There are many important things to remember about staging the home. Emphasizing the positives of the home is the biggest thing. Taking the time to set up furniture that helps to show off how large a bedroom is can greatly affect the likelihood of a sale. Another great example is, placing pictures over a fireplace to bring attention to the great detailing in the mantle. Getting prospective buyers to come view a home can sometimes be a difficult process. Posting pictures with ones realtor or even online of a stage home can bring in more foot traffic. The basics of this is common sense; the higher number of people that come to see the home, the higher the chance that it will sell quickly. Pictures of staged homes are more likely to grab the buyer’s attention and get them to look.

One of the first things you can do is remove family photos from the walls. You can simply cut pictures from magazines and place in the frames to make the walls less personal. If you are a a collector of some sort, pack away your collection. A kitchen filled with a hundred salt and pepper shakers or a living area filled with figurines could be a distraction for a buyer. Limit the amount of decorative items you have in each room.

Make each room have a specific purpose. If you use your dining room table as an office, remove the office related items. Create an attractive dining space. If a bedroom has become a storage room, turn it back into a bedroom or make it an office area.

Remove all clutter. Clutter makes a room look small. It indicates to the possible buyer that there is obviously not enough storage space in the home. Clean out and organize drawers, cabinets, and closes. Buyers will look there. They need to believe there is ample space for them to store their personal items.

You can make impressive changes without spending a lot of money by changing or adding a few things to a room. Pillows and rugs are great ways to add color to a room. Lighting is important. Clean your windows and let the natural light work for you. Sometimes something as simple as a new lamp shade can update a room.

Old unused boxes and unnecessary clutter that has not been in use for last three months can be cleared. This helps to increase the space of the house while eliminating clutter. Colorful organic magazine holders can be used to stack up papers and magazines which look much cleaner and attractive. The lawn can be neatly mowed and weeds need to be cleared for a prim look.

Scattered furniture can be attractively grouped for a pleasing look and providing more place to walk around. Fireplaces, mantelpieces can be decorated with unique decorative pieces. The kitchen is another most important area in the home. It can be modified during staging by adding fruit bowls and cookery books on the kitchen counters.

Bathrooms can also be dressed while modifying the entire home. This can be done by adding colorful towels, handmade scented soaps, beautiful jars for creams and candles. Any major or minor home repairs should be taken care of before or during staging process. Adding indoor plants can add a fresh look to the home.

Home staging improves the home’s look, making it appealing to prospective buyers. It can also be done to improve the interior design of the house. It can be a fun activity and done within the planned budget and time by organizing one thing at a time.

Here are my five favorite home staging tips, so you can help each property you stage sell faster and for more money:

1. Reduce drive-bys

Imagine you’re on a home hunting mission. Your real estate agent has ten properties to show you on a Saturday afternoon. When you drive up to what could be your dream home, you see a rusted-out mailbox, broken handrail and children’s toys strewn across the lawn which hasn’t seen a lawn mower in weeks. You’re probably going to say, “Um, no thanks, let’s move on.”

Curb appeal is so important. If the outside of a house looks like this, a potential buyer is going to think nobody cares about it. You should make sure, no matter what, that lawns are freshly cut, leaves are raked or snow shoveled from the driveway. A potted or hanging plant can make a big difference near the entrance. Repair or replace any obvious defects, often this is cheaper to do than a prospective buyer will imagine. Make sure the walk ways and porches are swept clean and garbage and recycling containers are tucked away at the rear of the house or in the garage. Make sure the exterior gets a good pressure wash and the decks are scrubbed clean. It’s a good alternative to painting and once everything’s clean you might see it doesn’t need to be repainted at all – perhaps just a touch up will do.

2. One man’s junk is not necessarily another man’s treasure, it may be their reason not to buy the house

De-cluttering is essential. Tackle one area at a time so the task isn’t so overwhelming. If you’re doing this with your client, make sure they look at each item carefully before deciding whether it’s to keep or to toss. Each closet will probably have to be gone through more than once to get its contents down to the absolute essentials, but it will be worth it. If the home owner is having a tough time parting with things, recommend they rent a storage locker so they can keep their beloved items, just remove them from the house they’re selling. They’ll have to move it eventually anyway!

3. Avoid wandering eyes

You want to make sure there are no little problems in a room that will have a potential buyer looking from one flaw to another thinking about they work they’ll have to do. You want them to see the bigger picture and imagine themselves living there. For example, do a walkthrough and look for chipped paint on the door frames. These can be filled in with “white out”. Old nail holes can often be hidden behind strategically hung art, but don’t just throw things on the wall where the old nail was (see point 5). Peeling wallpaper should be glued back down. Make sure there are covers on all electrical outlets and light switches, and replace any that are cracked. These little things make a big difference!

4. Color is your friend when it’s time to sell a house

If you have to repaint a home’s interior, or some rooms in a home, try to choose a pleasing color palette that allows each room to flow nicely into the next. All colors should go together. Try to repeat one signature color throughout a home. Maybe it’s the feature color in one room used as an accent in the others, through accessories or throw cushions.

5. Make a big impact with a little art

By strategically using art, you can enhance a home’s perceived value, draw the eye away from tiny flaws, give an otherwise uninteresting space a focal point and replace personal memorabilia.

Position art at eye level and use pieces that are appropriate to the size of the wall. Art with a large frame on a small wall can make the entire area seem smaller. Avoid religious art, or anything edgy that could be offensive to some potential buyers.

Crank up the curb appeal – When it comes to selling your home the curb appeal, also known as the first impression the buyer will see, is crucial. Clean the exterior of your home by pressure washing the siding, cleaning the gutters to prevent sagging and landscaping the walkway leading to the front door. You don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on landscaping because a few hundred dollars in plants and flowers will go a long way.

Clear away cluttered spaces – Cluttered counter spaces and rooms steal valuable square footage and make home buyers think the rooms are smaller than they actually are. Leave room for only the essential appliances on the kitchen counters and clear away any unused furniture or storage containers in bedrooms, family rooms and home offices.

Add complementary accessories – Staging your home isn’t just about clearing away the clutter because a home that is too bare will make the home seem like it lacks personality. Use accent pieces and accessories that complement each other. For example, a round coffee table will help a living room with large chairs and sofas feel more open and flow better.

Shuffle furniture so each room has a purpose – Sometimes when you live in a home for a while a room can lose its original purpose because you found a better use for the space. This frequently happens in casual living environments when the dining room becomes an office or catch-all space. Once you have decided to sell your home make sure that each room has a purpose and that the space is clearly defined so home buyers aren’t ticking away dollars for a perceived loss of space.

Finish any deferred projects – Occasionally we all take on projects that end up being far more time or labor intensive than we can handle. Before putting your home on the market be sure to finish all of your “some day” home projects to give your prospective buyers confidence that they are buying a well cared for home. These projects can be as simple as changing out dead light bulbs and as complex as finishing a deck. Either way, they need to be done!

Rent furniture or accessories to fill in empty spaces – Like most people, you live in your house and your furniture may be showing signs of significant wear and tear. To keep your home looking fresh you should consider replacing aged furniture with rented newer looking pieces. You can also rent accent pieces like vases, dishes and more.

Wash your windows and open the shades – Probably the most laborious task on the list, washing your windows on the outside and on the inside will make a big difference in the way your home shows. Clean windows show off the views around your home while showing buyers that you take pride in your home’s appearance. A win-win all around.