I’m sure you’ve seen the home staging shows on TV - you know, where they completely redecorate a house, increasing its selling value sometimes even while working with a bargain basement shoestring budget. It’s always fun to guestimate how much value the rework will bring. Sometimes the results are absolutely stunning.

But have you ever thought about staging your own home? Just because you’re not selling your home doesn’t mean you can’t stage it for your own enjoyment!

Declutter Your Way to Double the Space.

If you’re anything like me, you might have managed to pack about double the amount of stuff your home has capacity for. It’s human nature after all. But one of the first things any professional home staging attempt will do is remove the clutter and the non essential furniture. Doing so not only gives the illusion of more space - it actually does give more living space.

Practical Tip: Ask a friend to help decide what should stay or go - being creatures of habit, it’s too easy to decide everything stays when we’re left to make the choices on our own.

Accentuate the Positives.

To really keep things in check, keeping a room’s colors mostly neutral is not a bad idea. Think of it sort of like working with a blank canvas - it’s easy to paint on the details one by one. Add a couple of brightly colored pillow to that beige couch. The key is to not overdue the colorful accent pieces because in essence, that really just equates to more clutter.

Practical Tip: Pro stagers have found that red accent pieces really stick out and add energy to a room.

Shake Things Up.

Even if you think everything is already okay, try the big switcheroo. It’s kind of like getting a radically different haircut - you’re not really sure, but you make the choice and most of the time fall in love with the new look in no time at all. Except with furniture and décor, if you don’t care for the results, it just takes a few minutes to move everything back.

Practical Tip: Use a warm iron over a plain white cloth to steam furniture indents from previous arrangements out of the carpet.

Let There Be Better Light.

By saying this, I don’t necessarily mean adding more light - in fact, less light might be better in some cases, especially if the quality of lighting is unpleasant. For example, if you’re trying to stage a finished basement that uses overhead florescent tube light fixtures, start by turning them off. Think instead of light fixtures with eye appeal and also warm ambient light output.

Practical Tip: Placement is key with lighting. Try to avoid the dead center approach; it will almost always put the lighting in the wrong place.