel! I absolutely LOVE the ceiling grid covers! I found some very economical options out there. That is a very real possibility for us! If I had to choose between the two, the ceiling is in worse shape than the floor. I think we will work top-down and see how it looks. Thanks again!!!

Have the blue-green floor tile professionally cleaned. Pros have the equipment, chemicals and expertise to do a fabulous job.

Cleaning will be far less expensive than any replacement flooring. Then go over the grout with a grout paint: choose a gray-blue color that is very close to the blue-green to make it unobtrusive, or use a clean white color. These are photos of blue slate with white grout paint: https://www.younghouselove.com/2014/01/how-you-like-me-now-grout/

You could try one of the two most popular blue-green paint colors, either Benjamin Moore Sea Salt or Sherwin Williams Sea Salt. Here it is with white trim and a darkish slate floor similar in tone to what you have:

Paint companies make a special paint for acoustic ceilings. If the tiles are undamaged, just paint them and the ceiling grid in one fell swoop. Easy and done.

Thanks Apple Pie! The professional floor cleaning is a great idea, I will definitely check into that. I will also check into the grout paint. I like the idea of using white grout paint. Didn’t realize there was such a thing!

Unfortunately, we do have a number of ceiling tiles that are very obviously chipped. I am not after style, just something nicer than what we’ve currently got. I want this room to look presentable. I did find the Radar basic tiles at Home Depot for 50-something cents a square foot. They are “less busy” than the awful tiles we’ve got now. There are even a few areas of our ceiling grid that are broken. Luckily, not too many, and the breaks are not too obvious. I’ll look into the acoustic ceiling paint - maybe that can help out grid situation.

Next house?! I do NOT want any projects! I’m looking for something “done up!” Mid-century modern Arizona here I come! The house we’ve got right now is when you buy your first house and you just take the best thing you can get in your price range. It really was the best house at the time. And now it’s a BETTER house, probably one of the BEST in our area that will be on the market very soon! Thanks again!

Arizona sound nice right about now! It's cold here. If you are going to go to the trouble of replacing the ceiling tiles, I wouldn't do it with the radar ones that still have those ugly perforations. The next cheapest that look decent are the stratford feather-light for $1.49sf. First impressions are the most important during a showing. Think about when you walk into a room with a ceiling with that style tile and how you immediately react to it. Don't waste $150 putting in the same tile, either spend the $500 or none at all. You won't get the $150 back because you won't have improved the visual impact. You will probably get the $500+ back if you put in the nicer tile.

Thanks for the suggestion, Rachel! I am investigating the tiling options online. If we aren’t doing the floor, we can perhaps spend a little more on the tile.

Excellent news about the ceiling grid covers! There is this product called “Grid Max” I came across in an online search. Only $60 per 100 sq. ft with free shipping. This will cost less than $200 for us to do! Excellent!

If you can't redo the floor, look into buying a large, inexpensive carpet remnant to cover most of the floor and get it bound so that it looks like a rug. You can even DIY the binding.

I wanted to provide an update! First off, we found some very trendy-looking laminate flooring for 84 cents per sq ft. We will be using underlayment that costs 25 cents per sq ft. So, for only $1.09 per sq ft, plus the cost of a few new tools, we’re redoing the floor. My husband will install this with some help from his brother, so we’ll save a ton on labor costs.

As for the ceiling tile, I came across “smooth” 2x4 ceiling tiles online for only 76 cents per sq ft. Nothing fancy, but worlds nicer looking than the “basic” tiles that are only marginally cheaper. Add these tiles in with our ceiling grid covers, and it’s going to look fantastic!

With new paint, new recessed lights and new light/electrical switch covers, and we’re going to have a room that looks great. Last piece of a very large puzzle to get our home truly move-in ready for a quick sale at top dollar!

There are a few somewhat nicely done houses that just popped up on the market by us. One is about a half mile away, new construction. This house has contractor grade everything, including kitchen and bath, and is only slightly larger than ours. Looks nice and new, but we’ve got something that is quality where it really counts. I am hopeful we can list at or even higher than what they listed at. Can’t wait for our agent to see the finished product! Our fingers are crossed for a bidding war!

Thanks for the update, OP. Would love to see pics of the finished result!

I will absolutely post some pics! At this point, I don’t think we’ll be done until the eleventh hour around Christmas, but we’ll see how things go.