Realtors often suggest hiring a professional stager to showcase your home when you put it on the market. This generally attracts more prospective buyers and will often get your home sold faster and for more money. Staging to sell includes depersonalizing living spaces so that the buyer can envision themselves living there vs.the homeowner.

But what does “Staging to Live” mean and why do people do it? It is decluttering and personalizing your living space to create a calm and inviting environment for you and your family…Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to do the activities you really enjoy because the house is in order and not weighing heavy on your mind?

You will be amazed at how much lighter you feel and how much more you can get accomplished when you purge and organize. Are there items in your home that don’t belong to you? Maybe it’s time they find a new home. Do you have hidden treasures that you’d like to find and display? Reclaim your space by personalizing it and making it yours again.

Here are 10 steps for staging your home to live:

• Prioritize your belongings by keeping it simple: a) what do you want and need to keep? b) what can you live without?
• Donate items you can live without or that no longer serve you
• Showcase items that are of personal value
• Clean
• Repair walls, floors, ceilings, bathroom tiles etc.
• Keep your living spaces light and bright with paint color and patterns that aren’t too dark or busy
• Find a place for items ie: mail, toiletries, kitchen items that don’t need to live on the counter
• Try creating vignettes by displaying 3 decorative items of different heights
• Be mindful of scale. Is there a piece of furniture too big or small for the space it’s in?
• Mow the lawn and prune the hedges

Just remember these cliches: less is more, keep it simple, and when in doubt throw it out.