• A home—inside and out—should seem as if it requires little or no maintenance.
• Staging is not just an inside job. Curb appeal is a major factor.
• Have freshly painted shutters and doors.
• Streamline landscaping and get rid of any old, straggly bushes, shrubs or other plantings.
• Power-wash decks.
• Less is more. Something may look sparse when a stager is finished, but you get used to it and begin to like it.
• Before having a stager, consider a place where you might store the things you still want to keep but want hidden away for showings.
• To deal with a staged house when your personal things are away is something you have to learn to live with. In the long run, everyone we’ve staged for says they are so happy with the change that they vow to live like this in their next house.
• Remove heavy and outdated furniture.
• Remove heavy or dated draperies and replace with lighter, ighter drapes, sheers or nothing at all.
