1.  Get the Buyer inside: Your front yard is actually your welcome mat. Attractive curb appeal enhances what the buyer can expect upon entering your home.  A clean sidewalk and driveway (maybe even power-washed), coupled with a well-manicured lawn, trimmed hedges and colorful potted plants go a long way in attracting a buyer.  Your entrance or porch should be uncluttered, and house trim should be in good repair.  You only get one chance to make a first impression AND you want it to be good.

2.  Declutter, declutter, declutter: The way you live and the way your sell your house are two different things.  A good rule of thumb is to remove at least 1/5^th of the clutter in your home – more would be better.  Homeowners should tackle each room by dividing their belongings into two piles:  “keep” and “give up.”  Items to “keep” can be used to stage the room.  “Give up” items should be stored elsewhere.  Remember, you will have to pack these items up eventually when you move.  Doing so a little early will make your move later much easier.  Hint:  While decluttering, remember to remove your personal items.

Your may think the decluttered room is bare, but the buyer won’t think so.  You are not selling your stuff, you are selling SPACE.  Buyers cannot visualize a room’s

potential if there is too much stuff in it.

3. Balancing a room: A good rule of thumb is to balance hard and soft surfaces.  Doing so can showcase a room’s size and functionality.  For example, a room with an overstuffed 7-foot long sofa, a love seat and four La-Z-Boy recliners has too many soft surfaces and not enough hard surfaces and gives the illusion that the room is actually “shrinking.”  Instead, consider “giving up” the love seat and recliners and staging the room with two wingback chairs.

4. Triangle staging: To further create balance, arrange items on top of hard surfaces in groups of three.  For hard surfaces with less area, a single item will do.  Grouping items relatively close creates a triangle effect.  A triangle example for an end table could consist of a plant, a book and a lamp.

5. Q-Tip Clean: A properly staged home should be immaculately clean.  Doing so reflects that the homeowner has maintained the home and that there are no hidden issues.  Q-tip clean means getting those dead flies out of your windowsill and cleaning the floor behind the toilet.

By Kathryn Swan of 2 Swans A-Staging