Originally Posted by mcel17

That's the hardest thing of staging a home, I think. I'm in the process of getting my home ready for the market. Our realtor felt everything was great as it was and we were pickier. I watched some HGTV shows, searched the internet and found some pointers. The main thing was the disconnecting. They all stressed you need to say goodbye to each room and then start clearing it out.

We have actually packed boxes upon boxes so far of our stuff and things are definitely "stark" - only blinds on the windows, only very very minimal things on shelves and books removed. All personal photos and items removed. People in my family think I'm crazy for it, but we have to be competitive.

When we show the house, I plan on hiding my child's toys, taking the cat with me in the car and putting away our "daily" things where the people won't find them (such as in dresser drawer spaces or in furniture that is ours that they shouldn't be looking through) I've already walked through homes where toys were still out, pictures were everywhere, etc and it really is off-putting.