“Keeping it real” might be solid advice for life in general, but it is terrible advice for anyone who is trying to sell their home. When it comes to appealing to prospective buyers, sellers should put their best foot forward. That means staging your home so it showcases its best features. Most people understand that means decluttering and keeping your space clean, but that is just the beginning of what sellers can do to truly make their homes shine.

Here are some tricks of the trade that many sellers overlook when staging their home for an open house or showings. We’ve broken it down room by room to make it easy to implement.

Before you tackle any room...

First impressions don’t begin at the front door. Before you tackle anything inside your home, you need to consider your curb appeal. One study found that having nice landscaping adds $1,777 worth of home value. That means the opposite is likely also true. Ugly landscaping can turn off buyers before they ever step foot inside your home. That means that before you hold an open house, you should resod bare patches of lawn, trim those out-of-control bushes, and plant some flowers. Small touches like bright, welcoming house-address numbers or a tastefully placed birdhouse can also make your yard seem inviting. Pay attention to those, and potential buyers will by eager to see more.

Living room

When staging your living room, pay close attention to the layout of your furniture. Make sure it showcases the space’s best qualities (e.g., natural light, flow with other rooms, statement features like fireplaces). Huffington Post also recommends evaluating any decor themes in your home. Having an Asian theme is okay, as is having a modern aesthetic. What isn’t ideal is showcasing a mishmash of themes. The entire home should be as unified as possible, and all that starts with the primary living space.

Kitchen

Kitchens sell homes. Clean kitchens sell homes the quickest. Yours should be decluttered and spotless during the open house. Emphasize space and functionality and reduce clutter and personal effects like magnets and photos. If you really want to go above and beyond, be painstakingly meticulous with your details. For example, alphabetize the spices in your rack and arrange any knickknacks in odd groupings of 3, 5, or 7. Potential buyers will see you as someone who takes great pride in your home and want to do business with you.

Bedrooms

Master bedrooms should be gender-neutral in order to appeal to all buyers. Also, avoid the urge to stash things in your closet. Potential buyers will want to see inside them. Embrace that and welcome them. Make your closets a selling point. Keep closet doors open and make them look attractive by not over-stuffing them. Fox News says making 20 to 30 percent of your closet open space is ideal because it emphasizes spaciousness.

Bathrooms

Dated bathrooms can be a real turnoff for potential buyers, but not everyone selling a home has the resources for a full upgrade. Luckily, there are some budget-friendly ways to spruce up your bathrooms. An interior designer with HGTV recommends using high-adhesion primer and a special ceramic epoxy covering on dated tiles. Remember to address grimy shower doors or surface mold on walls also.

Staging your home doesn’t have to be an overwhelming process. There are many things to consider, but by breaking down your preparation area by area and room by room, you can have your home ready to show to its next owners in no time.

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