5. Spend the money where it matters: out front.
Use your time and money wisely. Studies show that the front porch is where prospective home buyers spend the most time, as they wait for the door to be unlocked. "A lot of times I'll suggest painting the front door," says Selinger-Eaton. She also often suggests replacing the brass light fixtures on the front porch if they're too badly tarnished, or at least painting them. "Right now I'm doing a lot of black," she says. Certified master stager Barie Pinnell, president of WRE Interiors in Dallas, recommends placing planters on each side of the door, as well, with flowers in vibrant colors that excite the eye. (She often recommends fuchsia and white.)
Once inside, the foyer or entryway -- if you have one -- is where people will linger the longest in the house, say the pros. "Wow them now!" writes Dana. Make sure the paint is a creamy neutral and fresh, and the flooring looks great. All you need for décor is a thin table, a lamp, a vase of fresh flowers. "If you have a limited budget and can only afford to replace the entryway flooring or the guest bedroom carpeting, choose the foyer. It is the first impression," write Dana and Turner.
6. Use fresh flowers.
Throughout the house. Always fresh. Only fresh.
7. Make it current.
As much as possible, you want your home to give off a feeling of being up-to-date, trendy even -- regardless of how long it's been since you've bought furniture. But how do you do that? Pick up magazines such as Domino, InStyle and Better Homes and Gardens to get ideas, advise Dana and Turner. Then pick and choose your furniture, and camouflage accordingly, if necessary. For example, what's in today is a more streamlined, clean look; the so-called "lumpy/bumpy" look is out. What to do with that puffy loveseat? Toss a slipcover over it to give it a sleeker appearance. Got a particularly ugly couch? A few big, well-placed cushions from Target can distract the eye and hide it in a pinch, says Selinger-Eaton.
8. Think spacious.
People often move because they want more room, so make your house feel as spacious as possible. "Closets should be half full, and you should be able to see the bottom of the closet," says author Dana. Show people a jam-packed closet, and they'll think it's too small for them, too.
Similarly, bedrooms should contain only a bed, nightstand and dresser -- or perhaps a comfy reading chair in the master bedroom. (Banish that StairMaster to the basement.) Want to make the master bedroom feel even larger? Swap out the king-size bed for a queen-size bed, Pinnell says.
Another tip: Stagers used to push all the furniture to the walls to try to make a room feel bigger. Today, Selinger-Eaton says to pull furniture two or three inches out from the walls. When possible, allow the corners of a room to be visible.
9. Think vignettes.
Vignettes are groupings of accessories, usually in threes. "It could be three pieces of art on the wall; it also could be candlesticks, something tall, medium and short," says Pinnell. "It's about shapes and color," she says of the vignettes, which help draw the visitor through the room and make the room visually interesting. "I call them eye candy."
10. Lighten up.
"You want as much light to come in as possible," says Possidente-Ruiz. Remove unneeded blinds. "If there's drapery, I try to make it as sheer as possible, or pull it to the side," she says. "You want people to come in and say, 'I could live here. It's nice and bright.' "
Should you hire a pro -- and how much should you spend?
Now that you know some of the work and thought that goes into staging, perhaps you're considering hiring a professional stager instead. Professionals can offer a variety of levels of service, from consultations to full-service stagings in which contractors are arranged to make home repairs and rental furniture is brought in.
A general rule of thumb: According to the National Association of Realtors, the best return on a homeowner's investment for staging is when between 1% and 3% of the home's asking price is spent on staging, which typically gets a return of 8% to 10%.
Now start your decluttering. And be ruthless.