by Kristi Maloney

Chances are the words “seller’s market” will not be uttered in reference to this year’s housing market, but you may be in a position where you have to sell your house now. In this current housing market, you only have one opportunity to make a great first impression on your potential homebuyer.

We were fortunate enough to have an interior decorator walk through our home, and give us some very good (free) house staging advice as a gift to us. Here are eight tips on how to stage your house for sale.

1. Clear out the clutter in every room, every closet, and even the basement (AKA The Dumping Ground). The potential homebuyer can’t see through your mess, and shouldn’t have to imagine what your house would look like without the clutter.

To clean out our clutter, we rented a 15-yard dumpster for a couple of weeks spending about $300. It’s a freeing feeling to toss all that stuff out, believe me!

If you have items you need to keep, but space is an issue, check out the rates at your local storage facility. We are currently renting a 10 ft. x 10 ft. storage area for $75 a month. This has allowed us to clear out our basement.

2. Paint using a neutral color. Whether it’s because of a previous unusual color choice, or just to cover up scuffmarks (or your kid’s artwork), painting will really add to your home’s clean look.

3. Clean the carpets and regrout the tile. While cleaning the carpets will obviously improve the appearance of your house, regrouting the tile was something we wouldn’t have thought to do.

We have an ivory-color tile in our front entrance and bathroom and the grout was a taupe color. The decorator suggested going over the existing grout with a lighter color grout. This job is easy, but time consuming and messy.

4. Replace carpet if necessary. Our great room carpet was just over 10 years old. It was in a room with a wood-burning stove, and it was also the room where the kids hung out and made many a mess. That carpet was stained so badly that it was an embarrassment. We were long overdue for ripping it out.

The room is rather big at 20 feet by 20 feet, and we agreed that faux-wood laminate would be the best choice. We purchased the laminate at Lowe’s for about $300 (less than the price of carpet) and installed it ourselves. It was a tough, all-weekend job, but the result is a nice clean “wood” floor.

5. Evaluate the furniture and replace if necessary. Our furniture was fine with the exception of our informal dining room table and chairs, and one couch that we had in our great room. This couch was nearly as old as I was (we are the third owners) and had been covered just as many times. It was in rough shape, but it had worked out great for our two messy boys! The decorator said it was time for the couch to go. That’s where the dumpster really came in handy!

The table and chairs were outdated too, and we sold them on Craig’s List. These were stored in the storage unit, and the neutral location worked out perfectly for the sale. We spent $700 on a new couch and loveseat, and the couches were flawless overstocks.

6. Move your furniture around. The new couches were placed in our living room and the old leather living room couches were moved out into the great room.

I am no decorator, so this is where a decorator or stager’s advice is really helpful. To make the room look 100 times better, she pulled the couch away from the wall to create an “L” shape in both the living room and the great room. This one change gave the room a more intimate and inviting seating area.

8. Keep the house smelling fresh. Lighting a candle or using pledge furniture cleaner before a showing will leave the house smelling clean and fresh, but be careful not to use a scent that’s too overpowering. You want your home to smell clean and look bright.

House staging is a lot of work and can seem overwhelming, but take it one step at a time and you will get there. For the short time you remain in your house, you will enjoy the fruits of your labor. Good luck!