When trying to sell your home, remember that not everyone will have the “flipping,” DIY or imaginative mentality to visualize your house updated, decorated or remodeled.  So, were going to give you some hints on home staging, so you can get your abode feeling and looking as stylish, warm and inviting, as possible.

If you have never sold a home before or are simply new to the idea of home staging, here are some hints on home staging that you can follow.

#1 Remove Personal Items

Pack away all personal belongings, pictures or knick-knacks and tacky decorative pieces to open up the room and make it feel more like a model home rather than someone’s used and messy living space. Removing all of your personal touches is the best thing to do when staging your home because it allows the buyers to view it as their potential home.

Without your personal pictures and decorations, buyers can better visualize the house as theirs, and they won’t become distracted by the decorations. Have an objective person come over and point out any things or areas you will miss – as you will not catch everything most likely.

#2 Declutter

It is amazing just how much stuff you collect over the years and all of this stuff will only hinder your chances of selling your home. While you are packing up your personal stuff, you also need to work on removing as much clutter from your home as you can. The more clutter you have in each room, the smaller the house seems.

Simply getting rid of stuff that is not necessary when staging your home, makes the home look and feel bigger. Clutter can include, but is not limited to: movie or book collections, video games and their accessories, stacks of paper on counters, kitchen appliances, etc. You want just the minimum items in each room, such as a bed and dresser or a couch and a coffee table.

#3 Neutralize Rooms

You might be a fan of red or purple accent walls, but you can’t say for sure that your potential buyers will be. When staging your home, the best hint we can give you is making each room as neutral as possible in order to reveal its true purpose and virtually increase elbow room. In terms of furnishings, bedrooms should contain a bed and dresser placed in ideal locations and closets should be cleared of all but absolutely necessary items.

#4 Clean

Nobody wants to come in to a dusty, filthy, or stinky house. So, before you list your home you want to scrub it from top to bottom, ensuring you steam clean carpets, wash drapes and wipe down walls and floors. Wash the windows inside and out, and, most importantly always empty your garbage can at night, because as we all know, kitchen odors are the worst.

Once you have the home looking and smelling nice, the upkeep should be fairly easy and stress free.